When James Anderson asked me if I thought there would be interest in a PRI Affiliate Course for Yoga one year ago, neither of us would have believed that it would bring together 60 people for the first course. Participants came from all across North America representing various health, fitness, and coaching professions. Over 1/3 of the participants were yoga instructors (including James' wonderful new wife Karen) with no formal PRI training prior. Welcome to PRI Nation, yogis!
We dove right in Saturday morning with James presenting his Affiliate Course overview of PRI. The audience gained appreciation for PRI's unique -and asymmetrical- platform and our un-waivering respect for neurology, respiration, and biomechanics. By specifically highlighting how the Left AIC and Right BC patterns impair ZOA, gait, and availability of motion, he began the conversation on how yoga can equally optimize or minimize an individual's neutrality. After lunch, I introduced the PRI Yoga Screens, PRI Yoga Awareness Sites (PRIYAS) with a hat tip to Impingement & Instability Reference Centers, and key PRI Opposition Muscles to be mindful of in yoga. I hope that these screening tools will empower yoga teachers to feel confident in understanding the outcomes of their intervention as well as provide the basis for a referral to -and clear communication with- a PRI clinician. These screens introduced non-clinicians to the A-B-A world of PRI and will undoubtedly demonstrate the value of PRI Yoga to their clients. The PRI Assessment Poses are yogic manifestations of the Hruska Adduction Lift Test and proved to be playful ways of finding the PRIYAS hidden in the poses.
Throughout Sunday, we explored PRI Yoga poses (asana) in movement labs interspersed throughout the day. I taught asanas that emphasized one or integrated all three planes of movement. I especially loved sharing Bollywood and Warrior 3 as they are equally inspired by yoga's birthplace and by PRI non-manual techniques; they also optimize late left stance and early right stance respectively. We modified the traditional movement sequences of the sun and moon salutations with many students feeling more neutral after just one round. Next, we focused a new PRI "P" word with pranayama or breathing practices that attained and maintained the ZOA. In closing, I offered recommendations on sequencing a yoga class to parallel a PRI treatment progression and provided PRI Yoga interventions based on potential PRI Yoga Screen outcomes.
It was a full weekend marrying the complementary aspects of PRI and Yoga. We received gracious feedback and look forward to offering it again next year with some of the first-time glitches fixed. This course brought together two vast bodies of knowledge and left all of us in awe of the similarities and the breadth of these healing paths. I am humbled and honored to share it with you all.
You can also visit Shine Integration Physical Therapy's website and the Postural Restoration Integration for Yoga Facebook page for more photos and course review. Namaste'!
