Its physical benefits for flexibility and balance, as well as its spiritual connection, mean it’s practised by millions across the world.<\/p>\n
And that means a need for more and more yoga teachers.<\/p>\n
But now, there is a warning they may be putting their own hip health at risk.<\/p>\n
Benoy Matthews, a leading UK-based physiotherapist, warns he is seeing increasing numbers of yoga teachers with serious hip problems – many of whom require surgery – because they are pushing their bodies too hard.<\/p>\n
Mr Matthews, a specialist hip and knee physiotherapist and member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, says he sees four to five yoga teachers a month.<\/p>\n
He says the problem lies in people repeatedly pushing their bodies into “prescribed” positions, when their physiology prevents it.<\/p>\n
About half of the teachers he sees simply need advice on how to moderate the “prescribed” yoga positions, so as not to put too much stress on their joints.<\/p>\n
But those with more advanced problems need medical treatment and surgery – including total hip replacements.<\/p>\n
“People confuse stiffness and pain,” he says. “If there is a pinching or blocking feeling in the groin, it shouldn’t be ignored. You have to know your limits.”<\/p>\n
Mr Matthews has specialised in hips and knees for the last eight of his 22 years as a physio.
\nHe says it can be easy for yoga practitioners to mistake joint pain, which means they should stop the movement, for stiffness, which they should push through.<\/p>\n
“We all know about the health benefits of yoga – I practise it myself,” he says. “But, like anything, it can cause injury. We can’t put it on a pedestal.<\/p>\n
“I don’t want to denounce yoga, after all it’s been going for thousands of years. But you have to understand yourself.”<\/p>\n
Mr Matthews says the problem often boils down to how a person’s hips are formed and how flexible they are.<\/p>\n
“What’s achievable for one might not be achievable for others,” he says. “People tend to do the same set positions, rather than what’s achievable for them.<\/p>\n
“Ego might mean them trying to take a position ‘all the way’ to the end when they should just stop where it’s comfortable.<\/p>\n
“Just because the person next to you can reach all the way doesn’t mean it’s necessary, or desirable, to do the same.”<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Its physical benefits for flexibility and balance, as well as its spiritual connection, mean it’s practised by millions across the world. And that means a need for more and more yoga teachers. But now, there is a warning they may be putting their own hip health at risk. Benoy Matthews, a leading UK-based physiotherapist, warns […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2157,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155\/revisions\/2157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonotarsomoy.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}