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| I have been practicing Ashtanga for a bit over two years (I practiced Iyengar and Anusara before). I love Ashtanga yoga but am constantly injuring my hamstring area and hamstring tendons. Last time I injured it, it took about a year to heal and then I very slowly started to go into the poses again and I got injured again. Am I doing something wrong? This is the only yoga I've ever gotten injured in constantly. |
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| Hey Eteraz,
Do you practice everyday? Moon days? In a heated room? With a teacher? Do you stop at a certain point? Do you only do primary?
FYI: You are probably going too deep too quickly. Try practicing at 60% for one week. Then try 65% for one week, 75%, 80% When you get to 80% don't go any deeper Do this forever and your 80% will change.
never practice at 100%
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| if the practice is causing you to be constantly injured, perhaps it is time for you to seriously question the efficacy of the practice
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do you love ashtanga series more than you love the function of your hamstrings?
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| Yes I practice in a room (heated) with an Ashtanga teacher. I practice all the time (no paying attention to moon days or anything). My friend said I just do too much yoga and need to rest a bit. Not sure about that one. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| REST! It sounds from your other posts that you may still have some Iyengar books around. Take a look at some of the restorative sequences and do them at minimum 3 days per month. and take one day OFF a week from asana - pranayama and meditation are ok. The Universe has a way of giving these little warnings and if you choose not to listen, you may get hit by a bus or something.  Take it easy.  |
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Location: London, England | Hi Ellie,
Hamstring injuries are avery common injury in many sports and physical activities. I think that there are several reasons for this also being the case in the various forms of yoga. Perhaps one of the main reasons is that we over-stretch the muscles-I think the first muscle that people notice when the start yoga is this one-it stops them putting their hands on the floor in a forward bend-and then they just start lengthening the muscle until hey presto, the injury happens.
This is actually a very big subject in rehabilitation, can't really do it justice here, but perhaps if you try bending the knee which is extended in forward bends for a session or so, then keep a diary of how your hamstrings feel-if they instantly stop giving you trouble, then it's almost a sure sign that you have been a bit too keen on stretching them.
This takes patience, unfortunately not something that every one is endowed with  The great thing is, though, is that you are actually becoming more advanced at finding good posture-by not allowing the knee to hyper-extend, you gain better knee and back health, and actually work on the hamstrings with greater skill-because you are tightening the lower hamstring fibres to stop the knee hyper-extending, the upper fibres get stretched better. This also helps to ensure that you are not stretching the knee joint and surrounding structures, but the belly of the muscle itself.
Let us know how it goes
Nick |
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| Hi everyone. Thanks for all your comments. Today I went to an Iyengar class for a change and kept my knees bend in all the forward bends. No hamstraing pain. I've been doing that actually more and more and I think after reading Nick's comments I'll continue keeping my knees bent. Also the more forward I go (eight more forward than middle or back) the less it hurts. |
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| Hey there,
I injured my hamstring last year and it took months to heal, so ouch, I feel your pain.  I did all the stuff Nick mentioned, and have been extremely cautious about hyperextending the knees since, and it has helped wonders. There is no reason to be "constantly" injuring yourself in Ashtanga; I suspect it's more that ashtanga seems to attract the more driven, type-A among us, who don't back off if they feel that something isn't quite right.
I completely understand the addictive nature of this practice - and that is but one of the reasons for the rest days. Don't become too attached to the asana practice. The rest is extremely important. I actually find that my practice is stronger, lighter and softer after a day or two of rest. Even knowing this, sometimes it takes more discipline to take a day off than to practise.  If you can't do *nothing* on saturdays/moon days, try a yin sequence, pranayama, restorative sequence; just don't torch yourself with your full ashtanga sequence.
good luck,
lisa |
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Ashtanga yoga injuries
