Yoga and Injury – How Awareness, Humility, and Adaptation Lead to Healing

In my more than twenty years of teaching yoga, I’ve rarely seen students injure themselves in class — if ever.

The few injuries I’ve witnessed almost always happened outside the yoga room.

Because when yoga is practiced the way it is meant to be — as a union of breath, movement, and meditation — it becomes very difficult to hurt yourself.

When you move with awareness, when each gesture follows the rhythm of your breath, you are deeply connected to your body. You notice right away when something doesn’t feel right.

There’s a natural stretching pain that is part of yoga — a gentle signal from the body saying, “I’m opening, I’m expanding here.” When you breathe into that space, it usually softens and releases. But then there’s another kind of pain — sharp, stabbing, especially in the knees, neck, sacrum, or hips — that is the body saying, “Stop. Listen.”

If you move slowly, consciously, and with breath, you will always sense the difference.

In yoga, we place a healthy kind of stress on the body — a gentle challenge that invites growth and renewal.

It’s a stress that builds resilience, not harm.

The key is awareness — and breath.

 

The Importance of Transitions

One thing I’ve noticed over all these years, and that is well known among yoga teachers, is that most injuries don’t happen in the pose itself — they happen in the transition between poses.

That’s why I teach my students to treat the entire class as one seamless, flowing experience — like a dance. (And for those who know me, you know I used to be a professional ballet dancer — so this way of seeing yoga as movement meditation comes very naturally to me.)

In a conscious practice, there is no separation between one pose and the next.

You stay aware even as you move out of one posture and into another, with each transition guided by the breath.

When that awareness remains unbroken, injury becomes almost impossible.

So my first advice:

• Treat your transitions with as much care as the postures themselves.
• Let every moment in your practice be intentional, graceful, and connected.

 

The Subtle Danger of Showing Off

There is another kind of injury — one that doesn’t come from movement, but from ego.

I remember one of my long-term private students, whom I taught twice a week for over five years. We had built her practice from the foundation — from beginner to advanced — always steady, mindful, and safe.

One day she came to class and told me, “I think I’ve hurt my hamstring. Every time I bend forward, I feel sharp pain near the hip.” Immediately, I knew what she meant.

When I was a young ballet dancer — maybe thirteen years old — I overstretched in a deep forward bend before I was warmed up, and I heard a little crack.

It was painful, and it took years to truly heal.

So I asked her what happened. She looked down and said, “It was my fault. I was on vacation with friends. They knew I practiced yoga, and I wanted to show them that I could still do the splits. I wasn’t warmed up. I just wanted to show off.”

In that moment, she felt a tear — and she knew it.

That story stayed with me, because it reminds us that yoga is not a performance.

It’s not about showing off your flexibility, strength, or balance.

It’s not about proving anything — not to others, not even to yourself.

Sometimes it happens at a party — someone asks, “Show us your headstand!” Or even in a yoga class, when you glance at the person on the mat next to you and push a little too far.

But yoga is not a competition. It’s an inner practice — a dialogue between body, mind, and spirit.

Especially in advanced postures like headstand or shoulder stand, pushing too far can cause real harm to the neck or spine.

So my second advice:

• Never practice to impress.
• Practice to connect.

 

The Gift of Private Practice

One of the greatest gifts of private yoga is that you can completely let go of comparison. There’s no competition, no pressure — just you and the teacher. A safe space where every movement can be seen, adjusted, and supported.

Many of my students tell me that this is one of the biggest blessings of private yoga:

The freedom to simply be — to listen to your body without needing to prove anything.

 

Adapting Yoga for Healing

Just as I wrote recently about my own shoulder injury and how I adapted my practice to heal, I want to share another story that shows how yoga can support healing when practiced with awareness.

Last month, I hurt my shoulder.
The first day, I rested completely.
But already on the second day, I returned to my mat — adapting my practice so that I could move safely and gently.
I modified my sun salutations, added more breath and meditation, practiced Reiki, used natural remedies, and later included a few trigger-point techniques.
Within four days, the pain was completely gone.

