Yoga is touted as a cure-all activity; go to yoga to cure your aching back, fix your misaligned hips and straighten your spine… Sure, yoga can definitely help with all of these things but it’s important to note that just like any other sport or activity, you can be injured, especially if your practice is lacking form or you’re receiving instruction from an unqualified teacher.
Overall, yoga is very healthy for the body and mind and the very small risk of injury should not keep you from stepping on the mat. Read on to learn all about yoga injuries, how they happen, and how you can avoid them.
What are the 5 Most Common Yoga Injuries?
Overstretching
You may have heard your yoga teacher say “listen to your body,” or “find your edge” a gazillion times, but it comes with a reason, all these reminders are to help us prevent overstretching our muscles and ligaments.
Overstretching can cause significant injury and should be kept in mind when doing deep, long stretches.
Overstretching is when you push your muscles past their normal limit or range of motion, this can cause tears in the muscles or connective tissues.
You may be overstretching if you feel pain during or after stretching. Becoming overly sore after stretching can also mean that you may be taking it too far.
A good point of reference is this: stretching can be uncomfortable but it should not be painful.
How to Avoid Overstretching in Yoga
A good way to avoid overstretching is to start with a warm-up. This is a great way to literally warm up the body by getting the blood flowing into the muscles. This is especially important if you are getting into deep poses like Pigeon, Lizard, or Bow Pose.
Continue by stretching slowly, this will ensure we are not inadvertently pushing our muscles past their limit. Sometimes when we move too quickly we may accidentally injure ourselves.
Stay mentally focused on the area you are stretching so you are very in tune with what your body is telling you. Our bodies have built-in mechanisms that will protect our muscles and ligaments from overstretching, and these signals manifest in pain! So by paying attention we will immediately know when enough is enough, or when we’ve reached “our edge.”
Avoid stretching while distracted or when you already have an injury that is currently healing.
Injured Wrists
A lot of poses in yoga require putting our entire bodyweight onto our wrists, which can be a delicate area. Poses like Downward Facing Dog, Table Top Pose and Chaturanga requires weight on our wrists.
How to Prevent Injured Wrists in Yoga
A good way to prevent wrist injuries is by evenly distributing weight across the entire palm of the hand and keeping the hands just below the shoulders to maintain good form.
You may even want to practice wrist stretches and wrist strengthening exercises to help prevent wrist injury and sprains.
Injured Shoulders
Shoulders are another area that tends to be injured when practicing yoga improperly. Most of these injuries occur from improper form. It’s imperative to make sure you are not collapsing into the shoulder, which can look like letting your shoulder come up to your ear in poses like Upward-facing Dog, Lizard Pose, or Camel Pose.
How to Prevent Injured Shoulders in Yoga
Always keep the ears away from the shoulders.
Practicing Chaturanga improperly is another missive that many yogis commit. This pose done incorrectly over time can create a strain or even injury in the shoulder joint.
When practicing Chaturanga, make sure not to dump your shoulders forward which can bring all your body weight directly into the shoulders. Conversely, try to keep the shoulders upright.
If you do not have enough strength yet, try practicing with 8-points-on-the-ground and Cobra as an alternative. This variation of Chaturanga has much less of an impact on the shoulders.
Injured Hips
Yoga is very focused on “opening the hips,” which feels amazing and is very beneficial for the body as a whole. But with this focus just on the hips, injuries can occur from misalignment and overstretching.
How to Prevent Injured Hips in Yoga
When practicing hip openers, try to keep the hips square. Imagine there are lights or eyes just in front of each hip, always make sure the lights or eyes are looking directly forward.
Some poses are also just too deep for inflexible folks, so try lesser variations of these postures, or don’t attempt them at all until deeper flexibility is achieved.
Injured Knees
The knee is like the lever of the body, it’s constantly moving and taking a lot of impact. Many yoga poses require us to bend into our knee which if done improperly can overstrain the injure the knee.
