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Yoga is big in Northern Virginia, with new studios and online offerings popping up all the time. When practiced safely, it’s an excellent way to build strength and flexibility and boost mental health. It can make us more mobile, more functional, and even more mindful. But we do see injuries from yoga, often when patients push themselves too hard. Here’s a look at some of the benefits of yoga and tips for avoiding injury.
How Can Yoga Improve My Strength and Flexibility?
Yoga is an ancient practice combining physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines. It originated in India more than 5,000 years ago and had deep ties to spiritual and religious practices. The way we practice yoga in the US usually focuses primarily on the physical component, using a series of poses and movements to strengthen and stretch our bodies. However, even western classes feature breathing and mindfulness techniques that can also benefit our mental health. Yoga has plenty of fitness benefits and is an excellent activity for men and women of all ages. It can help us improve function by building strength, boosting flexibility, and improving balance. One of yoga’s most positive features is a focus on core strength. Many poses are rooted in developing a healthy core, which promotes back and joint health. Yoga’s breathing and breath control practices can also have wide-ranging health benefits.
What Are Common Yoga Injuries?
The health benefits of yoga are well-documented. However, experienced practitioners and beginners alike can get injured while practicing, especially as we age. We see injuries from the more challenging poses like shoulder stand, headstand, backbends, and poses that put pressure on the wrists. The most common yoga-related injuries are strains, muscle tears, and sprains in the usual locations for sports injuries: the neck, shoulder, wrist, lower back and the hip, knee, and ankle joints. Yoga poses can also aggravate existing injuries, so be sure to talk with your instructor about past injuries, surgeries, and areas of concern.
How Can I Avoid Injury While Practicing Yoga?
Many yoga devotees practice safely throughout their lives. We usually see injuries when participants turn yoga into a competitive sport and push themselves to take on advanced poses too early in their practice. Yoga is not an activity where keeping up with the Joneses is advised. Here are some tips for practicing safety and avoiding injury:
- Start with the basics and focus on gradual progress. Start with a beginner class and master basic poses before moving forward.
- Don’t push yourself too hard. Focus on your progress instead of what others in the class are doing.
- Build good form by working with an experienced instructor.
- Communicate with your instructor and ask for modifications and corrections as needed.
- Use props like blankets, belts and blocks to help you extend reach and stretch gently and gradually.
- Consider your fitness level and find a style and class that works well for you.
How Can I Find The Right Yoga Style For Me?
There is a yoga style for just about everyone, from 8 to 80 and beyond. Yoga styles range from highly athletic to mellow and relaxing. The best way to find the style that’s right for you is to research and connect with local studios to find the best fit. In a nutshell, more athletic classes like vinyasa or ashtanga yoga focus on movement and flow. Bikram and hot yoga also tend to be physically demanding. Many beginners start with a standard hatha yoga class, which focuses on physical postures but moves at a slower pace than the vinyasa/flow approach. Yin yoga and restorative yoga tend to be more relaxing and focused on gentle stretching. Many studios also offer adaptive yoga, including chair yoga for seniors and others with limited mobility. Whatever style you choose, share your health status and any concerns with your instructor or studio. They can help you find the perfect class for you and meet your individual health needs.
What Should I Do If I’m Injured While Practicing Yoga?
Yoga injuries are usually soft tissue issues, and we approach them like other sports injuries. Like other activities, yoga can bring joint or back pain to the forefront and give us a red flag to address a potential injury. If you hurt yourself during a yoga class, physical therapy is an excellent approach:
- Targeted exercises help us build strength and regain mobility.
- Building core strength helps us build balance, hold poses comfortably and avoid future injury.
- PT techniques like ultrasound, massage, electrical stimulation, and dry needling help us manage pain without prescription drugs.
If you see an orthopaedist or physical therapist or have a previous injury or surgery, talk with your provider before beginning your practice. If you experience pain while practicing yoga, reach out to your provider for an individualized recovery plan. At Countryside Orthopaedics, our orthopaedics and PT teams appreciate the value yoga practice brings into the lives of so many of our patients. We see the benefits a safe yoga practice can provide. At the same time, we understand that, like other physical activities, injury can occur. Our goal, as always, is to offer pathways to a healthy recovery to help you get back to the activities you love.