Isometric yoga program for ME/CFS and long COVID
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- Опубліковано 13 бер 2017
- To everyone watching this video:
The first time you watch this program, please just watch it once (it is fine to stop to take breaks) to get an understanding of the general flow. It may be tiring to try to practice together with the video the first time you watch it. After you get the general idea, I recommend practicing one part at a time from the second viewing. It may be easiest to begin with the isometric yoga exercise of drawing your knee towards your chest (about 12 minutes in to the program). Please assume that it will take at least three times to understand this isometric yoga program.
Once you are able to practice, your body may begin to feel warmer, or you may feel more calm and quiet. These effects can be gained from practicing just one part of the program as well. If you do not feel this effect, there are various possible reasons. You might be exerting too much effort, or the pace of your breathing may be too fast. It is also possible that you have become distracted, or are too concerned about creating the pose.
While doing the practices, feel your breath and the changes in the muscles you are moving. Be aware of the actual sensations happening in your body as you practice. The effectiveness of the program diminishes if you practice while thinking about the next pose or other concerns. Do not worry too much about the form of the pose itself, because effects like improved circulation and relaxation are felt after the pose is finished. This is why the time spent resting after the pose is actually more important. After each pose, return slowly and gently to your resting position. Then you will feel the warmth of improved circulation and you may notice that the side you moved is lighter than the side you are to do next.
On days when you do not have enough energy to move, it is ok to just put your hands on your abdomen or chest and bring your attention to your breath. Take your time to bring your breathing into a slow and comfortable pace. If you can relax your breathing, your mind will also relax. In this way, you can take some distance from unpleasant thoughts and feelings. This makes it easier to notice small improvements and to give yourself the attention you need.
Points to make isometric yoga effective! (from Takakazu Oka)
Please take note of the following points to make isometric yoga practice more effective:
(1) Position of the waist: The first point relates to position of the waist when moving up and down (3:30). When you lower your waist, be sure to release your back and hips towards your heels. This will allow you to relax your back and neck, including respiratory muscles, so that you can feel more relaxed and can breathe easily. Some patients who correctly perform this technique say, " I can lie down easily than ever."
(2) How much force to use: There are several ways to determine how much force is best. First, practice with various levels of strength. Try at half of your maximal strength (50%), then half that (25%), then another half (12.5%).... Find “your optimal strength of the day (not coffee of the day)”, so that you can practice comfortably without effort on that day. Second, make an "ummm” sound when you practice, and pay attention to the sound you are making. If you put too much strength into your workout, your voice will not come out. It's best to be able to vocalize smoothly while practicing, because this shows that you are not using too much force or tension and you are practicing smoothly.
(3) Applying "awareness" to your everyday life: Even if you practice this every day, it is practice for just 20 or 30 minutes a day. The effect is subtle. What is more important is to generalize these feelings and mindset to your daily life. Make a habit to have time to look at yourself objectively and to be mindful. A habit to listen to your body through yoga will nurture your “inner wisdom”, through which your “pacing” will become easier and more effective one. You will be able to come up with clever solutions on limited energy. More importantly, practicing isometric yoga will help you to feel yourself adorable and satisfied, which is crucial to cope with this disease. Look at the model's face around 30:30.
To ME/CFS researchers and specialists,
This isometric program was used in the following study.
1) Oka T, Wakita H, Kimura K: Development of a recumbent isometric yoga program for patients with severe chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: A pilot study to assess feasibility and efficacy. Biopsychosoc Med 2017, 11:5.
2) Takakura S, Oka T, Sudo N: Changes in circulating microRNA after recumbent isometric yoga practice by patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: an explorative pilot study. Biopsychosoc Med 2019, 13:29.
To everyone watching this video:
The first time you watch this program, please just watch it once (it is fine to stop to take breaks) to get an understanding of the general flow. It may be tiring to try to practice together with the video the first time you watch it. After you get the general idea, I recommend practicing one part at a time from the second viewing. It may be easiest to begin with the isometric yoga exercise of drawing your knee towards your chest (about 12 minutes in to the program). Please assume that it will take at least three times to understand this isometric yoga program.
Once you are able to practice, your body may begin to feel warmer, or you may feel more calm and quiet. These effects can be gained from practicing just one part of the program as well. If you do not feel this effect, there are various possible reasons. You might be exerting too much effort, or the pace of your breathing may be too fast. It is also possible that you have become distracted, or are too concerned about creating the pose.
