Multiple health benefits that we get out of yoga practices gives a strong reason to include it as an important part of our daily lifestyle but as every good thing comes with some drawbacks so same is associated with this important physical activity too and that is the risk of injury. However no more worries further as today we have come up with some useful tips you can use to practice yoga safely.
The best part of this ancient time healthful physical activity is that in order to perform or practice it, you don’t require any special equipment, or any special location and other facilities. This is free of cost activity and everyone can reap its full benefits under the condition they know it’s right forms and way to perform it.
The countless benefits of yoga practice are not limited for any particular age group instead it is equally beneficial for a teenager to an older adult. However, you have to be aware of one important aspect of it that its poses are quite difficult and it takes some time to get accustomed by your whole body.
Initially, you will feel more stress in your muscles and will find difficult to stick with it even for five minutes but once you cross the initial phase’s difficulty then your endurance limit can increase up to an hour.
However, only one thing that you should be very alert, for ensuring your safety is maintaining full focus during your practice hours as even a slight distraction may cause you suffering from major fall and injury thereon.
If you are the one who wants to incorporate yoga in your everyday life schedule to improve your quality of life then the below-mentioned tips list will make your path easier as it will guide you more precisely that how you can attain the best possible benefits out of different versatile yoga poses along with complete safety.
10 Tips You Can Use To Practice Yoga Safely
Practice Same Yoga Postures to Gain Confidence
Practicing the same yoga postures every day helps you to gain confidence as with the passes of time you get expert in it and without any difficulty, you become able to perform all sequenced yoga postures flawlessly just like a trained yoga teacher.
So keep this key factor in your mind and implement it in your day to day yoga practice session so that even though you practice only 2 to 3 postures or mudras only but you will be pretty confident about it.
By following this thumb rule you can avail highest benefits for your health out of your daily practice without any risk of severe aches, fall or injury as with time your mind and body get accustomed with it and you get capable to give your flawless performance with a very little effort.
Start Yoga from the Beginner’s Level
You cannot jump start anything from its highest level whether it is an online game, any dance form practice or it is a workout. Everything has certain basics which are very important to go through in order to get perfection in its higher stage.
Similarly for yoga practices also you cannot or you should not start with any tough or most difficult asanas as this single mistake can let you face a major form of injury. So to prevent such risk start your practice from the beginners level.
After that step by step, you can increase the intensity of yoga performance once you get perfection at the basic level. Remember no one gets master in anything within a few days. It requires long term devotion towards practices as the old saying goes “practice makes a man perfect”.
So consider this thumb rule while planning to incorporate yoga as a part of your daily lifestyle which is the key to success in this effective physical activity without any fear of injury or aches.
Maintain a Balance between your Flexibility and Strength
In order to practice yoga safely, you have to maintain a proper balance between your flexibility and strength. Though externally yoga seems all about a flexible body or to the extent a person can stretch himself for performing different postures.
However, this is the only half reality because anyone who is stretching his or her body cannot stick with it more than few minutes unless their body has enough strength to give support to different muscle groups and joints which are involved in those asanas or poses.
The more strengthen your joint and muscle will be lesser the possibility of any injury or the risk will be zero percent. So make sure that you keep focusing on maintaining strength through different practices as this is vital for attaining your highest level of flexibility without any risk of fall or injury.
Use Props to Ensure Safety
One of the effective methods to ensure full safety while practicing yoga is the proper usage of props as it helps in different yoga poses to perform them without any fall, aches, and injury. Moreover, it is also beneficial during the movement from one yoga pose to another under a single practice session.
While changing your body posture to attain the other yoga pose is the peak time when someone can get a victim of mild to major forms of injury if complete care and attention is not maintained. This risk especially increases when you are fresher in this field or you are a self-trainer means not taking help of any trained yoga teacher.
Some important yoga props that will make your yoga fitness session more comfortable, pleasurable and risk-free includes pillows, straps, blocks, etc. Along with ensuring safety during the entry and exit time from one yoga pose to another these props are also useful while you think for practicing some creative or self-made performance and modification of the traditional asanas for better result.
As you are experimenting in something so you never know what output you will get from it or you don’t know at which point your balance can slip and let you fall. Also for advanced forms of yoga, this is very essential that you take full benefit of props to get the highest possible health benefits out of your practice with full safety.
Be consistent
If you want to utilize full fledge benefits of yoga without any risk of injury then you have to be very consistent in it. Take out some time out of your busy schedule, no matter whether it is as less as 15minutes only. People who practice for a few days and after that take a big interval like a week loses their rhythm and their hold on those tough and typical yoga asanas.
This is one of the major reasons of getting an injury when you more often remains infrequent in your practices as after a break, though your already set level is high but to achieve it again after an interval is not so easy. It happens because your body has loosed the flexibility in the meantime resulting chances of getting more pain and risk of fall exists a lot.
However, one can prevent the risk of fall or injury and ensure full safety by maintaining consistency in the yoga practices whether it is done at home or in any professional yoga centers or institute.
