Now and then we hear yoga horror stories of devoted practitioners getting a serious injury after years of practice. Often these injuries come from practicing common poses incorrectly until the body has to yell, “No more!”
Here are the most significant misalignments in some of our most common poses, and ways to correct them, so you can keep enjoying your asana practice and keep your body feeling good. As always, listen to your body and ask your teacher for help in class.
1. Standing Forward Fold (Uttanasana)
What’s wrong
- Bending from the lower back, putting pressure on the intervertebral discs
- Rounding the back prematurely
- Weight in the toes or heels
How to fix it
- Separate the feet hip-distance apart
- Hinge at the hips, tilting the pelvis forward before folding over completely
- Keep your weight in the midpoint of the foot
- Seek to maintain the belly-to-thigh connection, bending the knees as needed
- Allow rounding in the back only when the belly-to-thigh connection can be maintained into the full fold
2. Cow Pose (Bitilasana)
What’s wrong
- Crunching the back of the neck
- “Bat wing” shoulder blades
How to fix it
- Stack shoulders over wrists and hips over knees, fingers spread wide, knees hip-distance apart
- Draw the shoulder blades apart
- Bring the sternum forward
3. Plank
What’s wrong
- Collapsing in the chest, which can lead to bat wing shoulder blades
- A relaxed abdomen and collapsing belly
- Dropping the hips too low and arching the lower back, or lifting the hips too high
How to fix it
- Broaden across the collarbones and draw the shoulder blades apart
- Engage the core
- Push the ground away, shoulders stacked over wrists, neutral spine through the neck
- Keep the legs engaged, lift the kneecaps, and stay on the balls of the feet with heels reaching back
4. Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
What’s wrong
- Feet too far from or too close to the hands
- Chest sagging toward the ground with shoulders near the ears
- Staying on tiptoes instead of letting the heels release toward the ground
How to fix it
- Find your length by starting in plank with shoulders over wrists, then push the hips up and back without moving the hands or feet
- Spread all ten fingers wide, grounding through the index fingers and thumbs to protect the wrists, elbows and shoulders
- Externally rotate the upper arms
- Engage the hamstrings to protect the hip joints
- Gaze between the feet or toward the navel
- Draw the belly toward the thighs
5. Upward-Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)
What’s wrong
- Head thrown too far back
- Breastbone dropping and hanging in the shoulders, stressing the rotator cuff
How to fix it
- Stack the hands under the shoulders
- Lift through the breastbone
- Extend through the whole spine, with more bend in the upper (thoracic) spine and less in the lower back and neck
- Lower the chin and gaze forward, or to where the wall meets the ceiling
- Lift the thighs off the ground and draw the shoulders away from the ears
6. Four-Limbed Staff Pose (Chaturanga Dandasana)
What’s wrong
- Elbows splaying out to the sides
- Shoulders and chest dropping below the elbows, straining the shoulders
- Hips sticking up, straining the lower back
- Neck crunched with the gaze forward
How to fix it
- Keep the hips neutral
- Bend the elbows no deeper than 90 degrees; don’t drop the shoulders below the elbows, and keep the elbows hugging back, not out
- Spread the fingers wide and the shoulder blades apart
- Engage the core
- Keep a neutral neck, gazing at the floor just in front of your face
- Lower the knees whenever you need to
7. Chair Pose (Utkatasana)
What’s wrong
- Over-arching the lower back (buttocks sticking out) or over-flexing the hips
- Knees jutting out past the toes
- Weight in the balls of the feet
- Shoulders up by the ears
- Rounding in the upper back
- Legs and toes turning out
How to fix it
- Draw the tailbone gently down to keep the pelvis from tipping too far
- Open across the collarbones and engage the abdomen to lift the chest
- Spread the shoulder blades apart and externally rotate the shoulders
- Sit the weight back into the heels, toes pointing forward, knees over the ankles or behind the toes
8. Lunge
What’s wrong
- Sinking into the lower back
- Toes pointing out or in
- Front knee jutting past the ankle
- Crooked hips
How to fix it
- Align the front knee over the ankle
- Point the toes forward
- Square the hips by drawing the front hip back and the back hip forward
- If the arms are extended, rotate them externally and drop the shoulders away from the ears
- Lengthen through the lower spine and open across the collarbones
9. Extended Triangle (Utthita Trikonasana)
What’s wrong
- Hyperextending the front knee
- Straining the neck to look up
How to fix it
- Give yourself enough space between the feet (about 3.5 to 4 feet) so the pelvis can move back and take pressure off the knee
- Engage the front thigh to protect the knee
- Front thigh rotates externally, back thigh internally
- Front foot points forward, back foot roughly parallel to the back of the mat
- Lengthen both sides of the waist by reaching the ribs away from the hips
- Keep the gaze forward or down if looking up strains the neck
10. Supported Shoulder Stand (Salamba Sarvangasana)
What’s wrong
- Elbows sliding apart and upper arms rolling in, so the torso sinks and loads the neck
- Practicing when the pose isn’t right for you. Skip it if you are pregnant, menstruating, or have high blood pressure, a neck injury, a headache or digestive upset. Legs-up-the-wall is a great alternative.
How to fix it
- Support the shoulders with folded blankets, keeping the head off the blankets
- Lie with the arms alongside the torso and curl the legs into the chest to prepare
- Draw the elbows in toward each other
- Lift up through the feet
- Actively press the upper arms and shoulders into the blankets and lift the upper spine away from the ground
This article is general guidance, not medical advice. If you have an injury or health condition, check with your healthcare provider and let your teacher know before class.
