Our Advice for Staying Safe

by Nina

The Road There by Melina Meza

Over the years, we’ve written a number of posts that discuss who shouldn’t be doing which yoga poses or which specific movements, because they have either temporary or permanent injuries, illnesses, or other medical problems. We’ve also written a few articles about specific joints, how they function, and how to keep them safe. And finally we have articles about staying safe in general. So I thought today I’d let you know we have this wealth of information on our blog and provide a basic overview of the specific posts that are available. I'll start with the general posts about staying safe and then move on to list posts about inverted poses and individual joints in the body.
But before getting started with all of this, I want to reassure you that Baxter and I both think that yoga is a relatively safe physical activity, and we don't want all this advice about staying safe to scare you off practicing or cause you to worry too much! As I wrote in my post We Didn't Mean to Scare You!:
"Just as you often get some common sense tips for healthier desk sitting (such as, sitting with good posture and in a good chair, not sitting for too many hours in a row, etc.), we’ve been providing what we hoped were helpful tips for approaching the practice (and teaching of) yoga in a healthy way."

See also Baxter's take on the same topic We Didn't Mean to Scare You, Part 2.

Note: Our individual pose descriptions (too numerous to list here) also include cautions for the specific pose. We also have written posts on specific conditions, such as osteoporosis, hip replacements, and arthritis, that detail how to practice for and with the condition, so if you have a specific condition, try looking that up. See How to Search for information on how to search our archives for featured poses and specific medical conditions. STAYING SAFE IN GENERAL 1. How to stay safe while practicing: How to Stay Safe While Practicing Yoga2. How to find a safe yoga class: Friday Q&A: Finding a Safe Yoga Class 3. Shari Ser’s thoughts on safety in yoga classes: Take Care of Yourself or Your Students INVERTED POSES AND SAFETY 1. Basic information about what an “inverted pose” is: All About Supported Inversions  2. Cautions for practicing inverted poses: Friday Q&A: Cautions for Inversions3. Timothy McCall’s thoughts on inverted poses for people with high blood pressure: Keeping Yoga Safe for People with High Blood Pressure JOINTS AND SAFETY
Basic information about joints: Protecting Your Joints Hip Joints1. Cautions for specific movements of the hip joint: Friday Practical Pointers: Who Should Avoid Certain Movements of the Hip Joints Knees 1. Basic Information About the Knee Joint: All About Your Knees 2. Cautions for specific movements of the knee joint: Friday Practical Pointers: Who Should Avoid Certain Movements of the Knees Shoulder Joints 1. Anatomy of the shoulder: Which Way Should Your Shoulder Blades Go?2. Cautions for specific movements of the shoulder joint: Friday Practical Pointers: Who Should Avoid Certain Movements of the Shoulders Elbows While we don’t have much about the elbow joint safety per se, we do have this:1. Elbow pain and yoga practice: Elbow Pain and YogaWrists 1. Advice on keeping your wrists safe: Wristful Wrists: How to Keep Your Wrists Safe2. Cautions for specific movements of the wrist: Friday Practical Pointers: Who Should Avoid Certain Movements of the Wrists Spine The spine is so complex and involved in so many different movements we make in our yoga poses that we have several posts about it. 1. Overview of the basic anatomy of the spine to help you understand what all the different movements are: All About the Spine: Anatomy and Movements 2. Basic information about to keep your spine safe: Spinal Movements: How to Keep Your Spine Safe 3. Cautions for side-bending the spine: Friday Practical Pointers: Side-Bending the Spine 4. Cautions for back bending the spine: Friday Practical Pointers: Who Should Avoid Backbends?5. Cautions for twisting the spine: Friday Practical Pointers: Spinal Rotation
6. How to move your spine in a twist: Friday Q&A: Moving Your Spine in Twists 7. Cautions for forward bending the spine: Friday Practical Pointers: Forward Bending of the Spine Sacrum and Sacroiliac Joint 1. Background about the sacrum and SI joint: Yoga and the Sacroiliac Joint 2. How to keep your sacrum and SI joint healthy: Keeping Your Sacrum and SI Joint Happy and Healthy Neck 1. Which neck movements to practice and which to avoid: Friday Q&A: Safe Movements of the NeckSubscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook ° Join this site with Google Friend Connect