During our Ask Me Anything challenge in November, we got a really relevant question from one of our followers, Kathy. She wants to know how to stay injury free in yoga practice, specifically while beginning a yoga practice on her own. If you are someone looking to begin, improve, or go deeper into your own yoga practice and stay injury free, then you have landed on the right post.
3 things to help remain injury free in yoga practice
-
Start yoga practice under a good yoga teacher –
– We have many options available to us nowadays. Yoga videos, online yoga classes, podcasts, yoga books, gym yoga and lots more…While all these are great and have their place, if you are someone looking to start a yoga practice, stepping into the unknown, the best place to start is under the guidance of a yoga teacher. Find a qualified, competent yoga teacher who knows their stuff. Professional yoga teachers can correct your yoga pose alignment, suggest yoga poses specific for your needs and body, and much more.
-
Have someone watch you –
It is great to develop a home yoga practice, but to have a qualified yoga teacher watch you in your yoga practice is invaluable. They can guide you, inspire you, and tell you where you need to do more or less. They watch you move through your yoga poses and can offer your corrections, modifications and even progressions as needed. So starting under a good yoga teacher is a key factor for a successful yoga practice
-
Develop better body awareness
– When you practice yoga on your own, you are limited in your body awareness. When a yoga teacher guides you through a variety of poses, they teach you where to focus, how to engage the right muscles, and how not to overload muscles and joints in a yoga pose. You learn to become aware of all parts of your body evenly and not be limited by your own preferences or biases. This will be tremendously beneficial in the long run.
We have a video answer for this question as well if you would much rather watch than read the blogpost.
We would love to hear from you, have you ever been injured in a yoga pose, yoga class or anywhere else? What have you been able to do to prevent this ? Please share your experience with us in the comments section below.
