The purpose of these guidelines is to help you feel safe and confident when practicing yoga exercises. To increase the benefits of your yoga asana practice and lessen the likelihood of injury, it is essential to follow these guidelines. Please read parts 1-3. If you are pregnant or have given birth within the past 90 days, please also read parts 4 & 5.

• Part 1: General Safety Guidelines for Yoga Asana Practice
• Part 2: Safety Guidelines for Common Health Conditions
• Part 3: Tips to make your Yoga Asana Practice more comfortable
• Part 4: Safety Guidelines During Pregnancy
• Part 5: Safety Guidelines After Pregnancy

PART 1: General Safety Guidelines for Yoga Asana Practice​ 

• Whenever you practice any sport or physical discipline like yoga asanas, you will be challenged to do things with your body that you may not have done before, so it’s possible that you could get injured. It is therefore important to adhere carefully to all guidelines. 
• Keep in mind that just as with any intense physical activity or discipline, no matter how careful you are, you may experience some physical discomfort and minor aches and pains from the practice of yoga asanas if you are not an athlete and have been living a relatively sedentary lifestyle. 

Consult Your Doctor 

• Our advice here is not a substitute for medical advice. If you have any kind of medical problem or injuries or have had any injuries or problems in the past, or have any other condition that may be adversely affected by exercise, such as neck or back problems, high blood pressure, etc., please consult your doctor before practicing yoga asanas or breathing exercises to determine whether and how you can practice safely. Not all poses on this app are suitable for everyone. 
• If you are generally sedentary, or a former athlete (especially if you have been involved in contact sports), please consider asking your doctor for tests, such as X-rays, MRIs, etc., before starting to practice yoga asanas.  This is especially suggested for those who experience chronic back, neck, or hip pain. The results of these tests may prevent you from practicing yoga poses that don’t suit your current condition and lessen the likelihood of aggravating old injuries. 

Listen to your body 

• To achieve the most benefits and reduce your chance of injury, always listen carefully to your body. This is the most important principle. Be very aware of how your body feels as you practice the asanas. Go only as far as you can without straining or overstretching. 

Never compete 

• A competitive attitude or trying to impress others can cause you to stretch or bend further than you should, risking injury. 

Be responsible and stretch gently 

• You are responsible for your own well-being, so never do any postures that make you feel uncomfortable. Gently stretch the boundaries of your limitations. 

Come out of the pose when you need to 

• Don’t strain. If you feel any sharp twinges or pain during asanas, you’ve gone too far. Be sure to come out of the pose immediately and rest. 
• If you feel too weak or shaky in a pose, come out of it. Gradually you will build up your strength and be able to hold the pose longer. 
• If you experience numbness in your hands or feet, come out of the pose immediately and be sure to consult your doctor. 

When practicing chair yoga, use a sturdy chair 

During your practice, if you are sitting in a chair or standing next to it to help you balance, make sure the chair is strong and sturdy. It should not tip over when you lean your body right, left, forward or back (View figure 1).

Inversions and other challenging poses 

• Headstand, Shoulderstand, Plough and their variations are not suitable for people with certain ailments or old injuries—for example, those with high blood pressure or other heart and circulation problems, those who are overweight, or who have neck, back, or head injuries, chronic neck or back problems, serious eye or ear problems, or those who are pregnant, menstruating, or who have vertigo or migraine. If you have any health condition, please consult your doctor before practicing these inverted poses. 

PART 2: Safety Guidelines for Common Health Conditions 

These are additional practice guidelines for the following conditions:

• High blood pressure/heart and circulation problems 
• Back problems 
• Arthritis 
• Osteoporosis 
• Diabetes 
• COPD 

Note: This section is not all-inclusive but will give you guidance on how to modify poses based on your condition

Remember, to ask your doctor whether and how you can practice asanas and breathing techniques safely. If our cautions are inconsistent with medical advice, please follow the doctor’s advice.

High blood pressure/​heart and circulation problems 

In general, those with high blood pressure, heart, and circulation problems should be careful with the following, even if medication is controlling the problem:

• Don’t do any upside-down poses (where the head is below the heart). 
• Don’t do strenuous poses that raise the heart rate. 
• If you feel your heart beating too strongly, rest. 
• Don’t hold your breath. 

Back Problems – 5 essential practice tips:  

• Sit up straight. When practicing sitting and standing poses sit up nice and straight to avoid compressing your spinal discs. 
• When practicing chair yoga, feel free to sit or stand. If sitting begins to feel uncomfortable for your back, take a break from sitting and stand up to practice where appropriate. 
• Contract the abdominal muscles to support your back when bending forward, sideways, and while twisting, as well as when transitioning down to and up from the floor. 
• When practicing chair yoga, contract the buttocks when bending backward or sideways and when standing up from a seated position. 
• For seniors practicing chair yoga: Do not do backbends if you have spinal stenosis (narrowing of the central canal in the spine) as it can close off the spinal canal (see Figure 2). 

Osteoarthritis – 5 essential practice tips 

• Increased pain after exercising should not last longer than 3 hours and should not be significantly greater than the arthritis pain normally experienced. 
• Make smaller movements. If the increased discomfort persists longer than three hours, try making smaller movements the next time you practice. 
• Fewer repetitions for less time. If you experience increased joint pressure or worsening pain, cut in half the number of repetitions or the length of time you do the exercise. 
• Apply an icepack if needed. If your joints become red, swollen, or inflamed when you practice a particular exercise, you can apply ice or a cool compress to your joints afterwards. Next time, avoid that exercise and practice breathing or relaxation instead. 

