P ERFORMANCE CONDITIONING. Taking Yoga to the Next Level- Postural Restoration-Inspired Yoga for the Athlete: The Sagittal Plane VOLLEYBALL

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1 P ERFORMANCE VOLLEYBALL CONDITIONING A NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO IMPROVING VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS Taking Yoga to the Next Level- Postural Restoration-Inspired Yoga for the Athlete: The Sagittal Plane Emily Soiney, Shine Physical Therapy, Portland, OR Emily grew up in Minnesota and Oregon in a family of health care professionals. She graduated from Oregon State University in 2001 with a BS in Exercise and Sport Science and a BA in International Studies with a Spanish minor. She is a board-certified physical therapist (PT) with a Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree from the University of Minnesota. Emily passed extensive examination to become a certified Postural Restoration Certified therapist (PRC) with the Postural Restoration Institute and Craniosacral Therapist (CST-T) with the Upledger Institute. She has attended coursework by the North American Institute of Manual Therapy (NAIOMT), the Barral Institute for Visceral Mobilization, and Osteopathic Methods for Vascular Mobilization. Emily has extensive experience working with pediatric and adult clients with complex neurological and orthopedic conditions. Emily began studying yoga in 1998 to recover from her own chronic pain. She has taught since 2004 as a registered yoga teacher (RYT) after successfully completing two 200- hour yoga teacher trainings. She continued her education through an invitation-only 9- month internship at Amrita and the 500-hour training at The Bhaktishop. In addition to her weekly class Postural Restoration-Inspired Yoga at Shine Yoga, she guest teaches workshops and teacher trainings throughout the Portland area. Her teaching style weaves ancient and modern wisdom through breath awareness and anatomically-sound poses. Emily Soiney BGN INT ADV T4 As an outpatient physical therapist, I am very motivated to help others prevent sports injuries. The majority of my clients with both acute injuries and chronic pain are amazed at the results from Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) interventions. With rehabilitation so optimized by PRI principles, we know that it can offer equally effective preventative strategies. In this way, more athletes and their coaches can find enjoyable and integrative ways to prevent injuries. One of these ways is Postural Restoration-Inspired Yoga. One of the most simple but also remarkably unique pieces of the Postural Restoration Institute s (PRI) approach is the emphasis on the body s three planes of movement. Very few of us, especially single-sport athletes, have balanced daily movement in all three planes and are mainly sagittal animals. Anyone who walks, runs, swims, or cycles is living a sagittal (left/right division of the body) existence and this creates fertile ground for injury from patterned positions and movements. Regaining sagittal plane alignment and stability before moving into the frontal and transverse planes is a key rehab tenant of PRI. This ensures that the ribcage and the respiratory diaphragm have the ability to travel through a neutral position as your athlete moves, trains, and competes. Many athletes gravitate towards yoga as a way to stretch, cross-train, and maybe relieve some stress. Despite considerable training by yoga instructors in the realm of breathing, yoga postures, and basic anatomy, these teachers may not know preventative nor rehabilitative concepts and strategies. In a yoga practice there can be an overt emphasis on the sagittal plane as exemplified by spinal flexion and extension in the sun salute and the many backbends, hamstring stretches, and forward-bends in most American

2 yoga studios. Therefore, as their coach, trainer, or therapist, you play a critical role in guiding your athlete towards a balanced yoga practice. This article will provide a few examples of yoga postures with PR integration to allow for optimal sagittal alignment and mobility. Cat Pose: start on your hands and knees. Exhale fully as you slowly round your back up towards the sky. Relax your head but don t let it hang straight down. Engage the serratus anterior to protract the shoulder blades, strengthen the abdominal obliques, while relaxing the chest muscles. Encourage long, slow exhales and focus on the stretching between the shoulder blades from the inhalation. PRI addition: place folded towel of approximately 1-2 thick under the left knee to facilitate awareness of the left inner thigh as well as the left outer hip muscles. Cat Pose Cat Plank: this is a progression of cat pose in the plank pose with flexed upper back. Stay here on knees or on feet. Focus the inhalation to stretch the space between the shoulder blades and between each spinal bone. Cat Plank Cat Plank on Knees Draped Chair: this is a name of a pose I modified for the typical chair pose in yoga. It looks like a skier coming down the slope. Heels down, thighs are parallel, and hips back will allow the work to shift into the hip extensors and adductors. Maintain this lower body position as you exhale and reach both arms straight ahead. Now the back will look like the cat pose (above). The challenge here is to keep the spine in this position while draping the upper body forward until the abs just hover over the thighs. Draped Chair Please hold all poses for at least 5 breaths and up to 15 as quality of the athlete s form allows. O Net Link: Click HERE to find out more about Postural Restoration More Information Please: Contact Emily at (clinic) (yoga studio) PRI Yoga Affiliate course registration is now open. To learn more go to:

