This is a wonderful yoga stretch for the piriformis muscle and all the hip muscles. It is a unique approach because it is almost completely passive. You don’t have to do anything but lie there and wait for as long as you would like (spending 10 minutes in this position can be a freeing experience). Because it is so passive, it can also be meditative. Take this opportunity to work on your deep breathing and look for room to intensify the stretch further.

Please note the person demonstrating the stretch is a yoga instructor and extremely flexible.  Your version of this stretch will look quite different.  You may want to start further away from the wall to decrease the intensity of the stretch.  Only bend the leg on the wall when you feel you are ready to increase the intensity.

Guidelines for performing the stretches:

1. Check with a health care professional before you attempt these exercises to ensure that it is safe for you.  It is especially important to rule out any disc problems before you do this exercise.
2. Do the exercises slowly and gently.  Failing to follow the instructions or consult with a health care professional could cause your symptoms to worsen.
3. Try to breathe  slowly and keep your body relaxed.  Do not tense up or hold your breath as this will invite muscle spasm.
4. You should feel a gentle stretching sensation, but you should not feel any pain during the exercises.  If you do feel pain, decrease the range of movement by stopping before you get to the point of pain. Continue the exercise within the pain free range.
5. Pay attention to the position of the lower back.  As the instructor explains, the back should be straight, not bent.  Bending at the lower back is cheating and does not stretch the piriformis muscle.  Also, if you are feeling leg pain or tingling because of true sciatica or sciatica due to a disc problem, you may cause more damage to the disc if you perform this exercise incorrectly.
6. If you cannot find a comfortable, pain free way to do these exercises, discontinue immediately and seek the advice of a health care professional.
7. Do the exercises in a set of 3 for a minimum of 3 times a day for best results.
8. This stretch works best if you hold it for 5 minutes, but you can hold the stretch for a minimum of 15 seconds.

Here is a collection of videos on rotator cuff stretches. This should be the first step of any rotator cuff rehab program

Guidelines for performing the stretches:

1. Check with a health care professional before you attempt these exercises to ensure that it is safe for you.
2. Do the exercises slowly and gently.
3. Failing to follow the instructions or consult with a health care professional could cause your symptoms to worsen.
4. Try to breathe slowly and keep your body relaxed. Do not tense up or hold your breath as this will invite muscle spasm.
5. You should feel a gentle stretching sensation, but you should not feel any pain during the exercises. Be especially careful of any sharp or pinching pain. If you do feel pain, decrease the range of movement by stopping before you get to the point of pain. Continue the exercise within the pain free range.
6. If you cannot find a comfortable, pain free way to do these exercises, discontinue immediately and seek the advice of a health care professional.
7. Do the exercises in a set of 3 for a minimum of 3 times a day for best results.
8. Hold the stretch for a minimum of 15 seconds each time.
9. Receiving massage or acupuncture treatments as part of your rehabilitation can improve your recovery.

These exercises serve to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles and are very helpful if you are feeling weakness, pain or clicking in your shoulder joint.

The exercises work on the internal rotators (subscapularis, teres major), the external rotators (teres minor, infraspinatus), and the abductors (supraspinatus)

Guidelines for performing the stretches:

1. Check with a health care professional before you attempt these exercises to ensure that it is safe for you.
2. Do the exercises slowly
3. Try to breathe slowly and keep your body relaxed. Do not tense up or hold your breath as this will invite muscle spasm.
4. Buy a few different colours of thera bands for this.  Each colour represents a different degree of difficulty.  Start with the easiest band and only move up to a more difficult colour band after you have completed 2 pain free days of exercises.
5. You should not feel any pain during the exercises. If you do feel pain, decrease the range of movement by stopping before you get to the point of pain. Continue the exercise within the pain free range.
6. If you cannot find a comfortable, pain free way to do these exercises, discontinue immediately and seek the advice of a health care professional.
7. Do the exercises a minimum of 3 times a day and 10 reps per set for best results.

This last video goes over correct form and some common mistakes.

Dizziness or Vertigo due to Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo is fairly common but can feel debilitating.  It can be difficult to walk, stand or sit without dizziness or sometimes nausea.  It is caused by a piece of crystal in your inner ear coming loose and positioning itself incorrectly.  The good news is that it is a relatively harmless safe condition and it can be effectively treated with certain exercises.

The first step to treatment is a visit to your doctor to diagnose the condition.  Your doctor may even be able to treat you by performing the Epley Maneuvre or Canalith Repositioning Maneuvre.  If you doctor can’t perform the maneuvre, be sure that they diagnose which ear is affected and visit a physiotherapist that can perform the maneuvre for you.

 The Epley Maneuvre or Canalith Repositioning Maneuvre

The Epley Maneuvre or Canalith Repositioning Maneuvre puts the patient in a series of positions in order to encourage the crystal to float back to its normal place in the inner ear.  It  is quite slow and gentle as you can see in the following video:

Brandt-Daroff Repositioning/Habituation Exercises

After you are treated, you can do the Brandt-Daroff Repositioning/Habituation Exercises at home on your own. The following video explains the Brandt-Daroff Exercises:

Hopefully these exercises will help you get your life back to normal.  A word of caution: This condition often reoccurs after a few years and treatment may need to be repeated.