Yoga Help

The enjoyable way to be pain free and stay active!

With Jessica Lodu B.Sc., PT

Tuesdays 7:15 - 8:30pm

What is Yoga Help?

  • Yoga Help offers therapeutic help for most types of injuries, muscle strains, joint pain, poor posture, or range of motion limitations in different parts of the body.
  • These might have been acquired in everyday life, at work, at home, in the car, or playing sports.
  • With Yoga Help, injuries rehabilitate towards optimal function, pain decreases and is perhaps eliminated, and range of motion improves.

How does Yoga Help work?

  • Yoga Help creates a sequence of postures to address a different injury or mobility limitation.
  • The approach is gradual, always ensuring that the area of concern is thoroughly warmed up before deeper stretches are introduced.
  • There is attention to learning how to relax slowly into postures, so that deep tension can ease out of the muscle and joint in question.

The classes are limited to 12 people, to ensure the degree of one-on-one attention that is needed.

  • There is an introduction to the injury in question at the start of each program.
  • The programs also include a handout to help you continue Yoga Help at home.
  • Certain postures might be added to or subtracted from the handout for the needs of individual students.

With slow and careful guidance, you will work through some of life’s most common injuries and once again enjoy all your daily activities.

Who is Yoga Help for?

  • Anyone having massage therapy, physiotherapy, osteopathy, and chiropractic treatment.
  • It speeds up healing and recovery and allows you to continue to make improvements after your treatment is over.
  • You’ll not only recover full health but also learn the skills to maintain and improve it.

However, you don’t need a referral to attend Yoga Help.

  • You might be taking yoga classes, and see that one of the Yoga Help programs might help you improve your yoga postures in areas where you are having difficulty.
  • It can be a very helpful addition to your regular yoga practice.

And you don’t need to already practice yoga either.

  • You might not practice yoga but feel that yoga postures, applied intelligently to a particular problem that you have, might allow you to get back to doing the work, household projects, or sports you love.

Yoga Help is for anyone who wants to enjoy being active and pain free!

Who teaches Yoga Help?

  • Jessica Lodu is a qualified physiotherapist and yoga teacher.
  • She practices physiotherapy at CBI Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Centre in Halifax (902-423-6666).

Jessica's wide range of skills is what makes Yoga Help a unique and invaluable program.

What is the cost?

Your investment in the program is $79.00 plus HST.

The fee includes a 20 minute personal assessment with Jessica prior to the start of the program.

This assessment is normal when working with injuries, and helps the teachers to help you achieve a more optimal experience from the program.

  • Assessments are scheduled at the Yoga Loft on the Sunday afternoon before the program starts (one day in advance).
  • Please allow time for your personal assessment when you register for a program and please book your assessment time when your register.
  • The program cost is $49 and the assessment cost is $30. You may find that both are covered by your personal or group health plan.

Call the studio at 429-3330 or e-mail us at info@theyogaloft.ca for more information about health coverage.

Also, check with Blue Cross at (506) 867-4783 as the cost of the assessment part of the program is covered by most health plans.

If your employer has a Health Spending Account which covers health related activities you might be able to claim the full cost of the program under this. Please check with your employer to find out.

Yoga Help also benefits employers

  • Some of our Yoga Help programs, such as Yoga Help for Working at your Desk or Yoga Help for a Healthy Back, might be of particular interest to employers.
  • As an employer you might like to sponsor your employees for a portion of the program fee as part of a workplace health and safety initiative.
  • This would be tax deductable as well.
  • Yoga Help for Working at Your Desk can also be offered at your office, either as a lunchtime seminar or as a 4 or 6 week course.

Including Yoga Help programs in an employee benefits package would be a cost effective way of reducing absenteeism due to injury, increasing productivity, employee loyalty and cooperation, and also reducing medical costs.

  • Please call the studio at 429-3330 as we also offer a group rate and private group sessions for any of our Yoga Help programs.

What are the Programs About and When?

Each Yoga Help program is 4-weeks long. A different injury or limitation is addressed each month.

Each class is 1-hour and 15 minutes long.

Yoga Help for Healthy Knees:

  • This program is ideal for anyone suffering from sprained knee ligaments, tendonitis, arthritis, bursitis, or other forms of knee pain or discomfort.
  • Perhaps you’ve spent the summer playing golf, kneeling in the garden, running in the park, or twisting and throwing a frisbee, football or softball and now have a knee complaint.
  • Or you've been shoveling snow or lifting furniture?

Yoga Help for the Shoulders:

  • Are you suffering from frozen shoulder, damaged rotator cuff muscles, or other forms of shoulder pain or discomfort?
  • If you sit at a desk all day, work somewhere or play sports where you follow limited and repetitive movements in your shoulder, or have fallen awkwardly you may have one of these problems and can benefit from this program.

Yoga Help for a Healthy Back:

  • This program is ideal for anyone suffering from muscle strain, disc problems, osteoarthritis, or some other form of back pain.
  • You will learn a series of yoga poses designed to promote basic spinal flexibility, mobility, and strength.
  • Anyone who rakes leaves, digs the garden or shovels snow will appreciate this program.

Yoga Help for Working at your Desk:

  • After just a few hours in front of a computer or working at a desk you have probably noticed the tightness that’s quietly creeping up into your shoulders, upper back, neck and jaw, perhaps with a tension headache; and you might have been experiencing carpal tunnel syndrome too.
  • In addition to correcting your posture, reducing tightness and stress, this program will also show you stretches you can do at your desk and how to set up your workspace ergonomically so that you can work in a relaxed, efficient and enjoyable way.

Yoga Help Program Dates 2010:

Tuesdays 7:15 - 8:30pm

March 2, 9, 16, and 23: Yoga Help for Healthy Knees
April 6, 13, 20, and 27: Yoga Help for the Shoulders
May 4, 11, 18, and 25: Yoga Help for a Healthy Back
June 1, 8, 15, and 22: Yoga Help for Working at Your Desk
July 6, 13, 20, and 27: Yoga Help for Healthy Knees
August 3, 10, 17, and 24: Yoga Help for the Shoulders
September 7, 14, 21, and 28: Yoga Help for a Healthy Back
October 5, 12, 19, and 26: Yoga Help for Working at Your Desk

To carry on after your Yoga Help program, we have other classes that we would recommend:

Therapeutic Yoga at the Yoga Loft:

Yoga Help programs

4 week programs that offer therapeutic help for most types of injuries, muscle strains, joint pain, or range of motion limitations. They gently restore range of motion and flexibility, while eliminating pain and discomfort.

  • Yoga Help Topics: Yoga Help for the Knees, Yoga Help for the Shoulders, Yoga Help for a Healthy Back, Yoga Help for Working at Your Desk.

$79 plus HST (includes a personal injury assessment).

Yoga Help classes

The following classes run continually throughout the year. Students are invited to join at any time.

  • Yoga for a Healthy Lower Back: Tuesdays 9:30- 11:00am and Saturdays 2:00 - 3:30pm
  • Yoga for Your Shoulders and Upper Back: Thursdays 5:30 - 7:00pm from April 8, 2010
  • Mysore Practice: Monday - Friday 6:00 - 8:00am. This is a group class where students receive one-on-one help with different injuries and health conditions.

$15 per class or with a Yoga Loft punchcard.

Yoga Therapy classes

The following classes run continually throughout the year. Students are invited to join at any time.

  • Trauma Sensitive Yoga: Tuesdays 1:30 - 2:45pm.
  • Relax and Renew: Fridays 5:15 - 6:45pm.

$15 per class or with a Yoga Loft punchcard.