Selected Article Resources on Yoga Injuries

I found this very interesting document, excerpts of which are given below. It's an 180 page document listing out all the possible causes of injuries while doing yoga. Most of the notes are by Roger Cole, Ph.D. who is an Iyengar-certified yoga teacher (www.yogadelmar.com), and Stanford-trained scientist. He specializes in human anatomy and in the physiology of relaxation, sleep, and biological rhythms.

It seems, that while yogasanas are meant to improve the spine, current practices tend to worsen the situation. That requires, according to me, a fresh look at the entire issue of the Westernisation of asanas.

"...Of all the disks in the entire spine, the L5-S1 disk is subject to more mechanical stress than any other, so it is injured most often. The L4-5 disk is subject to the second-largest amount of mechanical stress, so it is injured the next most often. The reason these disks take such a beating is that they lie at the "bottom of the totem pole," the base of the vertebral column. This increases mechanical stress in two ways..."

"...Practicing asanas is one of the best things your students can do to maintain healthy backs. However, there are a few mistakes in practice that can seriously injure their backs. One of these is the improper practice of forward bends and twists, which can damage the disks near the base of the spine..."

"...Lotus Pose (Padmasana) is a supreme position for meditation, and Lotus variations of other asanas can be profound. However, forcing the legs into Lotus is one of the most dangerous things you can do in yoga. Each year, many yogis seriously injure their knees this way. Often the culprit is not the student but an overenthusiastic teacher physically pushing a student into the pose..."

"...In a way, Mr. Iyengar may have inadvertently contributed to neck problems in Sarvangasana by pointing out that a truly vertical Shoulderstand is a more powerful and effective pose than a nonvertical one. As more and more people try to mimic Iyengar-style alignment in the pose without using the props he recommends, they run smack into their limited neck flexibility. It's not that a completely vertical Shoulderstand without support is a "bad" pose--in fact, it might be the ideal pose--it's simply that it is so extreme for the neck that only advanced yogis can do it without risking injury..."

"...Sirsasana (Headstand) increases blood pressure in the head the most, because the legs and trunk are maximally elevated and the head is as far below the heart as it can get..."

Courtesy:
http://shivarea.com/Websites/shivarea/Images/Articles%20on%20Yoga%20Injuries.pdf