What should I wear?
Dress comfortably in clothing that allows you to easily move and stretch. Form fitting clothing is preferred, as it allows us to see spinal asymmetry and alignment more easily.
What can I expect from my first session?
The first session involves a detailed health history intake, as well as education on your specific spinal/back condition. It is imperative that you understand what is happening in your body! This is to empower you. The more you understand your condition, the easier it will be for you to begin modifying yoga postures and activities of daily living on your own. My goal is for you to eventually learn enough that you no longer need me.
*If you have access to x-rays, MRIs, or Doctor reports that are relevant to your back concerns, please bring them with you. Or email them to Mandy prior to your first session. This will allow our time together to be much more efficient.
As a result of the health intake and the education components of the first session, we often only cover 1-4 yoga poses during the first session. This is enough, however, for you to begin implementing change in your life and in your body.
After your session, you will receive an email with photos of you doing the yoga poses that we covered, along with key information on alignment, set-up, and (if you have scoliosis) how to account for your individual curve pattern.
How often should I come for sessions?
This is a challenging question to answer, as there are many factors which we need to consider:
- What are your goals? To reduce pain or live completely pain free? To slow down/stop the progression of your scoliosis, hyper-kyphosis, or hyper-lordosis? To find better posture and understand your habitual body mechanics? To find greater ease and balance so that you can enjoy life more fully?
- How willing are you to commit to a daily yoga practice at home? There is no magic pill. Whether you are concerned about general backcare or scoliosis, the commitment to a yoga practice that is designed specifically for you will enable you to find greater balance, symmetry and ease. But, you do need to be committed. I can give you the tools, but unless you regularly practice them, you will see no change. If you are unlikely to practice the tools at home, more frequent sessions will be beneficial for you.
- Your age, the degree of your condition, your overall health, diet, and activity level will all have an impact on how easily your body responds to our work together.
It is unlikely that you will learn enough in one session to completely change your relationship with your back. Generally speaking, I suggest sessions anywhere from once a week to once a month. Thist will allow you to make consistent progress without bogging you down with financial or time commitments. Ultimately, it is your body, your life, and your choice. Therefore, I leave it up to you to determine how many sessions you do, how often you come.
Can I actually reduce my scoliosis curvature?
YES! I am living proof of it. See the photos on this page for more details. Our work together can certainly slow down/stop the progression of your curve and may even reduce the curvature. Of course (as stated above) there are a lot of factors to weigh in here: your age, health, commitment to a daily yoga practice, etc. The cause of your scoliosis (which may not be known) will also play a role in determining how much of a shift can be expected. If you have wedged vertebrae, pelvic half difference, or leg length asymmetry, the amount of change may be reduced. (Though don’t lose all hope. I too have a leg length discrepancy, pelvic half difference and my vertebral bodies have started to remodel. And I’ve still seen such remarkable results.)
Scoliosis will always be part of your system, however. You will most likely never have a completely straight spine. Part of the journey and healing process is learning how to accept and work with your back, scoliosis and all. You need to commit to a life long practice of improved posture and increased body awareness.