At many of our retreats over the years, we’ve had participants living with glaucoma who still wanted to enjoy the full benefits of a yoga practice — safely and mindfully. In fact, at our recent New Zealand retreat, one of our guests, an experienced and active yogi, joined us after being diagnosed with glaucoma. Like many others, he hadn’t realized he had the condition until the damage was already done.

Glaucoma affects the optic nerve and is often linked to increased pressure inside the eye (intraocular pressure or IOP). Some traditional yoga poses, particularly those that involve inversions (where the head is positioned below the heart), can raise eye pressure temporarily. However, a thoughtfully modified yoga practice can still offer you all the benefits of yoga — strength, flexibility, calm, and connection — without compromising your eye health.

Our recent retreat guest in New Zealand – upon discovering he had Glaucoma – continued his daily yoga practice with a few simple adjustments, focusing on what feels good and supportive for his body — and avoiding any strong inversions. On the retreat we introduced him to Chair Rest — lying down with the legs elevated on a chair — which offers similar restorative benefits to Viparita Karani, lying down with the legs inverted up a wall, but without the head resting below the level of the heart, so a safe inversion without putting any pressure on the eyes.

If you’re wondering, can I still practice yoga with Glaucoma: The short answer is — yes, with a few mindful adjustments. If you’d like to find a yoga class where the teacher can instruct you in the correct ways to practice perhaps seek out an experienced Iyengar teacher. Once you’re familiar with ways you can practice each type of asana, you’ll feel more comfortable modifying the asana’s yourself within any yoga class – no matter what the style.

Read on for more tips on which yoga postures are safe to practice and which ones to avoid or to modify.