How to Prevent Injured Knees in Yoga
The Warrior poses, Runner’s, and Low Lunge all require weight on our knee, the best way to avoid injury is by keeping a 90-degree angle between our ankle and our knee. This means the weight is dispersed down into our feet and up through our thighs. Knee directly over the ankle also helps balance.
Another mistake that can injure the knee is by letting it sink into the midline, it’s important to push the knee outwards from the midline of the body. This creates a perfect architecture of the body.
Yoga is very focused on “opening the hips,” which feels amazing and is very beneficial for the body as a whole. But with this focus just on the hips, injuries can occur from misalignment and overstretching.
Common Mistakes in Yoga That Can Cause Injury
We’ve already talked about how maintaining proper form while practicing yoga can help prevent injury and build strong muscles and bones. Below are some of the most common yoga-specific mistakes that can cause injury to the body.
Tented Hands
One of the most important cues to follow when we have our palms on the mat in poses like Downward Facing Down or Cat-Cow is to make sure that our entire palm is in contact with the earth.
Tenting our palms, or allowing parts of our palms to break contact with the mat, can cause strain on our wrists and can cause injury. Whenever we have our hands on the ground, practice keeping your entire palm flat on the ground with your fingers gently grasping the mat.
Knee Not Over the Ankle
Letting our knee come over the ankle or pass over the midline is quite common in poses like warrior and crescent.
You can minimize impact load on the knee by making sure the knee and the ankle are always in a direct line above or below each other. Injury can happen when the knee repeatedly goes over the ankle, breaking the 90-degree angle.
Focus on keeping the knee and ankle at a 90-degree angle. Also, make sure that the knee isn’t falling inwards toward the opposite knee.
Locked Knees in Forward Fold
Forward Fold Pose can create a lot of strain on the lower back or even in the hamstrings in people who are not flexible, so it’s important to put a slight bend in the knees when bending over. Especially when warming up or if you are not flexible.
Locking the knees can also compromise balance because not all the muscles in the legs are active when the knees are locked. So this is another reason to keep a slight bend in the knees. This is important for people who are working on their balance or older yogis.
Bad Chaturunga Form
Chaturanga is one of the poses that people make the most mistakes in.
In Chaturanga, when we are coming down into a plank position, sometimes people’s arms are not strong enough so their torso lurches forward causing all your body weight to dump onto your shoulders. This can cause damage over time.
It’s important to focus on keeping your shoulder right above your hands and not dipping your head forward toward the mat. Also, if you lack the muscle strength to keep the shoulders high, you can try a modified Chaturanga with your knees on the ground and then come up into Cobra Pose instead of Upward-facing Dog.
Improper Inversion Form
Inversions are super beneficial for many different reasons, but some people should not be practicing inversions either at all or during specific periods of time. If you have recently had a neck or back injury, it’s important to refrain from inversions. Also, anyone with high blood pressure is not advised to do headstands.
Performing a headstand can also be dangerous because of the risk of falling. So if you are going to practice going upside down, make sure you have enough arm and core strength to hold you up. You can also practice with a friend who will hold up your legs.
In a headstand, form is the most important thing to prevent injury to the neck. Make sure your teacher can give you all the tools and answer all your questions about inversions before you start practicing them yourself.
How Can I Avoid Yoga Injuries?
Avoiding yoga injuries is simple, listen to your body, use proper alignment, practice slowly, and do yoga that is appropriate for your experience level.
It is also helpful to add some strength training to your exercise routine. By targeting certain muscle groups that tend to be injured the most, you will have a great and injury-free yoga career.
Having a Yoga Alliance-Certified yoga teacher that can help you use and find the best form for your body and offer cues or alternatives will be the most effective way to prevent yoga injuries.
Yoga For Injury Protection
Practicing yoga can prevent injuries by strengthening the body. Strength-training the muscles can prevent up to 50% of injuries. Being flexible also keeps the body from getting hurt by providing a larger range of movement. Being more flexible also increases mobility.