While doing the practices, feel your breath and the changes in the muscles you are moving. Be aware of the actual sensations happening in your body as you practice. The effectiveness of the program diminishes if you practice while thinking about the next pose or other concerns. Do not worry too much about the form of the pose itself, because effects like improved circulation and relaxation are felt after the pose is finished. This is why the time spent resting after the pose is actually more important. After each pose, return slowly and gently to your resting position. Then you will feel the warmth of improved circulation and you may notice that the side you moved is lighter than the side you are to do next.
On days when you do not have enough energy to move, it is ok to just put your hands on your abdomen or chest and bring your attention to your breath. Take your time to bring your breathing into a slow and comfortable pace. If you can relax your breathing, your mind will also relax. In this way, you can take some distance from unpleasant thoughts and feelings. This makes it easier to notice small improvements and to give yourself the attention you need.
Points to make isometric yoga effective! (from Takakazu Oka)
Please take note of the following points to make isometric yoga practice more effective:
(1) Position of the waist: The first point relates to position of the waist when moving up and down (3:30). When you lower your waist, be sure to release your back and hips towards your heels. This will allow you to relax your back and neck, including respiratory muscles, so that you can feel more relaxed and can breathe easily. Some patients who correctly perform this technique say, " I can lie down easily than ever."
(2) How much force to use: There are several ways to determine how much force is best. First, practice with various levels of strength. Try at half of your maximal strength (50%), then half that (25%), then another half (12.5%).... Find “your optimal strength of the day (not coffee of the day)”, so that you can practice comfortably without effort on that day. Second, make an "ummm” sound when you practice, and pay attention to the sound you are making. If you put too much strength into your workout, your voice will not come out. It's best to be able to vocalize smoothly while practicing, because this shows that you are not using too much force or tension and you are practicing smoothly.
(3) Applying "awareness" to your everyday life: Even if you practice this every day, it is practice for just 20 or 30 minutes a day. The effect is subtle. What is more important is to generalize these feelings and mindset to your daily life. Make a habit to have time to look at yourself objectively and to be mindful. A habit to listen to your body through yoga will nurture your “inner wisdom”, through which your “pacing” will become easier and more effective one. You will be able to come up with clever solutions on limited energy. More importantly, practicing isometric yoga will help you to feel yourself adorable and satisfied, which is crucial to cope with this disease. Look at the model's face around 30:30.
Thank you for posting this video. After watching this video, I tried the program for the last 3 days and it has eased my body after long period of sitting. I would highly recommend this yoga method to not only ME/CFS patients but also young people who experienced fatigue from study and work.
Thanks!
To ME/CFS researchers and specialists,
This isometric program was used in the following study.
Takakura S, Oka T, Sudo N: Changes in circulating microRNA after recumbent isometric yoga practice by patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: an explorative pilot study. Biopsychosoc Med 2019, 13:29.
Dear Dr thank you for this great video! It helps my muscle pain. Just for anyone reading this, Postural Orthostatic Tachychardia Syndrome (POTS) often gives similar symptoms to CFS. If you have usually low blood pressure you may have POTS
To ME/CFS researchers and specialists,
This isometric program was used in the following study.
Oka T, Wakita H, Kimura K: Development of a recumbent isometric yoga program for patients with severe chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: A pilot study to assess feasibility and efficacy. Biopsychosoc Med 2017, 11:5.
Dear Dr. Takakazu, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude for sharing this insightful video. Your dedication to address the unique needs of ME/CFS patients through innovative therapeutic approaches is truly commendable. After a long and tiring day at school sitting for the whole day, I decided to give it a try and I must say, it truly worked!!! But, there is one thing I’ve been wondering. In your experience, what are some of the most notable improvements or benefits observed in ME/CFS patients who have participated in this yoga program? Thank you once again for sharing your expertise and insights.
Thank you, Lin. Benefits most patients experience include improvement of fatigue and pain and calming of the noisy brain. When the brain becomes less noisy, the patient becomes less anxious and achieves a peaceful silence. It also increases vitality. These are acute and short-term effects.
The long-term effect is that the patient's way of coping with fatigue changes from one that is achievement, goal, or duty-oriented to one that is based on the body's needs. This change is critical to helping ME/CFS patients better cope with this difficult disease.
