About Elizabeth Freeman

Elizabeth Freeman (500 E-RYT, YACE) 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. She has also trained in Trauma Sensitive Yoga (2016). 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.

Elizabeth holding asparagus in the garden

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

What yoga poses are safe following Total Hip Replacement?

The short answer is all 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! 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, tenderness, and swelling. The same...

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...

Relax and Restore – Because it feels so good!

Intentional relaxation is as important as building strength for health and healing following total hip replacement. Yoga offers a whole range of wonderful ways to relax in the form of Restorative Poses. The main goal of Restorative poses is to prop your body in the...

Yoga Technique & Alignment: Essential for health and longevity of joints

Technique and alignment in your yoga poses is essential for the health of your new hip(s). If you are practicing proper technique this means you are using proper alignment and this in turn will make your hips happy!! On the physical level, practicing proper technique...

Strength – Your Best Friend

Strength stabilizes joints. It increases bone density. And it helps you avoid dislocation. Which means that strength is every Hippie's best friend. When I was preparing for hip replacement, my brother, who had already had both his hips replaced, said “Whatever you do...

Dislocation- No Thanks!

Dislocation for a person with total hip replacement is when the ball of the prosthesis pulls out of the socket. It happens to only about 2% of THR cases within the first year. The most common cause of dislocation is an accident – a fall, a crash, a hard impact – and...

Yoga and Pain Management: Take a deep breath

Almost every person who is going through THR experiences pain in one form or another. I experienced pain in the months before my surgery because I was dealing with bone-on-bone in my hip socket as well as a labrum tear. Yoga helped me manage the pain; I’m not just...

Questions for your Surgeon

"The more you understand about your total hip replacement surgery ahead of time, the better." Here is a list of questions that were important for my understanding. Look for links at the bottom for more detailed information. These questions are specifically for your...

What is the “Core?”

“Core Trunk” muscles stabilize our spine. We have muscles in our trunk in the front of, on the sides of, on the back, on the top of (diaphragm) and on the bottom of (pelvic floor) the spine. All these muscles play a role in supporting our spine and play a crucial role...