Yoga, an ancient practice that focuses on channeling good energy to different parts of the body by engaging in various poses, has become more and more popular over the years. The number of people who take part in this kind of workout routine has increased steadily over the years.
Common Injuries in Yoga and How to Avoid Them
Unfortunately, so does the number of people who suffer injuries from this kind of exercise. If you are not careful, transitioning between different yoga poses will take a toll on your body.
For this reason, you should see to it that you know everything about yoga practice and safety before you personally try out this workout routine. Here are some of the most common injuries that people experience when they do yoga, along with helpful tips as to how you can avoid them. Peruse through them and see to it that you keep yourself protected from these injuries when you do your poses.
Separation of Lower Back Ligaments
This kind of yoga injury is common among those who practice yoga, especially among those who try out complicated poses that are well beyond their level of expertise. Most of the time, injury that involves misalignment of lower back ligaments and of the SI join is experienced by those who try to straighten their legs without releasing the pressure on their hamstrings.
One surefire way to avoid this injury is to ensure that the different muscles in your legs are softened and relaxed prior to attempting a straight-leg pose. A couple of breaths in and out and a clear mind will give you the relaxation that you need to achieve the pose without hurting yourself. If you find that the pose is simply too hard for you, then you may cheat by bending your knees a little. Also avoid digging your hills too much into your yoga mat to avoid unnecessary pain.
Shoulder Pain and Strain
Those who focus on their arms and upper body by performing arm balance poses are prone to experiencing shoulder injuries. This kind of injury often results from uneven pressure all over the body. While it may seem that this kind of pose requires focus on the arms and shoulders, it is anything but that. Yogis who think this way will surely experience pain on their upper parts.
To avoid this injury, make sure that you observe and maintain proper body alignment as you do your poses. Also make sure that you use your back and your thighs to hold your pose. This way, you will be able to ensure that your shoulders and arms are not the only parts that are experiencing the pressure.
Twisting of Inter-Coastal Muscles
Yoga practitioners are prone to tearing their inter-coastal muscles, which are the muscles that are located between the ribs. Usually, this kind of injury is sustained from twisting poses. Those who suffer from this kind of injury are usually those who try to do their twists without maintaining the right posture.
To avoid this king of injury, see to it that you maintain the right and the best-aligned posture as you twist your body in both directions. See to it that you also do not overexert yourself and only twist your body as far as you can, to avoid exerting unnecessary pressure on your rib muscles.
Whether you own a yoga studio, or just own yoga pants, mastering basic yoga poses is essential to developing the strength, balance, and flexibility needed in performing more complex poses later on:
Tree Pose
Tree pose involves maintaining a steady balance on one leg. This will help strengthen the stabilizers in your feet, and increase stamina in your legs, back, and core muscles. Maintain this pose for at least 30 to 60 seconds before switching sides:
Standing straight up, shift your weight slightly onto your left foot, and bend your right knee. Your left instep and ball should be firmly pressed to the floor.
Clasp your right ankle with your right hand, and gradually draw the sole of your right foot up against your inner left thigh. Your right heel should be above the left knee, with your toes pointed downward.
Rest both hands on the rim of your pelvis. At this point, the center of your pelvis should be directly over your left foot.
Lengthen your tailbone toward the floor, and press your right foot firmly against your left thigh. Slowly raise your hands high over your head, and raise your chin.
Child’s Pose
This pose is meant to relax the body by lengthening the spine and stretching the back and shoulders. Because this is a resting pose, you can maintain this position for up to a few minutes before getting back up.
Kneel on the floor with your feet close together so that your big toes are touching.
Sit on your heels, and spread your knees until they are as wide as your hips.
Exhaling, lay your torso down between your thighs and point your chin to your collarbone.
Lay your hands face-up alongside your torso, and let your shoulders relax towards the floor.
Downward-Facing Dog Pose
This pose improves flexibility in the hamstrings, as well as strength in the shoulders, core, and arms. As this pose requires more endurance, try to hold it for at least one to three minutes.
