Are you are a wounded weekend warrior? If you are recovering from whiplash,suffering from a shoulder strain, a hamstring tear and more, these tips below can help you get the most out of your yoga class.

1. Back and Spinal Problems
Avoid seated forward bends if student cannot bend from hip joints.
Use blocks, chair or hands at walls in standing forward bends.
Better yet do “forward bends” in supine position-hamstring or hip openers.
Avoid extreme back bends if students over arch lower back or neck. Open chest, shoulders and hip flexors.

2. Neck Injuries
Avoid upside-down poses-shoulderstand, plow, (never turn head to side) headstand if you have whiplash, thoracic outlet syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome, degenerative arthritis in neck or scoliosis.

3. Hamstring Tears
Avoid forward bends, instead do hamstring strengtheners like bridge pose until tear is healed.

4. Shoulder Injuries
Avoid lifting arms above head repetitively.
Keep shoulders and head in back plane of body.
Avoid reverse prayer pose and cow-face pose arms.
Avoid, modify or limit number of low push-up poses.

5. Sacroiliac Strains
Be careful doing seated seated forward bends and/or with twists to avoid pulling the ligaments between hip bone and sacrum, especially if you are highly flexible.
Practice turning pelvis slightly in the direction of twists.

6. Knee Injuries
Avoid external rotation with flexion and/or forward bend such as lotus or double pigeon.
Avoid extreme flexion of knee such as hero pose and squats.
Do not hyper-extend knees or drift knees to inside of feet in standing poses.

7. Ankle Injuries
Avoid over stretching top of ankles in hero pose or supine hero pose.
Keep ankles in neutral position in lotus and double pigeon pose.
Avoid sickling feet.

8. Wrist Injuries
Avoid putting too much weight on wrists.
Avoid rolling to the outside edge of hands.
Use a small wedge under wrists in downward dog pose.
Strengthen hands by pressing finger pads down into mat.

Happy Healing Now!