Yoga Practice and Osteoarthritis


Yoga practitioner Stephen Abhiraj sends the following testimonial about his positive experience with yoga and osteoarthritis (OA):

“My name is Stephen Abhiraj and I am 56 years old. I started my practice of yoga in the 1980s, when I practiced for two years with great discipline. I fell out of practice, but resumed in 2010, and have been practicing yoga relatively consistently since then. During all of these periods, my average frequency of practice was twice weekly on evenings only.

In early 2020, I started experiencing intermittent weakness and pains in my upper left arm. In February 2021, the pains increased in frequency and intensity, and spread to my shoulder and neck. My range of movement of left arm and neck became increasingly reduced. In response, I started to practice specific yoga postures to stretch my spine on a daily basis, such as child pose and standing forward bend. I did get short-term easing, but the pain and limitations of movement continued. In March 2021, I was medically diagnosed with osteoarthritis (OA) in my cervical vertebrae. The Dr. advised that OA can be managed, but not reversed, and that I would just have to live with it for the rest of my life. I was given a neck brace to assist with my times of more intense pain.

In response to the newest wave of COVID cases in my country (Trinidad & Tobago), increased lockdown strategies were implemented nationally to limit gatherings and movements of people. Physical yoga classes stopped, but more organizations started to offer online classes, and my frequency of working from home also increased. My access and availability to practice online yoga increased, so I increased my frequency of yoga practice to an average of 12 times a week (i.e., most mornings and evenings).

After maintaining this frequency of practice for about a month, my pains and limitations of movements became significantly reversed. I regained my full range of movements in my left arm, neck, and head, with only minor discomfort during certain specific movements remaining. Now that the lockdowns are being eased, some organisations are reducing their offerings of online yoga, and I am required to physically attend to work more frequently than work from home, so my availability to participate dropped to between two and three times per week, and some of my OA symptoms are returning.

This experience has convinced me that:
1. my practice of yoga is an excellent option for the management of my OA;
2. the practice of specific movements and postures did help ease my OA, but complete practice sessions provided far better results; and
3. a minimum frequency of practice is necessary if I am to sustain the relief from my OA symptoms, and three times per week is insufficient.

It is my hope that the lessons from my experience can also be used by others who have similar maladies, to gain some level of relief and that the quality of their lives can be improved in a similar way that mine has, as a result of practicing yoga.”