Painful yoga

[totallyyesno]

I have been doing yoga 3 or 4 times a week for the past two months and it still hurts so much! Do you get to a point when it stops hurting???

It shouldn't be hurting at all, what sort of yoga are you doing and what hurts?

I agree, im a yoga teacher and as UnaOfStormhold says, it shouldnt hurt, sometimes I have experianced a comfortable discomfort but would never say that It has hurt. Share what you are doing and lets see if we can help you find some comfort/modifications. Whatever you are doing you should be able to find ease and maintain a soft even breath and if this isnt happening we can maybe offer you advice so you are able to. Or are you saying that after yoga is finished you hurt??

Hatha I think? Just YouTube videos and an app. Mainly hip pain, but also wrists, knees, calf muscles....

Particularly painful are low lunges (hips) and downward dog (hands).

It doesn't hurt afterwards.

Lots of people think that yoga is about doing the poses but it's much more important to move with awareness of your body so you never go too far. Having a teacher at least at the start makes it easier to get it right, though some teachers are better than others at conveying how to do the pose for beginners. Using blocks, straps and blankets can really help to make it easier especially in the early days. Does it hurt during or after the session or both?

It just hurts while I'm doing it. I am not pushing myself but some positions like downward dog can't really be half done.

You can do downward dog on your knees
It really shouldn’t hurt, it might feel uncomfortable, and there is a lot out there about finding your “edge” but it really shouldn’t be causing actual pain.

Ah, cross posted with your last two. Downward dog can be tough on the wrists, making sure you press through the fingers to spread the weight. Having a blanket under your hands or folding your mat can help provide padding. You may also find shortening or lengthening the pose helps, you shift more weight onto your legs.

With low lunge I'd work up through shallower lunges first.

Is it weight of you body makingvyour hands hurt in downward dog?
Try moving your bum backwards so more of the weight is in your feet if that makes sense?

When I started Ashtanga I was in agony after class for the first three weeks or so but then my body started getting used to it.

Maybe look at something like Adrienne’s Yoga for Beginners videos? They might be better for modifications.

some positions like downward dog can't really be half done

Yes they can. Put your hands on a chair like this

You need a teacher who is going to help you adapt poses to suit your abilities. It's difficult to know what's good or bad pain, but adapting poses - like hands on chair dog down - means you have a chance for your body to learn the actions it needs to do, to manage the full pose. If you're just in pain, your body can't learn anything, it's just gonna scream...

Thanks for the tips. I'll try some modifications and see how it goes. I really like it apart from the pain though! Maybe there's a reason why my joints hurt so much?

In any class, the teacher will always ask about injuries and talk about modifications. Most yoga studios are doing virtual classes at the moment - how would you feel about joining one of those?

Empress I'd say any good class - too many online videos just show someone bending themselves into a pretzel without explaining the pre-pretzel stages!

It shouldn’t hurt hurt, but you’ll be using your body’s full range of motion and some poses take a bit of strength, so I think it’s normal to find your edge/feel your limits. I completely agree with what’s been said above that yoga shouldn’t be painful and you should back off or adapt poses that hurt, but it isn’t all easy-breezy either.

It took me a while and three different instructors to “get” downward dog. I need to engage my core muscles, shift my hips up and back, and put more weight in my feet to lift it off my wrists. At first I had to lift my heels and bend my knees slightly to get there, and then work towards straight legs and feet on the floor. For a while my downward dog looked less correct, but I was working towards getting it right, instead of contorting myself into the right shape in the wrong way.

For the lunge, try lowering your back knee and narrowing your stance (move your back knee towards your front foot) until your hips are completely comfortable. Then move it out just a fraction so you feel a stretch. And use your core muscles so you don’t collapse into your pelvis. Over time, you can work towards the wider stance your yoga teacher has. He or she took years to get where they are.

youve had lots of modifications for down dog, it is a shoulder opener, so you could switch it out for another, one is from tabletop walk your hands out further from your knees, stay up on all finger tips, wrap shoulder blades towards arm pits and look at the floor (straight neck) walk hands out until you get a comfortable stretch in shoulders, if your head feels too heavy prop it up with a block or cushions, this is also a really good posture using props under your head to do outside of your practice. Or if your shoulders are open and its your hamstrings stopping you bend your knees a little until you find comfort. Remember the full expression of down dog is the one you are seeing in all the pictures, it is not where you would expect to be when you start, its something to progress towards slowly.
David swenson is a good teacher to take a look at, stick to his beginners demo's.
Any other poses that we can help with?

The modifications are really helpful, thanks!

Any other poses that we can help with?

Yes, but I can't remember the name! I'll post back tomorrow when I watch the video again.

Empress I'd say any good class - too many online videos just show someone bending themselves into a pretzel without explaining the pre-pretzel stages

I see your point, Una! I was thinking of Zoom classes where the teacher’s actually interacting with the class and can pitch to the right level.

Reclined pigeon!

A more introductory version to reclined pigeon is to keep one foot flat on the floor with its knee bent, and cross your other ankle over your thigh.

You can then work towards bringing the heel that’s on the floor further towards your bum to increase the stretch in your opposite hip, and then eventually towards lifting the leg and “threading the needle”.

Hope that helps! I’m not a yoga instructor, just someone who’s done a lot of classes and isn’t very open in the hips, so I’m repeating guidance I’ve been given. Please take things carefully as I’d hate anyone to hurt themselves based on my advice. You should feel a stretch that you can intensify or ease by changing the pose, but it shouldn’t really hurt.

Agree with Feawen on reclined pigeon. As a rule of thumb, joint pain or pressure is bad, muscle discomfort (heat from working hard or the feeling of stretching) generally ok.

Thanks.