Certain yoga poses are risky

When Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith tried some goat yoga moves during “Inside the NBA,” the results were hilarious. Although we did worry a bit when, just to get his goat, the 325-pound Shaq climbed on Barkley’s back. That’s a yoga pose that could crack vertebrae or tear a muscle.

Well, it turns out for folks who have osteoporosis (brittle bone disease) or osteopenia (low bone mass) — as more than 54 million Americans do — certain yoga poses are risky business.

A Mayo Clinic study looked at 89 patients with vulnerable bones who did yoga and had painful injuries. The patients attributed their woes to 12 poses that had strained their back, neck, shoulder, hip, knee or a combination. Their diagnosed injuries ranged from overuse problems to aggravation of arthritis pain, compression fractures and changes in the proper positioning of vertebrae in the neck and spine.

The researchers’ conclusion: If you have osteoporosis or osteopenia it’s smart to avoid positions with extreme spinal flexion and extension; they put you at risk for compression fractures or deformities.

So, say bye to the downward dog and check out the Cleveland Clinic’s “Two Minute Chair

Yoga” at health.clevelandclinic. org and Destress Monday’s twopart Chair Yoga instructions (21 minutes total) on YouTube. You can do movements and poses that strengthen, lengthen and stretch major muscle groups and joints without risking injury. And, the researchers said, folks who modified their yoga practice gained relief from their discomfort.