3 P ERFORMANCE VOLLEYBALL CONDITIONING A NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO IMPROVING VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS Taking Yoga to the Next Level- Postural Restoration-Inspired Yoga for the Athlete: The Frontal Plane Emily Soiney, Shine Physical Therapy, Portland, OR Emily grew up in Minnesota and Oregon in a family of health care professionals. She graduated from Oregon State University in 2001 with a BS in Exercise and Sport Science and a BA in International Studies with a Spanish minor. She is a board-certified physical therapist (PT) with a Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree from the University of Minnesota. Emily passed extensive examination to become a certified Postural Restoration Certified therapist (PRC) with the Postural Restoration Institute and Craniosacral Therapist (CST-T) with the Upledger Institute. She has attended coursework by the North American Institute of Manual Therapy (NAIOMT), the Barral Institute for Visceral Mobilization, and Osteopathic Methods for Vascular Mobilization. Emily has extensive experience working with pediatric and adult clients with complex neurological and orthopedic conditions. Emily began studying yoga in 1998 to recover from her own chronic pain. She has taught since 2004 as a registered yoga teacher (RYT) after successfully completing two 200- hour yoga teacher trainings. She continued her education through an invitation-only 9- month internship at Amrita and the 500-hour training at The Bhaktishop. In addition to her weekly class Postural Restoration-Inspired Yoga at Shine Yoga, she guest teaches workshops and teacher trainings throughout the Portland area. Her teaching style weaves ancient and modern wisdom through breath awareness and anatomically-sound poses. Emily Soiney Postural Restoration-Inspired Yoga for the Athlete: The Frontal Plane A BGN s we continue to explore the application of Postural Restoration-Inspired Yoga for athletics, this article will focus INT on the frontal plane. This Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) rehabilitation progression from sagittal to frontal ADV to transverse plane orientation- is an ideal way to develop a yoga or fitness program for athletes. T4 Very few athletes have balanced daily movement in all three planes. Unless the sport involves skates or skis, it is unlikely that your athletes spend adequate time working in the frontal plane. This is not to discredit anyone s programs, good intentions, or training ideology. It is due to the fact that very few individuals can attain and maintain a pelvic position that allows for pure hip adduction without PRI interventions. Therefore, it is imperative that we first restore sagittal plane neutrality. This ensures that the ribcage and the respiratory diaphragm, as well as the pelvis with its pelvic diaphragm, has the ability to arrive at and move back to a neutral position. In this way we are not training in an overly flexed or, more likely an overly extended, spinal position. A negative PRI adduction drop test (ADT) is one of the screens to see if your athlete is neutral enough for frontal plane activity. Once your athlete can demonstrate a negative ADT on both sides as well as the yoga poses presented in the sagittal plane article they are ready to perform these Postural Restoration-Inspired Yoga poses. This selection of postures, or asanas, allow for optimal frontal plane alignment and mobility. The sequence is written exactly as PRI is designed. Encourage your athletes to stay a little longer, and watch their form with more scrutiny, on the side you end on.

4 Anantasana (PRI sidelying pose prep): begin by lying on your right side, legs straight, and top arm s hand on the floor in front of you. At the bottom of the exhale, feel your lower frontal ribs move down and together. This is your cue to scoop your sitbones towards your heels. Maintain that and reach out through your heels. To challenge yourself further, lift your right side waist off the floor without arching your back. Now, lift your top leg and then your bottom leg up without letting your legs touch. Final challenge is to take your top arm s hand and press it to your bottom hand in a diving position. Now lift your upper body off the ground too. You will wiggle a lot, but since this pose is named for a water serpent, that is just fine. Always end lying on your left side. Anantasana PRI Side Plank (forearm version): begin by lying on your right side, knees bent and legs stacked. Exhale to press your right forearm and scoop the frontal ribs and sitbones down. Focus the next inhalation to stretch the space between the shoulder blades, maintain this space. Exhale to lift your hips off the floor, balancing on your shin and forearm. Finish the pose by gazing straight ahead and raising the top arm vertical. End on the left. PRI Side Plank (forearm version) PRI Side Plank (tripod version): start in Cat Plank and pivot both heels to the right. Take left hand to heart and exhale to ensure you ve maintained the scooped spinal position. Use your left arm, right abdominals, and right outer hip to traction your weight up off the bottom arm. Finish on the left. Half-moon pose: Stand near a corner with your back against a wall. Hold a yoga block or sturdy support in your right hand. Step into a high lunge and use the glutes to turn the right thigh out. Feel the right foot before shifting your weight onto it. Carefully find the wall with your left foot and press into it firmly. Your right hand will be directly under your shoulder and your gaze eventually looks forward. As the balance improves, reach the top arm up. Please hold all poses for at least 5 breaths and up to 15 as quality of the athlete s form allows. O PRI Yoga Affiliate course registration is now open. To learn more go to: Chain Link: Click HERE to find out more about Postural Restoration More Information Please: contact Emily at (clinic) (yoga studio)

5 PRI Side Plank (tripod version) Half-Moon Pose