Published March 2, 2026 05:36AM
“Be careful not to ___!”
“It’s risky to ___!”
“Make sure you don’t ___.”
Ever heard cues like these that made you feel puzzled or even afraid in yoga class? As with any type of movement, yoga carries some risk. But a number of the things you might’ve been told aren’t safe actually work fine for many people. Yes, really.
Safety tips in yoga are well-intentioned. A teacher might offer cues based on what works for their body or assume a student could hurt themselves if they deviate from the cues they were taught. But each student has unique needs and it can be challenging for teachers to cue poses that work for everyone. Which means there are a few myths about what is “safe” in yoga that are worth debunking.
6 “Safety Rules” in Yoga Worth Reconsidering
“Do we want yoga practitioners to be scared and fearful or empowered in their bodies?” asks Jenni Rawlings, a yoga teacher who focuses on anatomy, biomechanics, and movement science.
Rethinking “the rules” means you can focus on things that DO matter, whether that’s the sensations you feel, your breath, or your intention. You’ll also be able to practice more fearlessly with the confidence to experiment with what works for you.
Maybe you’ve heard the following “don’ts” in yoga class. For many people, these movements aren’t as risky as you might’ve been led to believe. When testing them out for yourself, Rawlings recommends that you ease into these motions and let comfort and control be your guide. Remember that not all movements are appropriate for everyone due to injuries, medical conditions, anatomical differences, or just plain preference. Use your discretion.
As you question certain cues and defer to your own judgment about what works best for your body, pay attention to the sensations in your body. If you experience a signal that you’ve reached your max—including dizziness, wobbliness, tension, or discomfort—ease out of the position or lessen the intensity. Even when a position doesn’t work for you, you don’t need to fear it. Instead, you can develop the discernment to make a different choice.
1. Lifting the Shoulder Blades When the Arms Are Raised
“Don’t let your shoulders lift,” is pretty common yoga speak. Although keeping the scapulae down when the arms are by your sides can help prevent your neck muscles from tensing and “bunching up” by your ears, this instruction can’t be universalized to all arm positions. We can let the shoulders lift in arms-up poses—in fact, we should.
“When the arms lift overhead, the shoulder blades are actually meant to upwardly rotate and elevate. That’s a normal part of healthy shoulder mechanics—not something to ‘fix,’” says Rawlings. She would rather students let their shoulders move naturally, lifting in poses including Upward Salute (Urdhva Hastasana), Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), and when the top arm reaches over the ear in Extended Side Angle Pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana).
If you feel the muscles at the back of your neck working when your shoulder blades lift, Rawlings explains that some activation of the upper trapezius is nothing to be afraid of.
2. Bending the Knees More Than 90 Degrees
In his book Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar repeatedly instructs to keep the front knee at a 90-degree angle in certain poses, including Warrior 1 and 2, without explaining why. Photos of him in these positions show his knee bent exactly that much and stacked above his heel.
In turn, you might think that bending your knee more or less than 90 degrees—even if that feels good—will cause some undefined problem. It likely won’t, says Rawlings. Although that might be a feature of poses as Iyengar interpreted them, it’s not necessarily about safety.
“Nor is letting the knees travel past the toes inherently dangerous,” adds Rawlings. “Our knees do this all the time when we walk downstairs, go up or down hills, or squat to sit.”
Allowing the knees to move forward simply shifts more work to the quadriceps, explains Rawlings. “Sitting the hips back shifts more work to the glutes, hamstrings, and adductor magnus.”
So how do you know what’s right for you? Explore the degree of knee bend that works with your range of flexibility and feel free to switch it up to challenge different muscles.
3. Placing the Foot on the Inner Knee in Tree Pose
When yoga students are warned not to put the foot on the inner knee in Tree Pose (Vrksasana), they’re commonly given the explanation that the knee is a hinge joint that is not made for sideways pressure. This is a misunderstanding, according to Rawlings.
“The knee actually handles multi-directional forces all the time—both in daily life, and in our yoga practice,” she says. Other poses including Side Plank (Vasisthasana) and Warrior 2 place similar—or even greater—lateral loads on the knee, even if we can’t see the forces at play, says Rawlings. “The load in Tree Pose is relatively small and well within what the joint can handle, so it isn’t something we need to treat as risky in a general class,” says Rawlings.
What’s actually more relevant is whether resting your lifted foot against the knee of your standing leg in Tree Pose feels like an ideal footrest. If this isn’t comfortable, of course you can place your foot above or below the joint.
4. Rolling Up from Lying Down is Bad for Your Back
Sit-ups, crunches, and the lift from Half Boat Pose (Ardha Navasana) to Boat Pose (Navasana). What do these movements have in common? They involve spinal-flexion (rounding your spine). When they appear in yoga class, it’s often alongside warnings that they could be potentially injurious for the lower back.
Although that might be because rolling up from the floor—especially without a cushiony mat underneath you—might feel uncomfortable, there’s no reason to single out spinal rounding as something to fear, according to Rawlings, even when it involves the challenge of lifting the weight of the upper body from the floor.
“Spinal flexion isn’t inherently harmful. The spine is made up of dozens of joints that are designed to move, including into rounding,” says Rawlings. Common yoga examples are not more dangerous than Plank or other isometric core work. They’re just different.
“They simply train the abdominal muscles dynamically through a range of motion, which is a completely normal and effective way to build strength,” says Rawlings. Rolling up from the floor even mirrors everyday actions, including sitting up in bed.
5. Jumping Back to Plank
You might have heard that jumping back to Plank from Standing Forward Bend puts a lot of stress on the wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Many people assume the action is akin to landing from a jump on straight legs, which negatively impacts the knee joints. But does jumping back to Plank have the same effect on your shoulders and elbows? Not so much.
“We’re not actually landing on our hands the way we land on our feet in a jump,” says Rawlings. Since the hands stay planted the whole time, most of the impact is absorbed through the feet, not the upper body, she explains.
Is jumping back to Chaturanga better? It actually requires more strength and places greater muscular demand on the arms and shoulders, says Rawlings. “Both options are completely reasonable. It’s a matter of personal preference.”
If you’re a fan of the jump-back, play with landing with your elbows straight and bent to see which version you prefer.
6. Front Rib Flaring
“Don’t poke your front ribs out.” Many yoga teachers say this in response to “flaring” in the lower ribs in backbends and certain other poses. These and other cues including “tuck the ribs” are perhaps efforts to encourage core engagement and prevent overdoing a stretch.
So if your front ribs do tend to jut forward, are you setting yourself up for problems?
“Rib flare is not something that needs to be treated as a problem in a general yoga class,” explains Rawlings. “It’s not something we can reliably measure, and there’s no evidence that a certain rib position predicts pain or injury.”
In backbends, it’s completely normal to see the front ribs protrude a bit, says Rawlings. In addition, people have different bone structures. “Rib cage shape varies from person to person as a matter of normal anatomical variation, which is not something that needs fixing,” says Rawlings.
You absolutely can adjust your ribs if that makes a pose feel better—but you don’t have to. Focus on how comfortable you are, says Rawlings.
Deciding What Works Best for You
Safety is a crucial element in any yoga practice—but that doesn’t mean it’s one-size-fits-all. As a student, you can honor your own experience by practicing in a way that makes you feel good. And teachers can create a safer-feeling environment by offering guidance that allows for mindful exploration and empowers students to choose variations that work for them—without fear.
