More About Contraindications For Asanas and Pranayama

By Sangeetha Saran

Yoga is generally always safe, but some asanas and positions need to be avoided by people with several medical or physical conditions. Yoga has been used as a healing tool for centuries, but it is important to have full knowledge about implementing this tool. Also, for several serious conditions a group session is just not the way to go. Individual sessions are more preferable for practitioners with serious conditions.

Short-term contraindications:

·      Recent surgery

·      Vestibular apparatus violation

·      Intracranial and intraocular pressure increase

·      Worsening period of a chronic disease

·      Over-cooling and overheating of the body temperatures

·      Neuroinfection

·      Intense fatigue

·      After consuming a lot of medication

Long-term contraindications:

·      Hematopathy

·      Musculoskeletal system infection

·      Organic heart problems

·      Epilepsy and mental disorders

·      Tumors

·      Severe injuries in spine or fresh injuries in head

However, practitioners can continue their practice under several conditions if the poses/asanas and breathing exercises (pranayama) are modified in order to avoid any damage arising from a contraindication. Here are several contraindications that can be addressed with slight modifications in the asana:

·      Diseases of spine: Students who are suffering from any sort of disease in the spinal area should avoid asanas that include forward bends from any position in order to ensure there is no further damage to the spinal cord.

·      Digestive issues: Students suffering from these should avoid twisting and turning their bodies while practicing yoga. Any asana that might have an effect on the abdominal region should not be practiced.

·      Arthritis, arthrosis: These patients should only be practicing therapeutic yoga and should avoid any asanas outside of therapeutic yoga.

·      Enlarged or twisted veins: Stay away from any asana that requires balancing the body on one or both legs and asanas that require the legs to be pressed against the wall in order to achieve a pose.

·      Hypertension: For any asana that requires inversions, it is advised it is to be done in the presence of a yoga teacher. Doing it alone is completely to be avoided.

·      Menstruating: For women who are menstruating, practice should be kept lenient for a while. Power asanas, back bends, twisting the body and asanas performed while standing are to be avoided. If felt necessary, complete abandonment of yoga for several days would be advisable.

·      CFS: For practitioners suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, mild asanas are recommendable. Focus more on deep relaxation exercises and practice more pranayama than asanas.

·      Pregnancy: Mostly all the attention is paid on pranayama during pregnancy. Relaxation exercises for the body, especially the uterus and the abdomen along with joint exercises are advisable. The routines are to be adjusted according to the trimester but mostly the exercises are kept soft.

This knowledge plays a crucial role for every teacher and every student. Anybody who wants to start a yoga practice may research contraindications majorly because safety should be ensured while trying to improve health. These contraindications, as you see, can be dealt with by yoga and will not be too much of a problem as long as you are perseverant and patient. Every student, especially who is facing any of these contraindications should find a suitable teacher and in several cases arrange for a private session to have more time for dealing with these contraindications. It is necessary that even students do not go ahead and experiment since that might be very risky. No practice is to be conducted without the teacher’s advice. Any new problem that may arise during the course of practice and learning yoga should be promptly reported to the teacher without any delay.

Where there is a will, there is a way. Hardly ever a contraindication completely sabotages a practitioner’s yoga practice. Bare the knowledge with you, and stay safe.

© Copyright 2016 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

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