About six years ago, I had my first bone density test and found out that I had low bone mineral density (osteopenia). An osteopenia diagnosis means that I had lost some bone density, but not enough to call it osteoporosis, and not enough to necessarily treat it with a bone drug.
12 Poses for Osteoporosis
- Tree Pose (Vrksasana)
- Triangle Pose (Utthita Trikonasana)
- Warrior 2 Pose (Virabhadrasana II)
- Extended Side Angle Pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana)
- Revolved Triangle (Parivrtta Trikonasana)
- Locust Pose (Salabhasana)
- Bridge pose (Setu Bhandasana)
- Supine Hand to Foot 1 (Supta Padangusthasana I)
- Supine Hand to Foot 2 (Supine Hand to Foot 2)
- Marichi’s Pose 3 (Marichyasana III)
- Half Lord of the Fishes Pose (Ardha Matsyendrasana)
- Corpse Pose (Savasana)
How I Started
In the 6 years since I started yoga, my lumbar spine improved to normal bone density in the first two years (it didn’t have very far to go), but my femur neck stayed pretty much the same until it dipped into osteoporosis in December 2020.
Weight-Bearing Activity
After thinking hard and reading as much as I could about bone health, I decided to add more weight-bearing activity to my daily routine. Due to Covid-19, I hadn’t walked as much as I normally do, and the additional sitting around might have been what sent me into the osteoporosis range in my femur neck. I would be happy to get my femur neck score at least back into the osteopenia range.
I am in good health and have proper levels of the applicable nutrients and hormones. Suspecting that more muscle strength might help, I decided to keep my daily yoga routine, restart walking as much as possible, and add more weight-bearing activity, such as carrying large containers of water around the house and adding 1-pound ankle weights for walking.
I won’t know if the additional weight-bearing activity is working until my next bone scan, but I have noticed my back, arms, shoulders, legs, ankles, and hips feel much stronger. The question is, will my femur neck notice it too?
Dr. Fishman’s Sequences
- View Loren Fishman Sequence 1: Twelve Poses vs. Osteoporosis on YouTube for free.
- Purchase Dr. Fishman DVD(s) with sequence 1 and/or 2 on his website (sciatica.org) near the bottom of the page.
- Sequence 3 is out, but there is no DVD yet. On sciatica.org at the bottom, you can sign up for his newsletter to find out when he teaches sequences 1, 2, and 3 online.
Monica Pawlan has been a student of Iyengar yoga for about six years. She is currently taking yoga classes from Linda Bostrom, co-director of Iyengar Yoga South Bay, in Campbell, California. Monica lives in San Jose, California, with her husband and two cats.
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