Begin on your hands and knees, with your hands in front of your shoulders, and your knees directly under your hips. Pull your toes back so that they are resting on the ground.
Exhaling, lift your knees from the floor, pointing your tailbone directly upward, and pulling the hips backward.
Straighten, but don’t lock, your knees and press your heels to the floor. Straighten your back.
Extend your arms and fingers so that your shoulder blades are contracting inward. Keep your head between your upper arms without letting it hang.
Cobra Pose
As strong core muscles are crucial to effective yoga, it’s important that they receive plenty of rest and stretching. Cobra pose provides such a stretch, and only needs to be held for around 30 seconds or so.
Lying face-down on the floor, stretch your legs back with the tops of your feet to the floor.
Rest your palms on the floor just beneath your shoulders, elbows against your body.
Inhaling, begin to straighten your arms until your chest is off the floor. Press your hips against the ground, and gently contract your glutes.
Pull your shoulders back and your shoulder blades inward while puffing out your chest.
Warrior Pose
If you spend much of your day sitting, you may find your hip flexors becoming tight. Warrior pose provides a full stretch of your hip flexors and defends against lower back pain. You should hold this pose for 30 to 60 seconds before switching sides.
Spread your feet until they’re about three to four feet apart, and raise your arms straight up, fingers pointed upward.
Turn your left foot slightly inward, and point your right foot 90 degrees outward, then slowly rotate your torso to the right (shoulders should be parallel with the edge of your mat).
Plant your left heel, and slowly bend your right knee until you feel a pull in your left hip flexor.
Lift the ribcage from the pelvis and reach up with your hands. Complete the stretch by raising your chin towards your hands.
Sage’s Pose
This is basic pose is designed to stretch the back, glutes, and hamstrings. It also helps bring alignment to the spine. About 30 to 60 seconds on each side is sufficient.
Sit on the floor with your legs extended, ankles together, and heels on the ground. Then bend your right knee until your right heel meets your right glute.
Pull your left toes back toward you and push the ball of your left foot forward to straighten your leg. Press your right heel into the floor.
Exhaling, rotate your torso to the right and hold your right thigh with your left arm. Relax your right hip, and rest your right hand on the floor just behind your pelvis.
Lengthen the spine with each breath and bring your right thigh closer to your chest until you feel a pull along your right glute.
While there are many more important poses to add to your yoga repertoire, mastering these basic poses is a great place to start. When performing basic yoga poses, remember it is not a race against the clock. Just take your time, and remember to breathe deeply.
The promise of yoga is to unite your finite self with the Infinite Self. There’s no better way to enhance that journey than to practice yoga with your partner or yoga for couples. Sexuality and spirituality are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the ancient yogis understood that a worshipful attitude towards your partner created a neuro-chemical change in the brain that allowed for the experience of ecstasy and bliss in couples meditation and couples yoga.
Meditation is a very private, internal experience that a person has with his or her inner Self. It is an important technique in the quest for a sacred sexual relationship. Meditation improves self-esteem and heals individual wounds, allowing the development of self-awareness that can lead to a heart-centered opening in the love relationship with one’s self or one’s partner. Meditation also connects one to one’s soul and balances the female and male energies in the body. Certain meditations can enhance the feeling of ecstasy experienced during sex. Other meditations have been known to end arguments, get rid of grudges and clear the clouds between couples. Couples Yoga uses a variety of sacred yogic meditations for couples as a way to augment the experience of oneness. These couples’ meditations are an especially beautiful practice that can elevate your relationship to a higher level.
