Yoga for COVID Recovery
COVID is here
The top U.S. health officials concluded that most Americans will get COVID, but how to treat it when we get it, and how to treat the long-term, post COVID symptoms is what will shape our future. According to the CDC the symptoms one may experience from long COVID may include a combination of the following:
difficulty breathing
decreased energy
fatigue
difficulty concentrating “brain fog”
cough
headache
menstrual changes
Post-COVID symptoms are reported as mild, lasting 4 to 6 weeks after the first infection, and some are made worse by physical activity or exercise. These symptoms can effect anyone who has tested positive for COVID no matter how severe the initial illness was, and effecting you even if you were asymptomatic. In these still early stages, Scientist are learning more about these symptoms as we play out the days, weeks, and years after 2020.
Everyone’s experience with COVID is unique. Each of our symptoms are unique to our history, the body we brought in to experience it, and the way we treated and healed ourselves and others. Through years of conditioning the body, with a daily yoga practice that included asana and breathing practices, I would say that I was still one of the lucky ones.
Alone in isolation, my mind did travel through some dark territory, and my spirit was challenged by confinement. Isolation in and of itself is a disease, it causes unrest, even for the most inwardly focused introvert. It’s why it is punishment in detention centers, and only the hard core monks and sadhus go off into the woods or a cave to be alone.
Healing toys
After the brute force of COVID runs a train through the body, many of us are on bed rest. We are fatigued from fighting, have no energy, and aren’t thinking clearly. It’s similar in some respects to post-surgical recovery in the hospital. Except in a hospital patients are given a device called an ‘incentive spirometer’ that expands the lungs, keeping them active throughout the recovery process, by helping patients breathe deeper and fuller.
The idea behind this device is that it prevents secondary infections like pneumonia, atelectasis, and respiratory failure. But this device isn’t in the typical household, I’m sure you could find one on amazon, if you looked, but TCM and Ayurvedic medicines have their complimentary Qi Gong breathing techniques, and Yoga breathing (Pranayama) exercises that function in the same way as the plastic spirometer.
All of the breathing and movement patterns function to expand the diaphragm, and expand the intercostal muscles on the inhale, while contracting on the exhale. The deeper breathing patterns include the muscles of the abdomen which, in turn massages the Large Intestine and aids peristalsis.
When recovering from COVID it is important to remember your breathing exercises and focus your yoga asana practice on deeper expansion of the lungs. Use lateral side stretches; trikoṇāsana, jānuśīrṣāsana, utthita pārśvakonāsana to expand the sides of the rib cage, focusing on ‘stretching’ the intercostal muscles rather then the hamstrings. (the hamstrings will be there another day, if you stop breathing, you won’t) It is also important to expand the scapula away from the spine, ‘stretching’ through the rhomboids, and traps. As well as Scapula retraction and depression to ‘stretch’ the pectoral muscles when in spinal extension (back bends).
In my hopes to “incentivize” you, I uploaded a 10 minute practice to YouTube focusing on lung expansion movements. Specific Qi Gong breathing practices with sounds didn’t make it into this video but, if you have more questions or would like to book a consult, let’s get in touch.
Please keep in mind that deep breathing exercise is only a fraction of the recovery process. Diet, herbal supplements and formulas, rest, and spending time outdoors in nature, are all included in total recovery.