Maintain a Smart Sequencing Between Different Asanas
You can imply one smart trick in your regular yoga practices which will not only raises your endurance level but will also ensure full safety even though you prefer to choose intense forms of yoga poses. This you can ensure by maintaining a very tricky sequencing or order of all the yoga poses that you have decided to include in your regular practicing schedule.
This sequence will include more intense forms of asanas followed by less intensive poses which will also be at the same time will be a recovery poses of the previous one. That means the muscle pain and hardship that your body develops in one intense form of yoga get healed and recovered immediately once you practice the very next less intensive and counter yoga poses of the previous one.
This pre-decided list will keep your pace same every day without letting you tired, injured or without any necessity of taking a break for another day for the recovery purpose from the aches, you develop in a day. In this context, you can take the help of trained yoga teachers or can enroll for online training videos which will guide you on how to create a smart sequencing in yoga.
Include Inversions in Sequencing
Another effective way to make your yoga practice more useful and consistent is by incorporating inversions into your sequencing or yoga orders. Inversions in the context of yoga imply for changes of position to the totally opposite direction from the pose what it was.
This activity will turn your upside down that means the bottom position of your body will be on top and the top position will be now in the bottom. It will ensure more blood flow towards your facial area and in your head.
Better blood circulation in the head means more secretion of happy hormones in the body which is important to keep you enthusiastic and motivated for throughout your yoga practice session every day.
Though initially, you will face difficulty to give a perfect pose, however, regular practice will surely make you master of all these special asanas over a long period of time and will prevent the risk of pain or injury out of these yoga poses.
Don’t Put Your Whole Body Pressure on Joints
Yoga is all about full or partial body stretching up to the highest limit of the practitioner. So it is quite obvious that after the end if this fitness session your tired muscles will not support your body unless you are very conscious about your sitting and resting posture.
This is the high time when your joints can get hurt as mostly people unconsciously puts their whole body pressure on their foot joints instead of muscles at the end of asanas. So to avoid the risk of injury in your joints you should be very attentive while sitting.
Make sure that your body pressure is equally divided into your muscles and joints so that your joints would not get overwhelmed with the excessive weight resulting in fracture and severe ache issue risk.
Look at your joints bending position this you can ensure with a micro-bend in your elbows and knees which are two vital joints area of the body. Don’t lean ever on your joints as it can lead to major problems in the future, to ensure safe yoga practices.
Be careful While Practicing Challenging Poses
The flawless inversions, arm, and foot balancing that you see online is not a result of a few days of practice. It takes much hard effort and consistency for a very long duration in order to attain those peaks. No doubt yoga is all about tough and challenging poses which seems doable for a few minutes but sticking with them is not as easy as it looks.
Also, you cannot do any challenging yoga in a single day or within a week. It needs step by step practice for the same pose every day which takes you to that ultimate level where you can give your flawless performance without much straining to your muscles and joints.
However, if someone plans to exhibit those tough inversions and challenging poses within a day then they are not more than a daydreamer. Such practices will give nothing more than a major injury and pain to you which is quite risky for your future health as well as for the consistency plan that you have made in order to ensure your fitness.
It will be quite safe to take help of an experienced teacher for those challenging poses to avoid the risk of those major falls and fracture associated with these tough asanas instead of practicing them by ownself. Professional guidance will be better in this condition unless you get confident to practice them alone.
One safety measure that you must look for in order to avoid an injury risk while practicing inversions and arm balances is that there will be enough space around you for fall otherwise your joints may hurt majorly. Also while landing in the ground you should ensure that your body has the full energy level and you are doing so intentionally.
So make sure the moment you think for landing or while inversions your body is filled with a high energy level, and your mind is attentive so that you will fall only in the right direction. Also if there is a wall nearby then it will work as effective protection for you while doing some difficult poses as you can take the support of wall if you feel pressure in your core and joints area.
Don’t Over Pressurized Your Body
Last but not the least to ensure full safety along with attaining full benefit out of your yoga session make sure that you don’t over push yourself. To ensure this you should respond back to your body when it craves for rest and relaxation.
Remember over pressurizing will not do anything good for you instead of hurting your muscles and tendons which increases your risk of injury in the very next or future sessions.
It is you who know well what and when your body is feeling something, so don’t blindly rely on your yoga trainer instructions.
Any external individual cannot understand what you actually feel and what you actually need at a certain point. So take some rest whenever you feel the necessity for the same.
You can include some breathing technique such as pranayama and meditation which will help you to get your muscles and brain fully relaxed and will prepare you for the next yoga pose in a safe and healthy way.
If you have gone through any major surgery or have some major health problem then before starting yoga practices you should consult with your healthcare provider to avoid any major health risk. Apart from that the above-mentioned, tips, you can use to practice yoga safely and enjoy its full-fledged benefit for your overall health and lifestyle.
[expand title=”View Article Sources“]
- https://www.yogapedia.com/10-tips-for-a-safe-home-practice-from-india-based-yoga-teacher-training-instructor/2/11006
- https://bodypositiveyoga.com/5-ways-to-keep-your-home-yoga-practice-safe-and-fun/
- https://www.huffpost.com/entry/yoga-health_n_1191479
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