Part 16: Hamstring
21 Yoga Practices For Body Flexibility
Hamstring is a group of three muscles that run down the back of our leg from the thigh to the knee. Technically, they are called as biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus.
They are responsible for our ability to bend the knee and extend the hip.
Hamstring tightness has become a common occurrence these days. Flexible hamstring has a major role to play when we try to touch our toes by bending from the hip without bending our knees. Any injury to these muscles while playing or doing improper exercises could result in muscle cramps leading to stressed muscles, which in turn could pave way for strain in the muscles or even a tear in the muscle.
Sudden stop from any active movement like facing a ball while playing tennis, or coming to a static pose after a fast dynamic movement in a dance performance could lead to strain in the hamstring.
A weak hamstring could cause pain. Strain in the hamstring could lead to a pulled hamstring if a tear happens in the muscles due to over stretching. When there is a strain in the hamstring, without taking enough rest, if the regular routine resumes, there is a possibility of pulled hamstring.
If any injury happens in the hamstring, best remedy is the elevated rest followed by cold compression with a bag of ice, till the swelling (if any) gets reduced completely.
Here is a yoga therapy practice demonstration to overcome hamstring strain.
One might have noticed that there will always be a warm-up session before any sport activity or yoga practice. It is mandatory to prepare the muscles before engaging them into a rigorous action. Some people think that spending time in doing warm-ups is waste of time, but that’s far from truth.
- Relaxing the muscles before doing any sport activity or yoga will prepare the muscles to co-operate with the activity performed.
- Contraction of muscles is one of the reasons for less body flexibility. To make it flexible, suitable stretching is necessary.
- One should understand that it is body’s intelligence to contract the muscles, to manage the day to day activities if the muscles are weak. Under such circumstances, it would be wise to strengthen the muscles, by doing suitable strengthening practices instead of stretching. It would be wise to supplement the body with suitable energy rich food also.
- Poor circulation of blood, improper or shortness of breath will result in insufficient supply of oxygen to extremities as well as to the major organs responsible for locomotion.
- Hence, care should be taken in strengthening the legs, especially the hamstring and thigh muscles as they form the basic structure of the body in building the energy right from balancing to stability.
Register for yoga sessions here!
This practice was developed in accordance with Yoga Therapy, a branch of yoga that requires the ailing person to perform a set of asanas to cure prevailing health issues. Read more about Yoga Therapy here.
Read the previous title in this article series. Part 15: Pelvis
For any queries, drop a mail to srividhyaspeaks@gmail.com.
Find similar yoga practices in my YouTube channel!
Your thoughts and comments are appreciated.
