By Dr Carla Cupido • October 28th, 2008

Have you ever panicked in the middle of a yoga pose for fear that you might be injuring yourself-many of us do not understand the objective behind most yoga postures, never mind the anatomy and biomechanics of the body. We all want to benefit from yoga, but we should also know if we are injuring ourselves instead of achieving therapeutic gains.

I would like you to deliberate some of the yoga poses that you move through in your yoga practice and ponder the impact that they could have on your neck if done incorrectly. As previously mentioned, without understanding the intention of an asana and the biomechanical relevance of that pose, it is awfully challenging to determine if your position in that pose is causing you injury or benefit. Next, we will discuss some of the anatomical and biomechanical aspects of the neck for you to better appreciate how to keep your cervical spine safe during your practice.

Although the muscles of the neck play a large role in maintaining a stable cervical spine, certain positions place our necks at significant risk of injury due to the anatomical structure of the neck. Imagine looking at someone's left profile; the spinal curves in the neck and low back are known as a lordosis and are the shape of a “C”, while the curve in the mid-back is a kyphosis and is the mirror image of a “C.” These curves are very important to understand as they guide the movement of our facet joints, which are the joints at the back side of the spine, and the intervertebral discs which are the shock absorbers between each vertebra of the spine.

When the spine moves into flexion, (tucking your chin to your chest), the facet joints are at a decreased risk of injury, while the intervertebral discs are at an increased risk. However, the opposite occurs when the spine moves into extension (looking up to the sky). These two motions bring the greatest risk to our necks. Let's dissect these movements to understand how they apply to particular poses....

• <<
• <
• 1
• 2
• >
• >>

Location:  Vancouver, CA

Dr. Cupido graduated from McMaster University with a degree in the Honours Bachelor of Kinesiology program. She went on to attend the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College from which she graduated as a Doctor of Chiropractic with...