May 10th is World Lupus Day, which aims to raise awareness about systemic lupus erythematosus. You may or may not have had someone who lives with lupus in your classes, so this is a quick ‘things to keep in mind’ guide for you. Lupus is an autoimmune disease where a person’s body attacks its own tissues. It’s considered a form of arthritis, but instead of attacking joints, it can attack any bodily system. Lupus affects approximately 1.5 million people in the US, and disproportionately, women.
Because lupus is an autoimmune disease, its symptoms are episodic and referred to as flares. When a person is having a flare, they’re likely to be in pain and have extreme fatigue, rashes, and potentially a fever. Flares can also cause permanent organ damage, so lupus patients obviously try to avoid triggering their lupus. A lupus trigger can be UV exposure (see below for more resources on lupus & sun safety).
Once you’ve covered sun safety, or if you teach at an indoor pool or focus on AFEP classes, you might think there’s nothing else to consider. However, being able to teach in a way that serves people who live with lupus also helps people who live with many other episodic conditions. Like lupus, most forms of arthritis, including low back pain, osteoarthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis, will flare and subside. When you can help people who live with lupus, you’ll be a better teacher for everyone.
An excellent way to include people with a variety of health conditions is stepped cueing. This means that before you offer the biggest, hardest, craziest level move, you’ve offered an easy version, a middle version, and then the hard version. This allows everyone to work at the intensity level that suits them. The yoga teacher Dianne Bondy describes this as bus stops. No one rides the bus past their stop, so why, if a person is not feeling good, would they work at a level that’s not right for them?
Teaching Aquatic Exercise to Students with Lupus- An exercise example with stepped cueing:
Option 1: In a wide-legged stance, ask people to open and close their arms in the transverse plane. Do 10.
Option 2: Opposite hand and leg come closer together in the water, returning to the wide-legged base. Do 10 of the previous option or 10 of these.
Option 3: Wide-legged jump, reaching fingers and toes to touch in front, landing in a wide-legged base, open arms. Do 10 of these or 10 more of either of the previous moves.
Everyone does the same number of reps of a similar activity, but each person gets to individually decide what is going to suit them best. As a teacher, you don’t have to worry about knowing each person’s diagnosis because you’re empowering them to make the best choices for their body. If you approach each move you offer in this stepped format, you’ll safely accommodate people who live with lupus or many other health conditions. You have the power, and the privilege, to guide many people to better enjoy movement while living with lupus and other conditions.
Keep making a positive difference in your community.
This article originally appeared in the AEA Leader Tools. You can read the original on their website.
Read More of my Articles on Aquatic Exercise and Lupus
Lupus Awareness and Sun Safety
Additional Resources on Sun Safety for Lupus
The Lupus Foundation of America offers an article specifically for those living with lupus in the article, 5 Need to-Know Facts About Sun Safety, along with additional resource links.
Read the Arthritis Foundation’s article, Safe Sun Protection, posted on their website.