About Elizabeth Freeman
Elizabeth Freeman (500 E-RYT, YACE), founder of Yoga for Hip Replacement, has practiced yoga since 1985 and has been a yoga teacher since 1997. She specializes in yoga for people with movement challenges. Her students include those with a range of chronic issues including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, irritable bowl syndrome, as well as those recovering from hip, knee, and shoulder surgeries.
Motivated by her own experience with two hip replacements, she founded Yoga for Hip Replacement as a resource for people preparing for and recovering from hip surgery. Her goal is to offer safe and accessible yoga practices that support the best hip outcome.
She owned and taught yoga at Island Yoga Center on Vashon Island for 18 years and completed the 500-hour Teacher Training Program from Pacific Yoga Teacher Training in 2015. Her teaching is informed by her yoga practice of 35+ years combined with her studies in both Interpersonal Neurobiology and in Trauma Sensitive Yoga. She lives on Vashon Island with her husband and two cats, and spends her free time tending her garden, walking Island trails, or cooking delicious meals for her family.
This website is driven by Elizabeth’s passion for yoga and by her commitment to healthy hips, but it is fueled by the support of her ever-enthusiastic family and the encouragement of her stalwart friends. You know who you are. Thank you is not enough!
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From the blog
The World is Your Mat: Take advantage!
Before total hip replacement our bodies are often limited in the kinds of movement they able to do. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to get down on the floor, to balance, or to bend like we did before the THR journey started. Following THR surgery, your surgeon...
Safe Stretching After Hip Replacement
Total hip replacement introduces a new set of considerations for stretching in yoga. Your range of motion may be different following your surgery. Your surgeon may have given you restrictions on your movement which will limit the kinds of poses you will be able to do....
Infection and Total Hip Replacement: No thank you!
Infection after total hip replacement can be a serious complication, it is worth understanding why and how infections occur. Here is some general information on how they arise, what you can do to avoid them, and the treatment for them if they do happen. First, the...
Yoga while healing from Total Hip Replacement Surgery: A safe post-op asana practice – Free video
Other Videos in This Series
Yoga while healing from Total Hip Replacement Surgery: A safe post-op asana practice. Blog
Following Total Hip Replacement surgery you want to give your body every opportunity to heal. This can take 6-12 weeks. Surgeons often give restrictions on movement for the first 6 weeks or so. Restrictions on movement are meant to protect your vulnerable new hip...
Listen to Your Hands
While going through total hip replacement we want tools at our disposal to support the journey both on and off the yoga mat. Blocks, bolsters, walkers, canes, and other devices help but one of the best supports is our hands! Think of the kinds of subtle information...
Hip Dysplasia – Taking Care
Hip dysplasia in adults is a condition where the hip socket (acetabulum) is shallower than normal with the result that the ball (femoral head) can move around more easily in the hip socket. For us yogis this can present a bit of a quandary. Hip dysplasia usually...
Which Yoga Poses are Safe Following Total Hip Replacement?
The short answer is all yoga poses are safe for total hip replacement if you get creative and shift your thinking about what a pose should look like. The benefits of practicing yoga are rooted in awareness and focus. The shape of a pose will end up being different for...
Healing from Total Hip Replacement and how yoga can help.
Practicing yoga will help you heal after total hip replacement (THR). Studies show that people with bone fractures who practice pranayama (yoga breathing) and intentional relaxation (restorative yoga) experience accelerated bone healing and a reduction in pain,...
Go Slow – Build New Neural Pathways
When you learn to waltz for the first time it is natural to start by taking each step deliberately and slowly. This is how our brains and bodies learn new things. This slow patterning builds neural pathways so that after awhile, the movement becomes second nature and...