Additionally, it has been shown that stretching immediately before practicing a sport or a workout does not help prevent injuries immediately. It is only long-term stretching that can improve your performance in a sport or prevent injury.
Stretching with a daily or even weekly yoga class is a great addition to any athlete’s regimen.
How Much Yoga Is Too Much Yoga?
Too much of a good thing is always bad! There is almost no such thing as too much yoga, but if you are consistently injuring yourself or are beyond what is a normal amount of soreness, you may be doing too much yoga or you may be practicing improperly.
We may also become tired and careless with our form when we are practicing yoga too much, which again can cause injuries.
It’s best to practice yoga when we are alert and feeling good.
How to Recover from Overstretching and Other Yoga-Related Injuries
It’s no fun getting an injury no matter how small. If you find yourself injured from overstretching from a yoga class or otherwise, follow these steps to make a swift recovery.
Rest – Make sure to get rest as that will make for a speedy recovery.
Ice – Apply pressure and cold packs to the affected area
Vitamins and eat well – Make sure to get plenty of Vitamin C to speed recovery of the joints and eat a healthy, balanced diet.
Hydrate – The body needs water to recover, aim for at least 3 liters a day.
Call a doctor – When your symptoms have not resolved in 2 days or if the injury is very painful, it might be a good idea to visit a doctor.
Have you ever been injured from yoga? Do you have any other tips or tricks for keeping good form during practice? Leave your comments below!
*This blog post is purely informational and is not intended to provide advice that should otherwise be given by a medical professional. All bodies are different and before starting any new activity or diet, check in with your medical practitioner.
Meditation is a powerful practice that everyone from celebrities to gurus touts for its amazing effect on happiness, mental clarity, and overall health.
There’s a reason why it’s so popular, it can be life-changing medicine. But many people don’t use the powerful and underutilized key tool of meditation: mantras for the chakras.
Did you know that using mantras for the chakras during a meditation session can open and clear the chakra energy and help you go deeper in your meditation practice?
Read on to find out more about the mantras for each of the chakras below.
A mantra can be a word, phrase, or sound used for the purpose of reaching a higher state of consciousness. By flooding our minds with this mantra, we are able to “wipe the slate clean,” and keep thoughts from intruding on our quest for attaining a spotless mind.
Mantra is a Sanskrit word; “Man” means ‘mind’ and “Tra” means ‘to transcend.’ Mantras are effective when used repetitively alongside traditional meditation techniques, i.e. sitting calmly and centering one’s focus.
Repeating mantras for the chakras creates a vibration and this vibration is believed to be what helps meditation practitioners “breakthrough” and transport their minds to a different place. Our bodies are made of mostly water and sound creates vibration, so it’s believed we are aligning our bodies via sound waves when we repeat mantras.
Many people who practice meditation regularly describe their state of mind during meditation as quite psychedelic and some people have visions or travel to unknown places.
Bija means seed in Sanskrit and the Bija Mantras are a list of one-syllable sounds that correspond to each chakra. Choosing a seed mantra that corresponds to a chakra can be a very powerful healing process, as each chakra represents a realm of energy in our body.
There are 7 chakras and they start near our pelvic region and progressively move up the spinal column ending at the space just above our head.
It is believed that we are all on a journey to ascend the chakras energetically, from the bottom up, eventually reaching the highest point of consciousness just about our head.
Because of this upward movement, some people can become “stuck” on a chakra, and unable to ascend. Stale or stagnant energy can block a chakra, or pain and trauma affecting that specific chakra can also affect the overall balance of each chakra.
By using seed mantras for the chakras that correspondto each chakra, we are able to move and transform energy from the chakra which gives us a greater ability to move onto the next chakra or clean stagnant or bad energy from that chakra.
Why Is There A Different Sound For Each Chakra?
let’s break down the concept of different sounds for each chakra in a simple way.
Chakras are like energy centers in our bodies. There are seven main chakras, and each one is connected to different feelings and organs. People believe that these chakras have specific sounds associated with them.
