7/28/2019 Yoga Journal - Poses for Tendonitis in the Biceps

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Poses for Tendoni tis in the Biceps

I've been dealing with recurring tendonitis in my biceps tendon for a year and a half.

Are there specific asanas that will help, or asanas I should avoid?

By John Friend

--Maureen Bradley

John Friend's reply:

The good news is that your yoga practice can be very therapeutic for this condition ifperformed with good alignment. In general, the tendonitis will be aggravated bymuscular actions that pull the top of the biceps muscle away from the humerus (the

long bone of the upper part of the arm), and by any misalignment of the humerus.

The most common misalignments of the humerus include dropping the head of thehumerus (top of the arm bone) down away from the neck so that the shoulders slopedownward, excessively internally rotating the humerus (thumbs turning toward thesides of the body when the arms are down by your sides), and drawing the head of thehumerus forward. Certainly, weight-bearing poses such as Chaturanga Dandasana(Four-Limbed Staff Pose) will be more difficult to perform with good alignment andtherefore are considered riskier. So, it is important to choose poses in which you canconsistently maintain good alignment.

Here are some key alignment principles to practice in all poses which will help relieveyour biceps tendonitis:

Keep your shoulders square across so that they are not sloped downward. Keepthe sides of your ribs lifted from waistline to armpits.

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Move the head of the humerus straight back into the back plane of the body.2.Externally rotate the humerus. Do this as much as you can without pushing thehead of the arm bone forward.

3.

Maintaining the alignment of the arm bone as described above, engage thebiceps muscle so that it firmly hugs the humerus. In general, to keep the bicepsmuscle engaged to the bone, the energy of the biceps muscle should flow fromthe crease of the elbow to the front of the head of the arm bone.

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Apply the above alignment principles in the following poses:

All standing poses, especially Parsvakonasana (Side Angle Pose), Trikonasana(Extended Triangle Pose), and Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II Pose).All seated forward bends, especially J anu Sirsasana (Head-to-Knee ForwardBend) and Parsva Upavistha Konasana (forward bending over one leg inUpavistha Konasana).It is in the most basic poses like Tadasana (Mountain Pose) or Sukhasana (EasyPose) where healing can take place.

Journal - Poses for Tendonitis in the Biceps http://www.yogajournal.com/for_teachers/51

5/18/2012

7/28/2019 Yoga Journal - Poses for Tendonitis in the Biceps

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You can perform poses like Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog) andBhujangasana (Cobra Pose) in which the arms are weight-bearing if you can maintaingood alignment. Chaturanga Dandasana is one of the most difficult poses to keep thehead of arm bone in alignment. Every time the head of the arm bone goes forward andthe biceps pulls forward, away from the bone, you will aggravate the injury. Therefore,it might be prudent to skip this pose until you heal.

This month's expert, John Friend, is the founder of Anusara Yoga, whichcombines the celebration of the heart, the art of i nner body awareness, and the

science of un iversal princip les of alignment. For further help in learning these

alignment principles, please consult an Anusara Yoga teacher in your area by

visi ting www.Anusara.com or calli ng (888) 398-9642.

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Journal - Poses for Tendonitis in the Biceps http://www.yogajournal.com/for_teachers/51

5/18/2012