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Ask the Teacher is an advice column that connects Yoga Journal members directly with our team of expert yoga teachers. Every other week we answer a question from our readers. Ask your questions hereor send us a message at asktheteacher@yogajournal.com.
Please provide suggestions for working with a yoga student with vertigo, how to handle their participation, and can we do exercises similar to the Epley maneuver to help you?
—Nancy in Greensboro, NC
We turned to the emergency doctor Amy C. Sedgwick, MD, E-RYT, for advice. In addition to being board-certified in emergency medicine, she also has extensive training in acupuncture, myofascial techniques, yoga and meditation. In her work with emergency care patients and in her private practice Medicine Within, she applies her knowledge of complementary, alternative and Western medicine for a holistic approach to wellness. She is the founder of Riverbend Yoga and Meditation Studio in Yarmouth, Maine, and a senior teacher of yoga medicine.
From an emergency medicine perspective, dizziness is one of our most challenging complaints to evaluate and treat because it can be something completely benign or something terrible. As a doctor, it is difficult to make an accurate diagnosis without being able to perform a battery of tests. And as yoga teachers, it is completely beyond our scope of practice to diagnose or define the cause of dizziness.
If a student says, “I feel really dizzy,” you should be extremely careful with that person. Even for me – a doctor, acupuncturist and yoga teacher – making that happen during class is incredibly challenging. I’d probably make them stop practicing. Consider simply asking them to breathe slowly and rest in a sitting or lying position.
You may recommend that the student press on acupressure points to assist while he or she rests and recovers. I have found stimulating Kidney 1 point to be very helpful. It is located just below the fleshy mound of the big toe pad at the base of the arch of the foot, where a divot forms when you pick up a towel with your foot. Massaging or pressing that point helps strengthen the kidneys qi.
I wouldn’t recommend doing things like the Epley maneuver. (This is an exercise that helps correct a certain type of dizziness, by moving calcium crystals from the semicircular canals in your ears. This exercise can be done at home, but is designed to be done under the supervision of a healthcare provider.) As soon as you ask When someone does that, you have essentially made a “diagnosis” and are starting treatment based on your diagnosis. Consider simply asking them to breathe slowly and rest in a sitting or lying position.
The teacher is there to facilitate the yoga class, not to make medical assessments, even if the teacher is a doctor. So many yoga teachers feel they should try to help as best they can. But again, be careful and don’t try to diagnose and treat. That falls outside your practice area. Instead, suggest that they be evaluated by a medical provider. If necessary, call an ambulance or offer to call a friend to help him get medical care.
Do you have a question about alignment in a particular yoga pose? Would you like to better understand an aspect of yoga philosophy? Do you need advice on how to handle a challenging situation in your classroom? Ask your questions here or email us at asktheteacher@yogajournal.com, and we may answer it in an upcoming column.