The reason for different sounds for each chakra is like having different keys for different doors. Imagine your body is a house, and each chakra is a room. To enter each room (or chakra), you need the right key (or sound). Each sound is thought to vibrate at a specific frequency, which can help balance and heal that particular chakra.
So, these different sounds for each chakra are like special keys that help unlock the energy in those areas of your body. People use these sounds, along with meditation and other practices, to keep their chakras and, in turn, their bodies and minds, in harmony.
How Does Energy Get Stuck In A Chakra?
Imagine your body as a network of pathways through which energy flows, kind of like rivers. These pathways are called meridians or nadis. Chakras are like whirlpools or energy centers along these rivers.
Now, sometimes, these whirlpools, or chakras, can get blocked or clogged, just like how debris can block a river. This blockage can happen due to various reasons, like stress, negative emotions, trauma, or even unhealthy habits. When these blockages occur, the energy can’t flow smoothly through that chakra.
Think of it as a traffic jam on a busy road. When the road is clear, cars (or energy) can move freely. But if something blocks the road, the cars get stuck. Similarly, when energy gets stuck in a chakra, it can lead to physical or emotional problems.
People use practices like meditation, yoga, or energy healing to remove these blockages and keep the energy flowing smoothly through their chakras. By doing so, they aim to maintain a healthy balance in their body, mind, and emotions.
How Using Mantras For The Chakras Can Help You Ascend The Chakras
Now, imagine your chakras as spinning wheels of energy inside your body. Each chakra is associated with specific qualities and emotions. When these chakras are balanced and clear, you feel healthy and positive. However, sometimes, due to stress or negative experiences, these chakras can become blocked or imbalanced.
This is where mantras come in. Each chakra is linked to a particular sound or mantra. By chanting or meditating on these specific mantras, you can focus your energy on a particular chakra. The vibration of the mantra is thought to clear blockages and balance the energy in that chakra.
For example, the mantra “LAM” is associated with the root chakra, which relates to your sense of security and stability. By repeating “LAM” during meditation, you concentrate on this chakra, helping to clear any obstacles and allowing the energy to flow freely.
As you work with these mantras for each chakra, the idea is that you are ascending or moving up through your chakras, balancing and aligning them. This balance is believed to bring emotional well-being and spiritual growth. It’s like tuning each chakra to its perfect frequency, ensuring your inner energy flows smoothly, promoting both physical and mental harmony.
How To Use The Seed Mantras For Chakra Meditation
Mantras are most effective when used with other traditional meditation techniques. Begin by finding a quiet and comfortable space where you know you won’t be bothered for at least 15 minutes. Turn off your phone and dim any bright lights.
Then, sit in Sukasana Pose, or seated with your legs crossed in front of you. If this pose is uncomfortable, you can also utilize a meditation cushion or sit on a yoga block to ease tension on the hips. The main goal is to be as comfortable as possible, this will help you focus on the mind instead of the body.
Begin by sitting upright in your preferred seating position and closing your eyes. Rest the hands on your knees. Begin to bring awareness to your breath, this will immediately start to calm the body and mind.
Begin any breathing exercises here. Then with your chosen mantra, begin repeating the mantra either out loud or internally inside your head. Repeat the mantra slowly and deliberately.
The purpose of the mantra is to focus your mental awareness on the process of clearing the mind; having the mantra to repeat means we are not letting any other thoughts take root in our psyche.
Alternatively, you can use the mantra only when thoughts do arise. Repeat the mantra several times until the idea or thought subsides. Use the mantra throughout your mediation session for as long as you find necessary.
Experiment with it and see what technique works best for achieving a crystal clear, elevated mind. Meditation is not a one-size-fits-all, you’ve got to find your own customized path to enlightenment.
Sounds Of The Mantras For The Chakras
Using this bija mantra list, find out what sound belongs to what chakra and suggestions on when to use each sound.
Note – All sounds ending in -AM are pronounced like “mom” or “CD-ROM.
