I recently came across news about how following social media influencers could result in yoga injuries. Some people, possibly trying out a yoga class online try out poses that they see on social media. Some may view a YouTube yoga class video and misguidedly try to self instruct, resulting in injuries and incorrect techniques. Today I want to speak about the importance of you trying to find a yoga class nearby – a legitimate class with trained instructors as well as ways to avoid yoga related injuries.
Social media influencers and yoga injuries
There are some highly skilled, talented and inspiring yogis on social media, some with millions of followers. Many of them share difficult and advanced poses with their followers; possibly to encourage and motivate others. However a study has found that this trend actually results in significant injuries; some which need hospitalization. Many social media followers fail to understand the practice and science behind yoga. They merely try to imitate yogis who may well have been training for years; don’t understand the correct techniques and land up with injuries.
Consider how simply following influencers can be dangerous: without knowing about the right techniques, without proper warm-up movements or stretches, a follower may try to perform aasans that are beyond their physical capacity or range of movement. So while Eklavya learned to be a brilliant archer simply by observing Guru Dronacharya, it may be unwise for social media followers to try to become Eklavyas!
Avoiding yoga related injury
When performed correctly, yoga helps prevent injury and can even speed up the healing process. It is however, important to keep the following in mind:
- Try to avoid unsupervised yoga practice such as a yoga class online or by following someone’s Instagram page. Rather look out for a qualified, experienced instructor to learn the proper sequence of movements, the correct breathing techniques and the right alignment of the body.
- Respect your body. Don’t try to push yourself to do more than you can. Everyone’s body has its limitations in terms of the range of motion possible and the difficulty level achievable. Understand your limitations and don’t try to push yourself beyond your abilities. Remember it is not a contest; you don’t have to compare yourself with anyone else in class. You are uniquely you. So long as you do your best, there is never any reason to feel inadequate.
- Find your own pace. Some people are naturally very flexible; even gifted. Their progress may be faster. The progress of some others may be slower. This doesn’t matter. We all have our own progress graph and there is no need to try and match the graph of someone else.
- If it hurts it’s probably wrong. Yoga is not supposed to hurt. If it hurts, it is best to tell your instructor. There could be a flaw in the technique or it could be an undetected injury that is causing the pain. In either case, it is important to find out the reason of the pain and to prevent it.
- Warm up correctly and perform the aasans in the correct sequence. If the muscles are not properly warmed up and loosened up with stretching aasans, this could cause injuries. Most experienced instructors will plan a yoga class accordingly: simpler stretches and gentler aasans first, and then the more complex and demanding yoga poses.
- Don’t ignore any medical conditions or injuries and inform your instructor about them. There are some yoga poses that are not recommended for people with heart conditions for instance. Then there are some yoga positions that must be avoided by people with injuries or those who are recovering from surgery. Make sure you and your instructor work in unison to avoid injury and to get the best out of your yoga class.