Yoga injuries on the rise
In the past year, over 13,000 Americans were treated in the emergency room for yoga related injuries. Doctors place a lot of the blame on baby-boomer “weekend warriors” getting into yoga unprepared.
Edward Toriello, an orthopedic surgeon and spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, says most of the injuries he sees are sustained by “weekend warrior” baby boomers who begin yoga without realizing that their bodies are no longer what they used to be. “They think that yoga is an easy way to start exercising, so they go to class once a week, not stretched out at all, and they get hurt.”
In addition, many new forms of yoga have evolved which focus more on physical fitness than on spiritual development. These new branches often come with the sorts of injuries more often associated with vigorous exercise.
More than five times as many people take yoga classes at health clubs today as did a decade ago, and enthusiasts have devised all kinds of variations appalling to purists: hip-hop yoga, disco yoga, power yoga, not to mention controversial hot yoga, or Bikram, which incites people to push themselves to their limit in sweltering rooms in which temperatures are set at 105ºF (41ºC).
If you are going to practice you, keep in mind the same basic principles you would with any other fitness regime. Make sure you adequately stretch and warm up before hand and you take it very slow and easy when you are just starting.
(Source)