I have a student who has a bit of scoliosis in her spine. Lately, she has been getting spasms in her back from the yoga practice. I think that maybe the seated forward fold with both legs straight and with one bent may have been what started it all. Should she avoid these poses? I suggested that she modify them with a bend at the knee. Anything else you can recommend?
Thanks so much, H
I would recommend she practice standing poses more and seated less. The other suggestion is to do poses in which she feels the effects toning her hip rotators, both internal and external, as well as hip flexors (psoas and rectus femoris). These muscles need to be made very strong before one attempts to realign the spinal column. In other words strength before stretching. With persistence (allow 2 years) and adaptations to the changes as her body evolves, I have seen students change up to 50% of curvatures up to 40 degrees.