Rheumatoid Arthritis – 3 essential practice tips 

• Avoid overstretching, which means not stretching to one’s end range. This will prevent further destabilization of the joints. 
• Start with a small range of motion and gradually increase if appropriate for you. In general, it’s best for those with rheumatoid arthritis to keep the movements small. 
• Avoid all neck exercises if you have rheumatoid arthritis of the neck to prevent potentially serious damage (see Figure 3).

Osteoporosis – 2 essential practice tips 

• Avoid slumping or rounding the upper back when doing seated exercises. For example, in Shoulder Lifts, keep your upper spine erect, moving just the shoulders (see Figure 4). 
• Keep your upper back straight when reaching the arms forward, for example, in Flapping Wings. If osteoporosis is severe, rounding the back can cause spontaneous vertebral fractures (see Figure 5).

Diabetes – 3 essential practice tips 

• Use balance support when needed by holding onto a sturdy chair or table during standing poses. People with diabetes may suffer from nerve damage affecting the legs, feet, toes, hands, and arms. This can affect their ability to balance while standing. 
• It’s okay to sit down if your balance is precarious. Instead of standing poses, do ankle exercises such as ankle circles. 
• Check your feet regularly. If you take your shoes off to exercise, please check your feet for injuries before putting them back on again. 

COPD – 3 essential practice tips 

• Make sure you’re breathing comfortably. If you find it stressful to coordinate movements with breathing, just breathe naturally as stress will only exacerbate breathing issues. 
• Exhale through pursed lips when needed. If you have a hard time exhaling, or if coordinating movements with breathing is challenging, breathe naturally, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through pursed lips, shaping your mouth as though you’re exhaling through a straw. This gives you the opportunity to experience how the new movements feel without having to follow breathing instructions at the same time. As the movements become familiar, you can add the specific breathing later. 
• Relax and breathe through your nose. If you begin to hyperventilate or get dizzy, stop exercising. Relax and breathe quietly through your nose. 

Remember: Listen to Your Body

The most important thing you can do as you practice is to listen carefully to your body. If you get a signal that you’re doing too much, please heed it. After all, yoga asanas are meant to help us improve our health, not make it worse. It’s up to you to find the right balance of effort and ease for your optimum well-being.

PART 3: Tips to Make Your Yoga Asana Practice More Comfortable 

• Wear comfortable or stretchy clothing that allows you to move freely. 
• Go to the bathroom before you begin your practice, so your body feels light and comfortable. 
• Have good ventilation and plenty of space in the room to extend your arms and legs out in all directions without hitting anything. 
• Don’t practice on a full stomach, although neck, shoulder, arm, wrist, ankle, and foot stretches can be done at any time. 
• Don’t practice too soon after eating or certain postures will feel uncomfortable. Listen to your body. 
• Stay hydrated to help keep your body limber and prevent muscle spasms and injury. Proper hydration also keeps your blood pressure from dropping too low, especially if you tend to have low blood pressure. 

PART 4: Safety Guidelines During Pregnancy 

• Consult your doctor. The first trimester is considered the most vulnerable time for the baby, and it is during this time that most miscarriages occur. Therefore, consulting with your doctor is especially advised during pregnancy if you have a history of poor health, abnormal pregnancies, miscarriages, or any of the conditions that may place you in a high-risk category such as: diabetes, high-blood pressure, epilepsy, heart disease, etc. 
• During pregnancy, the body releases a hormone called relaxin that allows the ligaments of the pelvis to stretch more easily during childbirth. This also makes it easy to overstretch these ligaments during exercise, which can lead to injury. It is therefore recommended that you stretch only to about 70% of your range. 
• As your baby grows, the pubic symphysis (where the pubic bones meet) sometimes separates. This can be very painful. If this occurs, avoid lunges and any poses with your legs wide apart or that could further widen the space between the pubic bones. 

In general, it is best to avoid the following poses during pregnancy: 

• Backbends
• Strong abdominal strengthening exercises 
• Poses lying on your back after the third month. Lying flat on your back may restrict blood flow to your baby. 
• Exercises that compress your abdomen 

You can modify many yoga poses as follows:

• Do forward bends with a straight spine and with your legs slightly apart as your baby grows. This will allow you to stretch your hamstrings without compressing your abdomen. 
• Do standing poses against a wall to help you maintain good balance, especially as your baby gets bigger. 
• In twisting poses, be sure to twist gently and avoid compressing your abdomen. 

PART 5: Safety Guidelines After Pregnancy 

After the birth of your baby: 

• Consult your doctor before beginning to exercise again to make sure that it is safe for you. 
• Make sure bleeding has stopped completely before starting to exercise. This may take 6 weeks or longer. 
• You can practice gentle yoga breathing and Yoga Sound Meditation® at any time, even immediately after giving birth. 
• If you have diastasis recti (a separation between the abdominus recti muscles more than 2 fingers wide): Avoid abdominal exercises such as Mini Situps and Toes & Palms Balance, as they can worsen the gap between your abdominal muscles (see Figure 6).