Chest pain/discomfort

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Dear all,

I am new to yoga, having discovered some basic moves in a home workout DVD called P90X. I have been practicing twice a week for the past 2 months (I do other sports the rest of the time).

I had one question related to chest pains after yoga.

I usually practice yoga for about 50-60 minutes, and when I’m done, I feel like all my blood is in the center of my body and it causes a slight pain / discomfort in my chest. I’ve found no discussion about this using the search function.

Is this a frequent issue? Can someone help me with this? I’m afraid to pursue yoga if this continues.

Thank you in advance.

Best regards,
Snake Doctor

#2

Hello snakedoctor,

I am not familiar with the P90x yoga program. However, when I see them advertising “extreme fitness” it does make me wonder.

Please do not stop doing yoga. But do stop doing the way that you are doing yoga. Yogasana should not cause discomfort or pain. If it does, you should modify the practice. The chest pain you mention is unfamiliar to me. If you can do aerobic sports without discomfort I wouldn’t worry too much about it. If not, please see your health care practitioner.

To modify your practice for more comfort: Lower the intensity (the pace) by moving into and out of the asanas more slowly. Decrease the time spent in each asana. Decrease the duration of your total practice. Or all of the above. Any exercise program should be built up slowly, gradually. Perhaps you are trying to progress too fast. Take your time - months or years. Slow and steady wins the race!

If that doesn’t do the trick, find a yoga teacher who practices an authentic form of yoga. If you like “extreme fitness”, you might like ashtanga/power or Iyengar yoga. However, it may well be that you would benefit most from doing just the opposite - hatha yoga including breathing and meditation practices. The choice and the path are yours. Enjoy the journey.

#3

Doc,

I am quite familiar with the program you mention, having run through the entire thing two years ago in order to evaluate its efficacy. Having seen all the DVDs, I purposefully avoided the yoga portion of the series AND found it to be dangerous in its construct especially for beginners. It is designed to maintain a certain level of exertion and, as I see it, that is not yoga’s mission at all.

However, I did not have chest pain from doing that series - from doing the 80 different pushups, yes, but not from the series:-) While I wouldn’t ring any alarm bells about your chest pain, I would point out that I have not found such a thing to be an expected result (not normal because no one in yoga should desire to be normal - we’re hoping for reaching our potential instead) in the decade or so that I have been studying, practicing, and teaching.

I hope you’ll consider taking some group classes in a more moderate physical style but hopefully a more potent spiritual style :slight_smile:

gordon