1. Can couples yoga foster romance?
If you begin a couples yoga class with an existing partner, talk with each other before going to the first class about what you want from this. Try not to let your expectations get overblown in terms of how the class can remedy any specific relationship challenges you’re having. Go in with an open mind and heart — not with a sense that this is going to fix something, but a willingness to learn and grow together by sharing and connecting through yoga. It can be sensual though, if practiced with loving intention and can secretly set the mood. If the low lighting and candles — two things that most yoga masters recommend to help de-stress while doing yoga — don’t help set the tone, doing yoga together allows you to perform partner-assisted poses. These types of postures require a partner to help the other person get a full stretch or just get into position. Having to focus on your partner’s body, plus all that extra touching, lets you be playful as you exercise together
Spirituality Merge in Yoga Poses and Couples Meditation
2. What is the purpose of specific moves?
The first part of the class is a time to ground, center, learn to synchronize energy and breath and become sensitive to your partner’s rythms as well as start to gently warm up the body. The second part of the class is a time to build up more heat in the body with some balancing poses that challenge somewhat as well. As partners are able to get into more difficult poses, this builds self-esteem, confidence, emotional mastery, focus and this can heighten the bond as well. Some of the poses are aesthetically wondrous when you are juxtaposing bodies or mirroring. Some poses are childlike and playful and bring you back to a place of wonder and innocence. The last part of the class is both restorative with poses that you melt into in order to rebalance the central nervous system or there is guided Thai massage where intention, rather than technique is emphasized. The last pose is “Corpse” pose where student are able to integrate and process all the deep work and the body can reset itself from a place of renewal and rejuvenation.
3. How does yoga for couples allow one to experience another?
It makes you more attractive. This may not seem important, but the truth is, the more thoughtful and focused on your partner you are, the more endearing you will seem to her or him. . That’s because anytime a person expresses genuine interest in someone else and committed to just being physically and emotionally present — you will feel a sense of safety and support on a purely kinesthetic level. When you experience a profound truth through the experience of the body, it becomes ingrained in your mind and heart as well. Without realizing it, simply committing time to doing yoga with your partner becomes an opportunity to strengthen your level of intimacy — something that always adds strength and solidity to any partnership. It can reveal interpersonal dynamics about the couples that lead to inner growth and intimacy. Learning how to become really attune to your inner world while simultaneously being totally present to your partner is not a gift we often receive.
4. What are we meant to experience?
As each participant learns to let go and trust, the partners begins to explore spiritual levels of the practice together. They build on the energy of each other and create a better understanding of their connection as well as the practice of yoga. It removes distractions that keep humans from focusing on each other.
Yoga means something different for everyone: for some people, it is an opportunity to unwind, relax, and find balance; for others, it is a means of healing through strength, flexibility, and focus. For many, it simply means putting on yoga pants with the intent of doing yoga.
If you are new to yoga, it is natural to feel a little silly, even intimidated—the positions don’t feel natural at first, and experienced yogis make difficult and complex poses look as easy as 1-2-3. And while these experts have spent years of disciplined exercise shaping their bodies and minds, even they at one time were beginners. Yoga is a wonderful opportunity to bring a stressful life into balance; just remember a few important tips.
1. Wear Comfortable Clothes
So, yes, they are called yoga pants for a reason; however, almost any clothing without the word “yoga” in front of it will also be appropriate. When selecting your new yoga wardrobe, look for the following qualities in the fabric:
Lightweight: Yoga is just as much a physical challenge as it is a mental and spiritual one. Consequently, you will likely sweat from physical exertion. Make sure your clothing is lightweight and breathable to help you stay dry and comfortable.
Flexible: While many of us may not be terribly flexible, our yoga clothing should be. This will allow you to literally stretch your physical limits as you bring your body and spirit into harmony. Avoid practicing yoga in jeans or other material that restricts movement.
Form-Fitting: It can be easy to feel self-conscious while practicing yoga, especially if you’re a beginner. However, clothing that is too loose or requires persistent tugging and adjusting can distract you from your goal.
2. Give Yourself Enough Time
Adopting a new lifestyle or hobby will require you to adjust your current routine, and the process of becoming a yoga expert is no different. Just remember not to rush your yoga session, as feeling rushed will invite feelings of stress and anxiety and will be counterproductive to your goal of balance and enlightenment. While truly mastering certain yoga techniques can be quite time consuming, other techniques take very little time
Meditation: You don’t need hours to properly meditate. In fact, useful, meaningful meditation can be completed in a matter of five to 10 minutes. Just remember to free yourself from all distraction—cell phone, computer, people, etc.—and you could even meditate at your work desk!
