Yoga Assessment

Yoga Assessment: A Case Study

By Jarlo Ilano, M.P.T., C.S.T.

A client came to me to address some of her challenges in her Yoga practice.  She has some difficulties in her performance of her Downward Dog posture and in other such asanas which require a good mobility through the Superficial Back Line.

In my Intuitive Assessment, I asked a variety of questions about her sensations during her Yoga practice.  Her answers led to her remarking about her further problems in achieving a comfortable flat foot squat and the standing forward bend position.  Drawing upon these Satellites, we moved directly into Poise Analysis and I evaluated her technique in the Flat Foot squat.  I observed that her knees and feet were externally rotated and her weight was shifted forward onto her toes.  She also appeared to have some breathing difficulty and was not allowing the position to “breathe her” into a proper exhalation.  Her standing forward bend demonstrated a significant difficulty in maintaining a straight legged position and her quadriceps were visibly shaking.  I asked her to move in and out of this position by bending and straightening her knees while maintaining her chest on her thighs.  She was unable to continue this for more than a few repetitions, as she became quite fatigued.

Her Over-Compensations, the restrictions impeding her performance goals in her Yoga practice, became apparent when observing her form in the above exercises.  In her Flat Foot squat, the external rotation of her lower extremities indicated a myofascial density in her hip rotators, which prevent proper alignment in her positioning.  The type of Over-Compensation associated with this is a performance impediment. Also, her decreased breath control is indicative of Fear Reactivity (both nature and type of Over-Compensation), in which the dis-integration of her breathing, movement, and structure, interfered with her ability to attain a proper Flat Foot squat posture.  In the standing forward bend, the obvious myofascial density (type: performance impediment) of her hamstrings and hip muscle complex was readily apparent.  However, I was more interested in the shaking and quickness to fatigue of her quadriceps muscle group.  It appears that the relatively weak strength/endurance of her quadriceps was preventing an adequate structure to release the tension in her hamstrings.  Thus the myofascial density of her superficial back line leads to the attribute deficit type of Over-Compensation of decreased quadriceps strength.

I then chose a couple of Compensatory Exercises to address these concerns.  In the case of the Flat Foot squat, I began by using the Trinity Squat to access her breathing dysfunction.  By limiting the squat depth to just below parallel, I had her focus on her Normal and Complementary breath volumes.  This, along with the proper sit-back positioning, brought her weight back posteriorly and immediately improved her structural alignment.  After a few repetitions, she was ready to perform the full Trinity Squat into the Flat Foot squat and back up.  This time I advised her to focus on the breath out at parallel and at the bottom position.  After just a few repetitions, she was then able to attain a much improved Flat Foot squat with proper breathing.

To address the myofascial density of the superficial back line, I modified the standard Downward Facing Dog position and had her alternate between straight and bent knees while maintaining a long torso.  We also explored going from heels up to heels down in the asana, again focusing on dynamic movements within a slightly uncomfortable range.