Dangers of yoga, Yoga is a popular exercise routine that has been around for centuries. More and more people are making yoga a regular part of their daily lives, but there are some dangers associated with this practice. In this blog post, I will discuss the dangers of yoga, why it’s important to be aware of them before you start practicing, and how you can avoid injury during your practice.
Physical dangers of yoga:
The Following are the physical dangers of yoga:
- Orthostatic intolerance
- Degenerative Disc Disease
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
Orthostatic intolerance:
most people don’t know they have it. You may be dizzy when you stand up or get woozy when you walk around. For example, some people will faint when standing up quickly from a sitting position because of this problem (orthostatic hypotension). Blood pools in the legs and can’t make it back to the heart fast enough for proper circulation and consciousness. This has killed many young active healthy adults – but there is no blame placed on yoga! Yoga gets credit for “toning and conditioning” your muscles while in reality, it’s actually weakening them, leading to orthostatic intolerance.
Degenerative Disc Disease:
When you twist yourself into postures that are unphysiological, you cause pressure on your discs. This can degenerate them (leading to impingement and pinching). People will get out of the posture so quickly that they may not notice disc compression is causing pain – or that it’s setting them up for injury down the road.
Going in and out of flexion/extension, rotation/counter-rotation, combined with twisting and turning creates tension on your spinal joints and ligaments. This is a scientific fact: It has been studied by chiropractors as well as orthopedic surgeons (both have stated how dangerous this can be) – yet yoga enthusiasts know nothing about what’s being done to their bodies! Yoga cultivates ignorance.
Degenerative Joint Disease:
Yoga practitioners are told to put their joints into positions that lead to degeneration of the cartilage. Cartilage is not a strong structure, and it needs to be lubricated by joint fluid so that the surfaces aren’t grinding against each other all day long. Yoga puts your body in unnatural repetitive stress positions – this leads to inflammation and pain as well as leading to arthritis (and rheumatoid arthritis), osteoarthritis, bursitis, etc.
Carpal tunnel syndrome:
This condition comes from putting your wrist into flexion while bending your thumb up towards your palm repeatedly over time. If you think about when you wave hello or goodbye, most people will flex their wrists upward repeatedly with their thumbs pointing upwards also (thumb goes up to where the pinky finger is).
This repeated movement of flexion/ulnar deviation with the thumb pointing up against the palm (under stress) will compress the median nerve as it passes through. Eventually, you get carpal tunnel syndrome from this, and it causes weakness in your hand muscles which then makes you feel like using yoga more! (The pain may be so bad that you can’t use your hands for other activities, but at least you can still do yoga!).
Doctors have told me this condition takes years to develop unless someone does a repetitive motion many times a day – such as typing on a computer keyboard or playing violin or guitar – so even musicians are susceptible to wrist injuries due to overuse!
The dangers of yoga and meditation:
Yoga and meditation can be dangerous, even fatal, for those with underlying health conditions, warns a cardiologist. Only those in good health should even attempt these practices, according to Dr. Nitin Kumar, who advises medical professionals at the University of Maryland Medical Center to be wary when they see their patients picking up yoga and meditation.
These types of relaxation practices may not work for them, he said. “The person just shouldn’t do it,” said Kumar during a recent presentation on the topic at the American College of Cardiology’s annual conference. “Or they should take great care.”
He told Live Science that there are many high-risk groups – including heart disease patients – who shouldn’t engage in yoga or meditative practice without prior approval from their doctor or cardiologist. People with unstable blood pressure; uncontrolled high blood pressure, which is called hypertension; and uncontrolled heart rhythm are also at risk. The problem is that these healing arts may not be relaxing for those people in high-risk groups, said Kumar.
Instead of the relief they expect or hope for, their symptoms could actually worsen during the practice. “If I am hypertensive, sitting quietly with legs crossed [for meditation] can make my hypertension worse,” he said. That’s because when you cross your legs while sitting – a pose is known as Vajrasana, or thunderbolt pose – it helps compress the vein on the underside of your thigh (called deep femoral vein) as well from below your knee to calf muscle (called saphenous veins). This constriction causes blood to pool in the lower extremities, which can, in turn, raise blood pressure.
Mental dangers of yoga:
Yoga has become an increasingly popular form of exercise. However, there are some mental dangers of yoga that come with it. Mental risks vary from person to person depending on their level of sensitivity and the extent to which they lose themselves in the practice. Here are some of the dangers to be on guard for.
Yoga is a contemplative practice that can put you in touch with the deepest parts of yourself. It can also lead to altered states and even enlightenment. This may sound like a wonderful thing, but it can also have negative consequences as well. Some people have ended up suffering from psychotic breaks and cannot cope with reality anymore after having been ‘enlightened.’
You may end up emotionally disturbed because extreme emotional highs or lows are not uncommon during yoga practices, especially those that involve breathing techniques and other forms of control over body and mind. Another risk is losing touch with reality due to sensory deprivation or just by being in an altered state for too long. If this occurs when you’re alone, it may be hard to break out of it.
Dangers of yoga shoulder stand:
This dangers of yoga shoulder stand position is ‘dangerous for your neck and upper back’ claims a new study
While the physical benefits of practicing yoga are widely known, a controversial new report states that some asanas or poses can also be dangerous. The Indian Association of Physiotherapy revealed that the shoulder stand pose is one such posture that can prove injurious to your spine.
This asana wherein the head hangs down freely with support from just the neck region is claimed to cause intense stress on cervical vertebrae when you hold it for an extended period. It may even lead to permanent deformity in kids and adults both, says a group of physiotherapists associated with YMCA.
“Shoulder stand is performed in yoga to achieve toning of the body parts including hands, legs, and feet. It also helps improve digestion and relaxes muscles in the neck region,” Physiotherapy department head at YMCA University of Health and Sciences, Dr. Ashutosh Mishra, said.
But he added that this asana is not advisable for people with a stiff neck or cervical spine injury. “We have found many patients who complain of chronic back pain after performing shoulder stands in yoga class just because their teacher did not explain to them what precautions should be taken while practicing it,” he stated. The physiotherapists working at the university published a journal wherein they explained how doing shoulder stand incorrectly can cause immense stress on the spine.
“The asana is not meant for people with a stiff neck or any kind of spinal injury,” Dr. Mishra emphasized. He further pointed out that the shoulder stand pose has no effect on blood pressure, digestion, and respiration. So, it should not be promoted as a good posture for these benefits since there are other poses that do the same job without causing extra strain on your vertebrae.