Stretching: Some sessions can take up to 45 minutes or more to complete; however, if you have a problem area you’d like to focus on, you can do a specialized session in less time.
3. Learn to Breath Correctly
The average person takes a breath approximately 30,000 times each day (and unconsciously at that), yet very few of us take the time to learn how to breath effectively. Proper breathing, both in yoga and throughout the day, provides an optimum level of oxygen to our bloodstream while using the least amount of energy. This in turn allows us to feel more awake and relaxed, and less stressed.
Posture: Whether you’re sitting, standing, or lying down, keep your back straight, shoulders relaxed, and your chest and abdomen open. This will allow for unobstructed airflow.
Inhalation: Inhale slowly through your nose, taking in as much air as you can. You should feel like your chest and abdomen are inflating.
Exhalation: Take a short pause before exhaling to allow your body to enjoy the new air. Then, slowly exhale through your nose until you need to take another breath.
4. Find a Focal Point
Many people have the false belief that true relaxation involves sitting motionless in front of a television, eyes mindlessly fixed on the bright lights and flashing colors. However, true relaxation requires total focus, especially in yoga. During your sessions, find a positive focal point for your mind as well as your eyes:
Concepts: Words like “peace”, “truth”, or “love” not only affect us emotionally, but they can also affect us physically by relaxing our muscles and increasing blood flow.
Sounds: Occasionally, playing relaxing music or listening to the voice of your instructor can be a great focal point.
5. Strive for Consistent Improvement
Above all else, strive for consistent improvement. Avoid comparing your progress, or perceived lack of progress, to that of others; your best may not be the same as someone else’s best. Set personal goals that are both challenging and realistic. For example, if you have trouble reaching your toes, work consistently to make that goal a reality. If maintaining a certain pose is difficult for you, look to develop your strength and balance until you perfect it. Remember, these things take time and patience, so don’t become frustrated if you’re not an instant expert.
5 Yoga Tips for Beginners
The great thing about yoga is that anyone can do it. By making the necessary preparations, you can bring your life into harmony and balance, and maybe even use those yoga pants for what they were intended.
Now a break from enlightenment and a dip into pop culture.
Kim Kardashian Doing Yoga
So we know the two are very much in love, but according to insiders Kim has managed to persuade her man to sign up to Couples Yoga in order to “make their love life even better”.
A few years ago in the midst of Kim Kardashian’s divorce from Kris Humphries I wrote a post about how yoga could have make an impact in her commitment to staying married. Maybe this path into Couples Yoga will help her and Kanye?
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West may be as loved up as we’ve ever seen them, but according to a new report the engaged couple are keen to inject even more passion into their relationship with the help of some couples yoga classes.
The TV star and her rapper beau got engaged back in October after welcoming their adorable baby daughter North in June.
Kim and North have been following Kanye across the country in recent weeks as he continues his Yeezus tour, with the new parents spotted indulging in a PDA filled shopping trip on Friday.
So we know the two are very much in love, but according to insiders Kim has managed to persuade her man to sign up to yoga in order to “make their love life even better”.
Kim has been on a health kick since giving birth, with the star proudly showing off her impressive 50 pound weight loss just five months after welcoming her little girl. It sounds like Kim is keen to keep up the hard work as she allegedly hires a private instructor to show her and Kanye how to do yoga in a Hatha style in order to make them more flexible.
Kim & Kanye look loved-up in Miami (Splash News)
A source explained to US OK! Magazine: ”Kim says if their bodies are more flexible, it will make their love life even better. She has convinced him that it’s good for his state of mind and if he finds inner peace, he will be even more creative.”
Kanye is known for his incredible work ethic so we’re betting anything that helps him expand his mind is a plus! The source added:
”Kanye likes to see himself as spiritual and a great thinker, and suddenly he’s getting all enthusiastic about Buddhism and finding his karma.”
