Ask The Yoga Doctor: Is Yoga Safe If You've Got Osteoporosis?

Some doctors advise people with the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis to avoid practicing yoga. Does this advice make sense? What are the risks? How can you practice yoga safely if your bone-mineral density is less than normal? Dr. Timothy McCall offers some guidance.

If you want to submit a question to Timothy, email it to AskTheYogaDoctor@gmail.com.

Timothy McCall, MD is a board-certified internist, Yoga Journal's medical editor since 2002 and the author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Yoga as Medicine: The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing. He practiced medicine in the Boston area for a dozen years before devoting himself full-time in the late 1990s to yoga therapy. He has studied with many of the world's leading yoga teachers, including BKS Iyengar and TKV Desikachar. In 2005, Timothy began his studies with a traditional Ayurvedic doctor, Chandukutty Vaidyar, and spent more than a year at his clinic in Kerala, India. His latest book is Saving My Neck: A Doctor’s East/West Journey through Cancer. For more information see DrMcCall.com.

This post was edited by Nina Zolotow, Editor in Chief of the Accessible Yoga blog.

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