Yoga is often perceived as a “safe” low-impact activity. While that might be mostly true, there are a number of yoga poses that you should definitely leave to more experienced practitioners. If you’ve never done yoga before, don’t try to do any of these poses by yourself without the help of an experienced instructor. Visit here to learn about other much safer yoga poses.
Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed staff pose)
This pose may not seem all that dangerous. But doing the pose incorrectly can risk serious wear and tear on your shoulders. This is a very common pose and may figure several times in the course of a 90-minute class, so it’s no surprise may yoga practitioners get injured doing this. An experienced instructor will help you get into the pose safely.
Sarvangasana (Shoulder stand)
These types of inverted poses are inherently dangerous for new students because they put the body in unstable, unnatural positions. When done incorrectly, they could put a significant strain on the spine and possibly cause injury. Of course, there are plenty of benefits to this pose for more experienced practitioners as well.
Uttanasana (Standing forward bend)
This pose is excellent for letting your leg and back muscles really open up. Unfortunately, if you’re new to yoga, this pose can easily cause you to tear your hamstrings and back muscles. This can be especially true for older people who are just getting into yoga. It definitely takes quite some time for anyone of any age to be able to do the uttanasana safely and correctly.
Baddha Trikonasana (Bound triangle pose)
This deceptively simple pose is great for opening up your hips. Unfortunately, if you’re new to yoga, chances are your hips may have never been stretched to the extent necessary to do this pose correctly. As with the other poses, it’s best to do this under the guidance of an experienced yoga instructor.
Ustrasana (Camel pose)
Our spines are actually more flexible than you think. Pretty much the thing that’s making them as rigid as they are is the amazing system of muscles and tendons that help keep us upright. As you can imagine, these are actually quite strong from an entire lifetime of holding our torso and bodies up. And because we don’t normally stretch out these muscle groups frequently, the flexibility and range of motion of our spines can be quite uneven and limited.
This means if you’re going to try the ustrasana, you had better take it slow. A good instructor will be able to safely guide you to a safe limit. After a few months of consistent practice, you should be able to do this pose like a pro.
Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand)
Obviously, if you do this wrong you can get a nasty head or face injury, regardless of whether or not there’s a yoga mat to stop you. This position is extremely unstable and you’re really best off learning other poses and practicing for a few months before you even attempt to tackle this.
A lot of yoga injuries are not caused by the poses themselves, but rather by ego when practitioners try to push themselves too far. Try to listen to your body, and when something starts to hurt, stop or at least consider not doing anything that makes it hurt even more.
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