Yoga helps make you limber, stronger and calmer

There is much to like about yoga. It helps make you limber, and stronger and calmer. It's even used to ease medical conditions and prevent injury. And just about anybody can do it.

Yet yoga can lull you into not paying attention. And it's hardly as simple as it looks. There are so many forms, teaching styles, demands, levels of understanding and shades of quality in instruction. In a sick way, some allow competition to creep in. Yoga magazines, showing off human pretzels, can send the same sort of look-at-me messages as those abs-and-buns fitness covers.

As with any physical challenge, you must pay attention to your limits.

According to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission report, there were more than 3,700 yoga-related injuries costing a total of nearly $11 million in medical care in 2004. The most common injuries involve repetitive strain, overstretching the neck, shoulders, spine, legs and knees.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) believes the rewards of basic yoga outweigh the risks as long as participants exercise in moderation and according to their own flexibility and strength levels.

''Yoga can help improve strength, balance and flexibility and may be beneficial for certain bone and joint problems like carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow and arthritis,'' says Dr. Nicholas DiNubile, an orthopaedic surgeon and AAOS fellow. 'However, the old adage of `no pain, no gain' does not apply to this activity.''

DiNubile says serious muscle damage and related injuries can occur if people, especially those with pre-existing musculoskeletal ailments or conditions, don't take proper precautions.

Injuries don't solely hit beginners, says Brad Jones, a Seattle rolfer and a longtime yoga practitioner who has struggled through periodic back trouble.

''Hyper-mobility develops in areas like SI (lower-back) joints, necks, wrists and shoulders,'' he says. ``This can lead to chronic pain. It is like when you bend a piece of plastic back and forth repeatedly. Eventually it becomes very weak and breaks. Complementing yoga with some other forms of strength training is important in my mind.''