Is Yoga Supposed To Hurt?

Is Yoga Supposed To Hurt?

No!!!  Yoga is not supposed to hurt!  There are reasons why you have modifications for poses, and that props (such as belts or blocks) are used to support you so that you don't injure yourself.

You have to know your boundaries.  You have to learn how to listen to your body at all times, check in with yourself and be aware during your entire practice of what your body is feeling.  Do you notice how your yoga instructor (either in real life, or on DVD) keeps reminding you to breath, to relax your shoulders, to soften your face?  They're not doing that to annoy you, or to make you look pretty, they're reminding you to check in with your body.  

This also includes emotional pain!  Poses that cause us emotional pain (see my last blog), can stop us from breathing correctly, or cause us to have an expression of pain on our faces.  Again, check in with yourself and ask if this is physical or emotional.  Emotional pain is just as painful and important as physical pain, so again it's alright to use props, or get into a modification of a pose.  

It's really important that you communicate with your yoga instructor about modifications.  In my opinion, a good yoga instructor should always ask new comers if they have any old or new injuries.  If your yoga instructor doesn't ask, please go and tell them.  

On the other hand, in my personal practice, yoga has healed an old injury.  About twice a year, sometimes more, I would sprain my left ankle to the point where I would be on crutches for a month at a time.   I was told by a doctor, the last time I sprained it, that I would eventually require surgery.  I don't like surgery (who does!), so I decided to use yoga as a way to mend and strengthen the muscles in that ankle (something I don't recommend you do unless you speak to a professional first).  Now mind you, I was very afraid to do any pose or activity that would challenge that ankle.  So for 6 months, I wore an Ace Wrap around that ankle during yoga practice to give it more strength while doing certain poses such as Tree Pose (click here for a photo of tree pose, and it's benefits).  Modifications and props were my best friends during that time!  This strengthened my ankle to the point where I don't have to wear an Ace and I've not had a sprain in over two years!

I remember looking on Facebook years ago, and a friend who is an avid yogi was teased by one of her friends that yoga can cause severe injuries by placing a link to an article to "prove his point".  Sometimes yoga injuries are just plain freakish (I knew of a woman who broke her nose while falling out of crow pose), and some are due to people pushing their yoga limits way past what they should be doing.  The point is that you should not do a yoga pose by yourself, that could have the potential to injure, unless you absolutely know what you're doing.  

If a yoga instructor is going around class forcing people into certain poses (such as pushing you down so that you can stretch further), I would suggest staying away from that instructor.  I'm okay with an instructor correcting my pose, and with a very gentle touch correcting my posture.   I'm not okay with an instructor who uses force to "help" you get deeper into the pose.  If you find yourself in a class with an instructor who uses force, it's okay to ask them to please not touch you when you see them coming your way.  

Remember, be aware, be safe, don't force it, listen to your gut, use modifications, use props, find a good yoga instructor, and have fun with it!  Yoga should not hurt, and yoga should not cause injuries.