It reminded me how powerful yoga can be when practiced intelligently.

You don’t have to stop — you just have to adapt.

 

A Student’s Wrist Story

Around the same time, one of my private students — who is also an Ayurveda coaching client — told me, “Verena, my wrist hurts so much. What should I do? I really want to keep practicing.”
She’s a doctor working in ultrasound and radiation. After her baby break, she returned to using her right hand constantly — eight hours a day.

Naturally, her wrist wasn’t used to that kind of strain anymore. She’s a Pitta type — flexible, determined, and passionate — but with naturally looser joints that can be prone to overuse injuries.

We’d been working on building strength, and I had recommended adding just three push-ups into her sun salutations. But in her enthusiasm, she did many more.

Combined with her long working hours, that overuse led to inflammation in her wrist.

When she told me about it, I immediately showed her how to adapt her practice on our Zoom call — so she could continue without pain.

Here’s what we changed:

• Rest the wrist as much as possible.
• Keep knees on the floor during Chaturanga (push-up phase).
• Use fists instead of flat palms to reduce the wrist angle.
• Lower down with elbows and forearms instead of the hands.
• Replace Cobra pose with Sphinx pose.
• Practice Downward Dog on forearms instead of hands.
• Use blocks or supports to ease wrist strain.

Within minutes, she was smiling again — relieved to know she could still practice. We also discussed natural remedies and ways to reduce inflammation.

This is the essence of yoga therapy: personalized adaptation.
It’s not about stopping — it’s about adjusting.

 

Yoga as Awareness, Not Achievement

Yoga is a practice of awareness — not achievement.

It’s about listening, adjusting, and breathing through what is.
Through awareness, we build true strength and flexibility — not by forcing, but by flowing.

So if you ever find yourself injured or limited, remember:

You don’t have to stop.
You can continue — gently, intelligently, lovingly.

Work with a teacher who knows your body.
Or listen deeply to your own inner guidance.

Every pain, every sensation, every challenge is an invitation to return to presence — to remember that yoga is not about what you can do, but about how you do it.

This is where the wisdom of Ayurveda Yoga Therapy shines — by adapting the practice to your unique constitution, your life situation, and your healing journey.

 

Keep Practicing, Keep Adapting, Keep Enjoying

Your body is your greatest teacher.
Each day, it speaks.
Yoga is how we listen.

So keep practicing.
Keep adapting.
And keep enjoying the journey — breath by breath, moment by moment.

 

🌿 5 Practical Ways to Prevent and Heal Injuries in Yoga

Over the years — both as a teacher and practitioner — I’ve found that these five simple principles can make all the difference between pain and progress:

1. Move mindfully through transitions.
   Most injuries happen between poses — slow down and let your breath lead every movement.
2. Let go of the need to perform.
   Yoga is not a show. Stay humble, listen inward, and practice to connect, not to impress.
3. Adapt your practice to your current state.
   Use props, modify postures, and honor your body’s messages instead of forcing them.
4. Breathe consciously.
   Your breath is your best guide — it connects awareness, supports alignment, and prevents strain.
5. Treat pain as communication, not failure.
   Every sensation is an invitation to listen, soften, and realign with awareness.

 

🎥 Watch the Related Videos

If you’d like to see how these principles look in practice:
👉 Yoga and Injury – Awareness, Humility & Adaptation
Learn how awareness and humility transform pain into growth.
👉 Adapted Sun Salutation for Shoulder Pain (15 Min)
Follow along as I guide you through gentle Sun Salutations I used during my own recovery — proof that you can keep practicing, just adapt.

 

🌸 Reflection

Have you ever had to modify your yoga or self-care practice because of pain or injury?
What did you learn from the experience?
Share your reflections in the comments — I always love reading your stories and insights.

With love and awareness,
Verena Gayatri Primus
Ayurveda-Yoga Coach & Teacher
🌿 www.verenaprimus.com