Mantra For Root Chakra
Element – Earth
Sound – LAM
Use this mantra if you are feeling super disconnected and need some grounding.
Mantra For Sacral Chakra
Element – Water
Sound – VAM
Use this mantra to unlock creativity and balance your sexuality.
Mantra Solar Plexus Chakra
Element – Fire
Sound – RAM
Use this mantra to cultivate confidence and alight your inner warrior.
Mantra For Heart Charka
Element – Air
Sound – YAM
Use this mantra if you are in need of receiving or giving forgiveness.
Mantra For Throat Chakra
Element – Space
Sound – HAM
Use this mantra if you are currently seeking truth in your life.
Mantra For Third Eye Chakra
Element – Mind
Sound – OM
Use this mantra if you are anxious about the future.
Mantra For Crown Chakra
Element – Consciousness
Sound – Silence
Use the chakra energy if you literally open your mind to new ideas.
Now all you need to do is start! Find a nice quiet place to sit and see what mantra resonates with you the best.
Have you used mantras in your meditation practice? Leave a comment below about your experience with meditations and mantras.
Inversions like handstands and headstands are some of yoga’s apex poses. A lot of people think they are incredibly difficult but these are poses that a novice can pick up easily with the right guidance and practice.
These upside-down poses also have many super-powerful benefits for our bodies and mind. So much so that you will want to immediately incorporate them into your daily routine.
Read on to find out all the amazing benefits of headstands and inversions in general.
Inversions Can Make you Taller and Improve Posture
This “subluxation” of our spine not only feels really good but is helping put more space in between our vertebras. People who do headstands can be taller on average by 1.25″ to 1.5″.
This stretching of the spine against gravity also improves our posture. It puts our spine into an optimal natural position and over time can correct bad posture.
Headstands Lower Blood Pressure
Inversions are known to lower your blood pressure. This can be a great practice for people who are looking to have a healthier heart. When going upside down, blood pressure slightly elevates for the first 10 – 20 seconds, and then lowers and evens out.
This also triggers the “rest and digest” response, which makes you very calm and at ease.
People who do inversions describe a sense of peace after practicing these poses.
Can Help Your Body Deal with Stress Better
Inversions like handstands and headstands can help our body deal with stress on a molecular level because inversions are initially stressful on the body.
When we invert, our body is flooded with stress hormones. Giving our body this small dose of stress hormones daily trains our body to deal with them better in the future.
Inversions Can Improve Your Immune System
Have you heard old yogis prescribe daily handstands for total well-being? Well, there is some truth to this old adage. Going upside down builds our immune system by aiding the lymphatic system.
Lymphatic fluid is dumped into our bloodstream when we go upside down and inside lymphatic fluid are agents that clean our system of things that could potentially make us sick.
Our spleen and the tonsils produce macrophages and lymphocytes which is what is in lymphatic fluid. Macrophages are the garbage collectors of our body and lymphocytes kill bad stuff or old cells.
Inversions also move the spinal fluid which carries nutrients, meaning we can more efficiently carry and move nutrients around the body.
Adding inversions to our yoga practice can help us stay younger. Inversions release norepinephrine which is related to sex, dopamine which helps attention, and serotonin which creates joy and happiness.
As we age, hormone production gradually decreases. By adding inversions to your routine, you can keep your body’s hormone production in tip-top shape.
Best Way To Practice Handstands and Headstands
Sometimes wanting to do a handstand is easier said than done. A headstand is the best place to start vs a handstand which requires far more upper body strength. To start, you first need to build strength and balance. Practicing yoga can help with both of these things.
Poses that can get your body strengthened for a headstand are Dolphin Pose, Downward Dog, Plank Pose, and Chaturanga.
The optimal time for an inversion is 70 seconds. You can practice them daily and if you need an extra immune boost you can do them several times a day.
People Who Should Not Practice Inversions
Not all people should invert, anyone with severe or mild hypertension or vertigo should refrain from going upside down. There is also a contraindication for people using Viagra.