@@okatakakazu5346 Dr. Takakazu, thank you so much for taking some time to answer my question.
Dr. Takakazu, I am deeply grateful to you for this excellent video and program. I am seriously ill with ME/CFS, and this is the only exercise I can do at this time. As long as I follow your instruction to not use all my strength, it really helps me to feel more balanced and energized. I have begun sharing it with fellow patients in my support groups, and they have been enthusiastic. We hope you will be able to produce additional programs for us someday! Thank you, thank you!
Thank you, Laura. I think you practice this program correctly. Today, I updated my comments. I hope they, especially (3), would be helpful for you.
(3) Applying "awareness" to your everyday life: Even if you practice this every day, it is practice for just 20 or 30 minutes a day. The effect is subtle. What is more important is to generalize these feelings and mindset to your daily life. Make a habit to have time to look at yourself objectively and to be mindful. A habit to listen to your body through yoga will nurture your “inner wisdom”, through which your “pacing” will become easier and more effective one. You will be able to come up with clever solutions on limited energy. More importantly, practicing isometric yoga will help you to feel yourself adorable and satisfied, which is crucial to cope with this disease.
Thanks for posting this up, its a struggle for people who have M.E./ CFS to find interventions that help and specifically where the intervention protocol is released in its entirety. Thanks again
Today (Apr. 22), I updated my comments on recumbent isometric yoga program. Please read them before you start. I hope these may be helpful.
Thank you so much for making this available. I haven't been doing it for long enough to feel any significant changes, but so far I haven't felt any extra fatigue/pain the next day, which is amazing
Thank you, Sophie. Today, I updated my comments on this program. I hope these tips may be helpful.
Thank you for sharing your study and this programme. I am keen to give it a try. I have severe ME/CFS and any physical exertion leaves me with extreme fatigue and flare up of a whole host of symptoms. I am hopeful that this programme may help. Thank you again.
Thank you for this video
Thank you for your comment.
This video is magic wtf
Dear Dr Takakazu, Thank you for putting out this video on youtube. I do not suffer from any ME/CFS, but I laid out my yoga mat to practice this, and I felt so soothing for both the mind and body. I do have a question, do you think this exercise might be beneficial for those who suffer from chronic period cramps or just pain in general?
Thank you for watching this video. Of course, yes. The important thing is to practice on a regular basis, not when the pain is severe, as a way to improve pain. However, if you practice yoga when the pain is severe, focusing your attention on your body might make the pain worse. If this is the case, practice the same poses while focusing on your breathing. In this way, your attention will not be on the pain and you will be detached from the pain you are suffering.
What a terrific video. Are there any more available?
Dr Takakazu is the hum "hmmmmm" sound to promote vagal tone or is it used for a different reason? I'm finding the exercises very useful thank you.
Exactly! There are several reasons for this. Others are to be aware of the slow and smooth expiration and to avoid too much strengths he/she applies with sounds.
Thank you for this video, it is very clear and easy to follow. Do you recommend this practice everyday and is there an ideal time of day to do it?
I recommend to practice this program regularly if possible. However, don't decide when you SHOULD practice. Rather, it is important to listen to and follow your "voice of the body". Your fatigue level may vary from day to day and from time to time. Practice it when you feel less fatigued and less "brain fog".
Please remember this program is not only for improving fatigue and deconditioning but also to get into the habit of listening to your body so that you can have a better coping to avoid crash and post-exertional malaise.
@@okatakakazu5346 thank you
Helpful to some severe but not too severe MECFS patients but it is a shame that objective physiological markers weren't used to measure the effectiveness of the program. It would have been nice if the DePaul Questionaire (a symptom specifically scale for people with ME/CFS) used as the disease is far more than fatigue.
Thank you for your comments.
As you commented, I teach yoga individually to too severe patients if I do. In most cases, I teach just breathing techniques to calm down the idling brain.
I measured changes in blood biomarkers, e.g. several cytokines and stress-related hormones, and regional brain volume by MRI. The results will be published soon.
So far, De Paul questionnaire hasn’t been validated using Japanese population. Therefore, I observed the changes in performance status, which is mandatory to evaluate severity of ME/CFS in Japan, and SF-8 instead. If Japanese version of De Paul questionnaire becomes available, I would like to use it.