How to avoid yoga injuries
Yoga has been widely used to relieve stress, recover from injuries, reduce or eliminate back pain, manage weight and to help heal a number of diseases.
By Ericka Bryant

You may have heard about yoga in the news lately and seen reports regarding the many benefits of yoga. Yoga has been widely used to relieve stress, recover from injuries, reduce or eliminate back pain, manage weight and to help heal a number of diseases. The physical form of yoga, called Hatha Yoga, is indeed beneficial for all of these things and countless others.

But what happens when yoga hurts? Recently the media has focused on growing concerns over injuries sustained by people practicing yoga. Enormous class sizes, inadequately trained or inexperienced teachers, broad variances in physical abilities among students, and students who refuse to listen to the instructor are all major issues.

The biggest issue of all is yoga is not an exercise. Yoga is much more than an exercise. People get hurt when they lose sight of what yoga is.

Yoga is a method, ultimately, for connecting with the divine or with cosmic consciousness. Regardless of your religion, Hatha Yoga is the first step in cleansing and training the body and mind to prepare for a state of spiritual awareness and connectedness that can be experienced during meditation or any type of prescribed contemplation.

However, the many phenomenal "side effects" of a consistent Hatha Yoga practice, like stress relief and back pain relief, routinely attract large crowds of people to yoga classes everywhere.

Unfortunately, gyms and corporate conglomerates masquerading as yoga studios recognized the potential for a tremendous increase in their bottom line profit by exploiting yoga. Because their financial concerns override any other, it becomes a numbers game, and the only way to win is to pack people in by the scores or even by the hundreds. Thus the opportunity for injury to occur in such places is substantial. Avoid them altogether if you can.

Here are ten tips to help avoid yoga injuries:

•Look for a place where the class sizes are relatively small. This is very important. The smaller the class size, the more personal attention you receive and the less likely you are to get injured. A class that has more than 25 people in it is generally unmanageable, even by the best teacher.

•Find a studio where you get personal attention and where a trained professional can answer any questions you have before you begin. If you are put in contact with a sales person rather than an instructor, an experienced practitioner or the owner, think twice about attending. They only care about selling you something.

•Don't take a more challenging class than you are ready for to get a "better workout." Yoga will awaken muscles you forgot that you had. It also requires a good deal of focus and solid understanding of foundational postures. Learn the basics first.

•Ask your instructor(s) how long they have been practicing yoga and if they practice yoga regularly. Most instructors who are worth their salt and truly know the practice from the inside out have been practicing for at least five years. Most also practice on their own three times per week or more.

•Yoga should never hurt. Be aware of your body and its limits. Just because someone else can fold completely in half and touch their nose to their knees does not mean you can or should at this moment. If it hurts, you've gone too far.

•Listen to your body. You are in your body, not the instructor. Just because the instructor tells you to do something does not mean you necessarily should, nor does it mean the instructor is a bad one. It just means you are in a different place.

•Be aware that in every pose you have options and choices. If

you cannot comfortably you cannot comfortably get into a pose, use a prop or ask your instructor to help you out.

• problems. You remember what you used to do "when you were a kid" and assume you can do it now. Don't let fond remembrances of yesteryear or your ego create a physical issue for you.

•Don't treat yoga like a sport. Yoga is a practice. Leave your ego at the door. Don't compare yourself to others. Turn your attention inward where it belongs. If you try to get competitive, you will very likely hurt yourself.

•Look for a studio that offers meditation and other classes or workshops for advancement of higher consciousness. It may sound silly, but these are the places that still know what yoga is all about and do their best to help their students get all the help and attention they need.

There are a lot of great yoga studios out there, and biggest is not always best. Do some research and find one you truly love.

Ericka Bryant is the owner of True Yoga in Westlake Village. She has practiced yoga and meditation for more than eight years. Contact her at Ericka @trueyoga.com