What helped the most: Restorative Yoga and Post-Concussion Syndrome

On of the most helpful and soothing activities for me in overcoming post-concussion syndrome has been restorative yoga.  When I was first concussed, I was a beginner doing a regular hatha yoga class twice per week.  I found that I had to stop because it was too much for my head. My instructor suggested we switch to restorative yoga.  I then proceeded to do restorative yoga without fail for a year and half.  My classes were twice/week for 1.5 hours.  On days when I didn’t have a class, I practiced some on my own.  It was life changing.  During the first 3 – 6 months, I would sometimes find that the restorative yoga class itself caused me to be more aware of my headaches during the class.  It was not always pleasant, but my headache levels after the class came down and would stay down for hours at time.  After the 6 month mark, I would be able to go into a restorative yoga class with a bad or a medium level headache and bring it down to a low level by the end of the class.  The classes also gave me the tools right from the beginning to bring my headache levels down on my own at home.

Restorative yoga is about assuming very relaxing poses, with the assistance of an instructor, and then staying in those poses for a length of time and focus on your breathing.  The instructor talks you through it.  It is very easy to do and very refreshing.  At about the 3 month mark of my post-concussion syndrome, I developed insomnia (a common concussion side effect). Practicing the restorative yoga at night to quiet my head cured it. It is also said to help with depression, another common concussion side effect.

I attribute my positive attitude and steady improvements to my long-term commitment to restorative yoga.  I highly recommend it.

 

 

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