Yoga is supposed to be a kinder, gentler type of exercise. Isn’t it? Well, I was recently proved so wrong about that assumption. Last week, while practicing yoga I injured my Rotator cuff. I didn’t even think it was possible until it happened to me. I mean don’t mean people practice yoga specifically to heal injuries?
Eventhough it was my first Vinyasa class I was fine when I left. But by the next morning, and for days afterward, I was in a lot of pain. The pain started in my shoulder and kept radiating down my arm. I kept putting off seeing a doctor. I thought that it would go away on its own. I think that I was just in denial. Finally, the orthopedist confirmed for me what I had known all along. I had injured my Rotator cuff doing yoga. Now I am doing new exercises to alleviate the pain from my original “exercise”. Life is just not fair.
I was apparently very naive when it comes to yoga injuries. Two of my friends had sustained injuries via yoga in the past. One had a wrist fracture and the other had dislocated her big toe. My rotator cuff injury did not seem so bad in comparison to those. I should be back on the mat in just a few more days. Yet, I still wonder, how can an exercise that is based on stretching and slow movement cause such pain. Just how common are these yoga injuries after all?
