Yoga is a form of complementary health medicine. The most popular type of yoga is the practice of physical exercises. Yoga is helpful in managing and controlling many types of injuries, but it is also possible to injure yourself doing yoga. The shoulders are involved in nearly every type of yoga exercise and consequently it is common to injure yourself in this area. Consult a qualified yoga instructor to minimize the risk of injury.
Definition
Yoga is a practice of physical and mental exercises. Several thousand years ago, the Indian scholar Patanjali recorded eight classical steps of yoga theories and practice in a book called the "Yoga Sutras." Today the most common step that is practiced from the "Yoga Sutras" is the step called asanas, or physical exercises.
Shoulder Mechanism
The shoulders are a complex system of mechanisms that rely on muscles rather than tendons and ligaments to hold them together. According to the Yoga Chicago website, shoulder joints are unstable because they have just one connection to the rest of the skeleton at the clavicle. In addition, the primary shoulder joint, the glenohumeral joint, does not provide a smooth fit between bones and socket.
The rotator cuff muscles hold the arms and the shoulder mechanism together but are also susceptible to injury. Julie Gudmestad, a licensed physical therapist and certified Iyengar yoga teacher, writes on the Yoga Journal website that the four muscles that make up the rotator cuff mechanism are often weak and under-worked. Therefore, injuries of the shoulder in yoga are common.
Reasons
One of the most common reasons that shoulder injuries occur in yoga is the improper practice of yoga exercises. According to the Health Tree website, yoga injuries also occur because of inadequate strength or flexibility in carrying out a particular yoga exercise or attempting to do a yoga exercise with an existing problem.
Injuries
Common yoga injuries of the shoulder often occur when attempting a shoulder stand or in stretch poses such as downward facing dog or the warrior pose. Injuries can occur in the neck or immediate shoulder area. However, common yoga injuries of the shoulder also include injury to the rotator cuff muscles because of the instability of the muscles in this area.
Prevention
Consult a yoga instructor for advice on maintaining correct yoga poses and exercises in order to prevent possible injury. Do not attempt yoga exercises if you are pregnant or under 16 years of age. Consult a qualified health care practitioner before attempting yoga if you have a previous shoulder injury. Practice yoga frequently in order to become more flexible and strengthen muscles, but do not push your body too far.
