To think yoga can really hurt you?

[LadyMoglet]

I have been practicing yoga for over 4 years and love it so much. I initially took classes along with home sessions and often use youtube. 2 years ago I had six months with a private teacher so have a decent grounding.

I have always tried to be mindful of what I am doing, never pushed myself and taken as much care as I can. But something happened recently that has really upset me - and I have no idea how I've done it.

About 8 weeks ago I noticed a mild pain on the inside of one knee when in certain poses (cross-legged, lotus, pigeon and butterfly). For those who don't know, these involve bringing the knee inwards so that the foot comes towards the thigh). I have never overstretched or rotated my knee to my knowledge, but something must have happened.

I rested then carried on, taking care to monitor it and not push anything. The pain came back whenever I did yoga, so I then rested for a full month. On returning it was exactly the same as if no healing had occurred.

It is now worse, as the pain has spread to the entire knee cap and I am off the seek medical advice next week. In the mean time I won't be doing much, so hope it calms down a bit. It does not affect me in every day life and my range of lotion is fine unless I pull my leg inwards.

it's not looking good is it? I have a horrible feeling I won't be able to continue yoga, since I can't locate how I hurt it in the first place.
I would have put this in the yoga section but it doesn't get much traffic. I would really like to know if this has happened to anyone else, and if they were ever able to resume.

I'm no expert but injuries can occur from any exercise, be it running, cycling, zumba, tennis - and injurues can also heal

I don’t think you need to hang up your yoga mat just yet. You could try getting seen and diagnosed by a doctor or physio before you abandon the whole thing. You could have a temporary inflammation of a tendon or the fat pad or something.

Ofc you can get a sports injury from Yoga! Especially when you get more advanced, most injuries can be from going too far too fast or not doing asanas in a good flow, or doing only stretching and flexibility ones and skipping the strengthening ones. Most of the Yoga on YouTube is crap. You need years more than six months in a class with a good yogi to get a proper grounding.

I wouldn't have given up yoga, I'd have focused on postures that didn't aggravate your knee problem, and which would promote balance and healing.

So, based on the injury you've described, you could have still done these postures safely:

Down dog: stretches the tendons at the back of the knee, ankle and calf, all very good for balancing the knee cap

plank, straight knees, the clenching action of plank would help to stabilise the kneecap

butterfly, sitting on a cushion, without jamming your knees into the groin, create a diamond shape, soft knees with the soles of your feet together. If necessary put yoga blocks under your thighs for support.

caterpillar, straight legged forward fold, sitting on your yoga mat, soft knees and feet aligned and toes pulled up and back.

Sphinx, cobra, locust, none of which require bent knees, will stretch your lower and upper back which often become tight if your knee is making you compensate when walking.

standing postures such as mountain, forward fold, halfway lift are all good for stability of the knee.

I could go on, but hopefully these help!

Most of the Yoga on YouTube is crap

not the case at all, there are many great teachers who do 30-45 min classes with different styles of yoga to meet all needs (yin, vinyasa, hatha, ayengar) with excellent clear instructions from beginners to intermediate and advanced.

I’ve done yoga since 1991, been an instructor since 1996 and it’s crap.

Pigeon is very hard on knees- if I was feeling pain in a basic cross legged position I wouldn’t even try it. Why don’t you focus on the poses suggested by @daisychain01 instead?

@SummerFeverVenice Sorry I don't care how long you've been a teacher, I've also been practicing as long as you and I do not agree with your universal "crap" condemnation.

and while we're at it, it doesn't exactly paint you in a very credible yogic light giving a blanket judgement over other yoga teachers as "crap", many of whom are also highly qualified.

anyway, peace and love 🧘

I do a fair amount of yoga but I can't do the positions you mention because of arthritis in my knee joint. I just avoid those positions or substitute something else.

I would be more concerned about the spiritual rather than physical impact of yoga, but that knee injury sounds nasty.
Hope it heals soon, OP xx

I’m not saying the yogis are crap, but rather YouTube videos are a crap method to teach yoga. Doesn’t seem like you have thought it through from the perspective of a yogi and how best to teach yoga to students.

Like the sainted Adrienne, whose first movement in a session stated to be for people with neck injuries and problems was a bunch of fast full head rolls like a 1970s football coach.

First and last time I went anywhere near a so-called expert on YouTube.

Very true, one problem with YouTube is there can be unqualified people on there “teaching” yoga when they should really be in my beginner class. It can be hard for some to distinguish between actual yogis and randoms.

You have a sports injury so instead of packing it in why not do what any other athlete, rugby, football player, ballet dancer would do and go to a physio?

Continue with the sport and temporarily avoid the poses that caused you issues, pretty simple really. Why your first thought was to never do it again I have no idea.

@LadyMoglet mentioned they've been practicing for 4 years, so not a 6 month novice.

there are many more yoga teachers on YouTube than Yoga with Adrienne @NeverDropYourMooncup I've done 50 or more Adrienne videos (her style isn't my preferred type nowadays) and I've never experienced her "fast full head rolls".

Most of the Yoga on YouTube is crap (your words) @SummerFeverVenice is quite different to what you then said I’m not saying the yogis are crap

anyway have a lovely evening, I'm off to do my yoga (with Fiona - Two Birds, in case you want to loosen up a bit). Namaste.

Why is that please?

OP the injury might not be linked. I hope you recover quickly 💐

Injuries in yoga are often down to repetitive strain or over stretching…muscle imbalance and strain on certain joints can become an issue whatever your form of exercise…you may want to see a physio to check out anything that is correctable.

Yoga contributed to the meniscal tear in my knee. I should have known better but the instructor pushed me to try and I heard a horrible popping sound in my knee.

I came on the thread to give advice, but now I am just enjoying the passive aggressive yogi stand off 😂

Your title is a little dramatic @LadyMoglet . Any physical activity can hurt you if you don’t do it correctly, don’t stretch or don’t listen to your body when it’s giving you clear signals.

One of the worst injuries I’ve had was from sleeping on my arm funny!

You may have done yourself mischief and only noticed when you got into those poses. You are getting medical advice and in the meantime focus on postures that you can do without causing pain and don’t catastrophise.

This is so helpful, thank you!

Ah it does look dramatic up there, yes! I had trouble deciding on a title
That said it feels bloody dramatic for me today as the injury has worsened by attempting pigeon. I didn't know it was quite that upset, but you live and learn.

Agree with others that a physio is your next stop. I love yoga, and did (Iyengar, with skilful teachers) it for years. It did fix a painful neck, but it didn't fix a painful shoulder or a painful hip. Lifting weights and doing ballet barre and lots of glute and turnout muscle building exercises did that. The yoga postures I instinctively wanted to do, to stretch out the painful areas, actually aggravated them - I had to strengthen before I could stretch.

I go to a yoga class taught by a physio and it is amazing!

I have been injured by yoga before, but with this teacher she is really good at structuring the class in such a way that you don't injure yourself and make really good progress.

Maybe see if there is a physio led class near you?