Contraindications to Yoga Practice

It is not recommended to do yoga if you have one of the conditions listed below.

Acute conditions

  • Acute infectious illnesses, including viral infections such as cold and flu followed by a raised temperature.
  • Purulent and nectoric inflammation.
  • Any acute condition, including due to a chronic disease.
  • Severe physical asthenia caused by an injury, surgery, illness.
  • Postoperative period.
  • Injuries.

Psychiatric disorders

  • Organic, including symptomatic, mental disorders.
  • Mental and behavioural disorders due to psychoactive substance use
  • Schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders.
  • Mood (affective) disorders.
  • Disorders of adult personality and behaviour.
  • Mental retardation.

Diseases of the nervous system

  • Inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system
  • Systemic atrophies primarily affecting the central nervous system
  • Extrapyramidal and movement disorders
  • Other degenerative diseases of the nervous system, according to the ICD-10 (Alzheimer's disease, circumscribed brain atrophy, etc.
  • Demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system
  • Epilepsy.
  • Transient cerebral ischaemic attacks.
  • Anterior, Middle or Posterior cerebral artery syndromes.
  • Polyneuropathies and other disorders of the peripheral nervous system.
  • Diseases of myoneural junction and muscle (myasthenia, myopathies, muscular dystrophy).
  • Cerebral palsy and other paralytic syndromes.
  • Other disorders of the nervous system, according to the ICD-10 (hydrocephalus, multi-system degeneration, etc.).

Diseases of the eye and adnexa

  • Acute and subacute inflammatory diseases and injuries.
  • Dislocation of lens.
  • Retinal vascular occlusions.
  • Glaucoma with uncompensated intraocular pressure.
  • Degenerative myopia.
  • Risk of retinal detachments, retinal detachments undergone surgery.

Diseases of the ear and mastoid process

  • Hearing loss of vascular origin (labyrinthine ischemia or hemorrhage), inflammation of the Eustachian tube.
  • The postoperative period in diseases of the Eustachian tube (otosclerosis) – inverted poses are contraindicated.

Diseases of the circulatory system

  • Rheumatic heart disease with any stage of activity, followed by heart defects in 2-3 stages.
  • Rheumatic valve diseases in 2-3 stages.
  • Rheumatic heart disease in inactive phase, with valve disease in 1 stage, treated preventively with bicillin, and overseen by rheumatologist, is not a contraindication to practice.
  • Post-myocarditis cardiosclerosis with cavity dilation.
  • Chronic rheumatic pericarditis
  • Hypertensive heart disease in 2-3 stage with uncontrolled blood pressure levels.
  • Hypertonic disease in 1-2 stage (with due control of the blood pressure by the cardiologist) is not a contraindication to practice.
  • Stenocardia, starting with 3 functional class (2 functional class with hemodynamically significant stenoses of the coronary arteries (based on the coronary angiography data).
  • Stenocardia of 1-2 functional classes is not a contraindication.
  • Consequences of myocardial infarction (postinfarction cardiosclerosis).
  • Cardiac ischaemia with heart failure of class 2A and higher.
  • Aortic aneurysm.
  • Coronary artery aneurysm.
  • Aneurysm of the pulmonary artery.
  • Pulmonary hypertension with pressure gradient higher than 40 mmHg, as an associated symptom to cardiovascular diseases, or as an independent disease.
  • Pulmonary insufficiency in 2-3 stages.
  • Heart failure IIa and higher (according to the classification by Strazhesko-Vasilenko), functional class NYHA II.
  • Arteriovenous fistula of pulmonary vessels.
  • Pericarditis.
  • Endocarditis.
  • Cardiomyopathy (dilated, obstructive, hypertrophic, with metabolic disorders).
  • Endomyocardial (eosinophilic) disease.
  • Endocardial fibroelastosis.

Rhythm and conduction disorders

  • Atrioventricular block, 2 and 3(complete) stages.
  • Three-beam blockage.
  • Preexcitation syndrome without concomitant arrhythmias is not a contraindication.
  • Recurrent ventricular fibrillation.
  • Paroxysmal rhythm disorders (supraventricular tachycardia, ventricular tachycardia).
  • Sick sinus syndrome.
  • Heart failure.
  • Cardiac septal defect, acquired.

Cerebrovascular diseases

  • Subarachnoid haemorrhage.
  • Occlusion and stenosis of anterior cerebral arteries.
  • Dissection of cerebral arteries.
  • Cerebral atherosclerosis.
  • Progressive vascular leukoencephalopathy.
  • Hypertensive encephalopathy.
  • Moyamoya disease.
  • Nonpyogenic thrombosis of intracranial venous system
  • Cerebral arteritis, not elsewhere classified
  • Thromboangiitis Obliterans (Buerger Disease).
  • Fibromuscular dysplasia of arteries.
  • Budd-Chiari syndrome.
  • Postphlebitic syndrome in 3 stage.
  • Compression of veins (compression of the superior vena cava syndrome).
  • Venous insufficiency in 2-3 stages.

Diseases of the blood

  • Erythropenia.
  • Leukopenia.
  • Thrombocytopenic purpura.
  • Hemophilia.

Endocrine diseases

  • Diabetes mellitus with neuropathy and retinopathy.
  • Diabetes mellitus with nephropathy (Chronic renal failure in 2 and 3 stages with microalbuminuria over 300mg/24 hours).

Diseases of the respiratory system

  • Vocal cords and larynx paralysis.
  • Stenosis of larynx.
  • Diseases of pleura (pneumothorax, fibrothorax, haemothorax, etc.)
  • Respiratory insufficiency in 2-3 stages.

Diseases of the digestive system

  • Crohn's disease.
  • Rectal prolapse.
  • Hemorrhoids in the acute stage, with bleeding.
  • Liver failure in decompensated stage (2-3 stage).
  • Cirrhosis of liver.

Diseases of the musculoskeletal system

  • Aortic arch syndrome (Takayasu arteritis), with complications.
  • Spinal stenosis (relative contraindication).
  • Cervical intervertebral disc disease with myelopathy.
  • Myositis ossificans traumatica/progressive.
  • Palmar fascial fibromatosis (Dupuytren's contracture).
  • Osteoporosis with pathological fracture.
  • Algoneurodystrophy.
  • Paget disease of bone (osteitis deformans).

Diseases of the genitourinary system

  • Chronic kidney diseases with chronic renal failure of 2-3 stages.
  • Renal osteodystrophy.
  • Varicocele.
  • Prolapse and hernia of ovary and fallopian tube.

Oncology

  • Malignant neoplasms (any type).