What’s the head rush all about? When you do an inversion blood pools in your head which over a long period of time can cause hypoxia, where oxygen can’t get to the brain, when you turn right side up the rush of oxygen, causes the head rush. Over time our body gets used to the inversion and minimizes the effects.
Should you do Handstands on your Period?
There is a lot of advice about refraining from headstands while you are on your menstrual cycle. The reason for this is that going upside down is literally “going against the flow” of your menstrual cycle.
Although this is a popular idea to avoid inversions, there really isn’t any scientific evidence to back it up. The choice is up to you, just listen to your body and do what feels right.
Inversions are powerhouse yoga poses. Leave a comment below about your experience with the benefits of headstands and handstands.
*This blog post is purely informational and is not intended to provide advice that should otherwise be given by a medical professional. All bodies are different and before starting any new activity or diet, check in with your medical practitioner.
Reading is one of the most powerful ways to expand your mind and get introduced to new ideas. But sometimes finding a book that really resonates with your path can be a chore. Over the years, there are several books that have really stuck with me, books that I think of or reference from time to time. I can honestly say these books have actually added substance to my life.
Next time you are looking for a new book to dive into, check out these titles below and leave a comment if you’ve read any of these wonderful life-changing books.
The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
You have probably heard of this book, it’s an incredibly popular novel, especially among spiritual folks. So popular that I thought it was overrated until I finally gave it a chance. I was glad that I did.
The Alchemist is about a young man following his path no matter what boundaries get in his way. It is also set in the middle east which is a very colorful and interesting setting.
Being a quick read, its story is impactful and if you are into the “magic” behind our lives, this is a super insightful read. Not only is it an entertaining and fun read, but you will also be able to recount the story and discuss the meaning behind the story with practically every yogi you will ever meet. Paulo Coelho also has a large array of other books that I have heard are quite good.
The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle
There are enough spiritual books out there to make your head spin… But if you are going to read just one, make it this one. This is one of the most powerful spiritual books I have ever read. It put the world of attaining peace in the moment and a higher level of spirituality in layman’s terms. So much so that I have gifted this to folks that perhaps have never even stepped inside a yoga studio.
Tolle explains ways to calm your body and mind in ways that just make so much sense. I was so calm while reading it and I also felt incredibly empowered to continue using the techniques. Using the practices in this book also helped me greatly deepen my meditation practice.
Breath – James Nestor
Breath is such an intrinsic part of the yoga and meditation practice, but how much do we really know about our own breath or the history of how it’s been studied or practiced? That’s just what you’ll learn in this super well-researched and fascinating book all about the one thing we do all day long mostly without even thinking about it.
Nestor goes back in time to the early days of monks using their breath to achieve insane feats, to the modern day of utilizing the breath to attain the highest level of fitness and mental acuity. This book should be required reading for every human on the planet, let alone every yogi.
How to Change Your Mind – Michael Pollan
This was a very entertaining and mind-expanding read. It is not necessarily spiritual or about yoga but it is in the realm of spirituality and being able to heal oneself naturally and radically. Pollan is an excellent journalist and he dives head first into the world of psychedelics and how and why they are important in our lives and in the day and age of humanity.
I found this book incredibly insightful because yoga and meditation are used universally as a natural way to enhance our bodies and heal both physical and emotional trauma. Pollan explains how things like magic mushrooms can also help people heal in a natural way. A lot of folks in the yoga community are savvy to this idea already, so if this is something you are interested in, this book gives an overhead view of what’s happening in the world of ‘changing your mind.’
The Untethered Soul – Michael Singer
The Untethered Soul was borderline life-changing, similar to The Power of Now, this book makes climbing higher into enlightenment seem incredibly attainable. Not only that, I found this book so focused on happiness, if you or someone you know is struggling with finding happiness, this book was a great compass.
This is another book I have gifted to people I thought it could help. The way it was portrayed by the author, made being happy and open a very exciting idea and you just immediately want to start improving yourself while reading this book.
