Yoga Brings Many Benefits and also Risks

Know more to get smarter! The NHS, the UK's healthcare system, says that most forms of yoga are not intense enough to get you to the weekly level of physical activity required by government guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity. However, yoga does work as a way to enhance your workout, and at least two fitness classes a week will help you achieve improvements in muscle mobility. According to the American Osteopathic Association, maintaining a regular yoga practice can provide physical and mental health benefits:

Physical benefits

The relaxation techniques employed in yoga can reduce chronic pain, such as lower back pain, arthritis, headaches, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Yoga can also lower blood pressure and reduce insomnia, etc., which are physical benefits. Other physical benefits of yoga include: increased flexibility and muscle strength, improved breathing, vitality and posture, metabolic balance and boost, weight loss, heart and circulatory health, improved exercise capacity, and more. Mental benefits Stress is known to have devastating effects on the body and mind. Yoga can help a person reduce stress. Yoga combined with meditation and breathing can help improve a person's mental health. Regular practice of yoga can lead to a clear mind, a calm mind, and increased body awareness; it relaxes the mind, and improves concentration. Yoga's self-body and awareness focus is especially useful because it can help detect physical problems early and take early preventive measures.

Related risks A 2016 study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Medicine reported that from 2001 to 2014, nearly 30,000 yoga-related injuries occurred in U.S. emergency rooms, an increase of 9.6% per 100,000 participants to 17%. Most injuries are to the upper body, causing strains and sprains. The greatest increase in injuries was among those over 65. Bobby Chhabra, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Virginia Health System, cautions arthritis sufferers to be extra careful with yoga. People with arthritis can consider a milder approach, or at least avoid overloading the arthritic joint to prevent further inflammation. People with osteoporosis should avoid bending forward.

Also, anyone who is new to yoga or has an injury or other restrictions should consult a teacher before class. For example, people with shoulder injuries should avoid everything that requires their arms to be raised; people with herniated discs and osteoporosis should avoid forward folding, etc. According to the British Telegraph in 2017, a study by Professor Evangelos Pappas of the University of Sydney found that the incidence of pain caused by yoga is more than 10% per year. This injury rate is ten times higher than previously reported. The study also found that yoga can exacerbate existing pain, causing 21 % of pre-existing injuries to worsen, especially in the presence of musculoskeletal pain in the upper extremities. In terms of severity, more than a third of the pain from yoga was severe enough to prevent yoga participation and persisted for more than three months.

But on the other hand, 74% of study participants reported that yoga improved existing pain. These findings highlight the complex relationship between musculoskeletal pain and yoga practice.

Reminder to friends Yoga can have many physical and mental benefits, but it is easy to have negative effects if you don't do it properly. So mature adults would need professional guidance as well as step-by-step and careful observation of the impact to the body. Experts encourage yoga participants to discuss any pre-existing pain and injury risks with yoga teachers and physical therapists, especially the risk of upper extremity pain, and explore safe postures that can be improved. EGA lifestyle!