House of AnandaMovement · Stillness · Wisdom · JourneyHouse of Ananda · Movement with care
Choose the matching mild-symptom category only when symptoms are familiar and there is no new injury, swelling, nerve symptom or unexplained pain. For severe or rapidly worsening symptoms, seek help rather than searching for a stretch.
You can browse matching topics below. Movement instructions appear after choosing the matching mild-symptom category. If there was an injury, swelling, radiating pain or you are unsure, use the assessment guidance.
27 matching topics · topic matches, not diagnoses
Gentle movement option · Neck & shoulders
Upper trapezius and other neck muscles
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. Skip with dizziness, headache after injury, arm symptoms or a painful restriction. This is gentle seated mobility, not a treatment for a neck strain.
Gentle movement option · Neck & shoulders
Shoulder girdle: trapezius, deltoid and surrounding tissues
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. Do not stretch through a catching or pinching sensation. Sudden severe shoulder pain or inability to lift the arm needs assessment.
Gentle movement option · Chest & upper back
Pectoral muscles across the front of the chest
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. Only for familiar muscular stiffness. New or unexplained chest pain, pressure or breathlessness is not a stretching problem.
Gentle movement option · Chest & upper back
Thoracic back muscles and shoulder-blade region
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. Avoid if this produces shoulder pain, dizziness or radiating symptoms. Unexplained pain between the shoulder blades deserves medical advice.
Gentle movement option · Lower back
Lumbar spinal muscles and surrounding trunk tissues
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. This is a rest position, not a stretch or disc treatment. Stop if leg pain increases. New bladder/bowel changes or numbness around the saddle area need emergency assessment.
Gentle movement option · Hips & thighs
Iliopsoas and other hip flexors
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. Shorten the stance or skip with groin pinching, hip-joint pain, balance difficulty or a recent hip/thigh injury.
Gentle movement option · Hips & thighs
Hamstring group
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. Skip for a recent pull or bruising. Burning, electric pain or tingling can involve nerves and should not be stretched through.
Gentle movement option · Hips & thighs
Hip adductor group
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. Avoid with a groin pull, knee pain or hip pinching. A higher seat or a chair may be more suitable.
Gentle movement option · Hips & thighs
Gluteal muscles and deep hip region
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. This option is unloading rather than a piriformis stretch. Shooting leg pain or numbness requires assessment, not a deeper hip stretch.
Gentle movement option · Calves & Achilles
Gastrocnemius crosses both knee and ankle
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. Do not stretch a recently strained calf. One-sided pain with swelling, warmth or colour change needs urgent assessment for possible DVT.
Gentle movement option · Calves & Achilles
Soleus lies beneath gastrocnemius and works across the ankle
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. Skip after a calf pull or with Achilles pain. Swelling, warmth or colour change in one painful leg requires urgent assessment.
Assessment guide · Calves & Achilles
An involuntary calf-muscle contraction; the cause is not always clear
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Regular gentle calf stretching between episodes may help reduce cramps. Do not assume a persistently painful or swollen calf is cramp. Seek advice if cramps last more than 10 minutes, disturb sleep, or occur with numbness or swelling. Use the calf options only after an episode has settled and walking feels normal.
Digestive comfort option · Digestive system
Gas and fullness in the digestive tract; this is not a tight skeletal muscle
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. This is a comfort option, not a proven gas-removing pose. Get advice for recurrent or persistent bloating. Bloating with pain, vomiting, constipation, fever or inability to pass gas needs urgent advice.
Digestive comfort option · Digestive system
Bowel function depends on gut movement, stool consistency and coordinated emptying
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. Walking is a general bowel-health habit, not an immediate cure. Seek advice for new or recurring changes, blood in stool or weight loss. Pain, bloating, vomiting or inability to pass gas needs assessment before exercise.
Assessment guide · Digestive system
Acid can travel from the stomach towards the oesophagus.
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Stay upright after eating and avoid poses that worsen symptoms, especially deep folds or inversions after meals. Frequent symptoms or difficulty swallowing need medical advice. New chest pain must not be assumed to be reflux.
Assessment guide · Digestive system
IBS is a clinical diagnosis; bloating or abdominal cramps alone do not establish it.
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Use an individual care plan. Gentle movement and relaxation may support wellbeing, but a pose cannot diagnose or cure IBS. Get assessed for new symptoms, bleeding, weight loss or a persistent change in bowel habit.
Assessment guide · Digestive system
Digestive illness can cause fluid loss and make exercise inappropriate.
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Pause yoga while unwell and prioritise fluids and appropriate advice. Seek prompt help for dehydration, persistent vomiting, blood or severe pain. Do not use twists or abdominal exercises to try to clear an infection.
Assessment guide · Digestive system
Abdominal pain can come from many organs and should not be treated as a muscle to stretch.
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Seek urgent advice for worsening or persistent pain. Sudden severe pain, vomiting blood, black tarry stool, collapse or inability to pass stool or gas with pain needs emergency assessment.
Gentle movement option · Lower legs & feet
Lower-leg muscles and intrinsic foot muscles
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. Avoid with a new ankle sprain, swelling, sudden Achilles pain or inability to bear weight.
Gentle movement option · Arms & hands
Forearm flexors and extensors
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Choose the matching mild-symptom category to see movement guidance. Injury or warning symptoms pause instructions. Stop for numbness, tingling, swelling or pain. Avoid Plank and Downward Dog while weight-bearing through the wrist hurts.
Assessment guide · Any region
A muscle strain can involve overstretched or torn fibres. A sprain affects a ligament. Symptoms alone cannot establish the diagnosis.
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Protect the area from painful loading and seek advice if pain, swelling or difficulty using it is significant. Do not use a deep yoga stretch as immediate injury treatment.
Assessment guide · Any region
Radiating symptoms can involve nerves rather than a short or tight muscle.
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Pause stretches that reproduce symptoms and arrange assessment. New or progressive weakness needs urgent advice.
Assessment guide · Neck & shoulders
Pain when lifting the arm can have several causes, including tendon or joint problems.
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗A tailored rehabilitation plan may include progressive strengthening; a generic stretch is not a substitute. Seek urgent advice for sudden severe pain or inability to move the arm.
Assessment guide · Arms & hands
Elbow pain can involve tendons, joints or nerves, and is not always a muscle strain.
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Reduce activities that provoke symptoms. Avoid painful weight-bearing poses and forceful wrist stretches. Arrange assessment for persistent pain; significant weakness or a new injury needs prompt advice.
Assessment guide · Knees
Knee symptoms do not reliably identify a particular muscle injury.
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Avoid deep kneeling, Lotus and forceful folds while painful. Get urgent advice if the knee locks, gives way, is badly swollen or cannot bear weight.
Assessment guide · Calves & Achilles
Heel or tendon pain needs a different approach from general calf tightness.
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Avoid forcing the heel down or using a deep calf stretch as a default treatment. Sudden pain with a snap or difficulty walking needs urgent assessment.
Assessment guide · Calves & Achilles
A painful swollen leg can signal a blood clot and should not be treated as a muscle knot.
Explore the labelled anatomy ↗Seek urgent medical advice now. If there is also chest pain or breathlessness, call emergency services. Do not massage or stretch the leg.
Explore exercises by body area, experience, position and movement goal. If you are searching because of injury or unexplained pain, complete the assessment guidance above before choosing a practice.
Open the Pilates exercise finder →For a recent muscle pull, protect the area from painful loading. Return to movement progressively as symptoms allow, with professional advice when needed. Tendon and ligament problems may require strengthening and load management rather than more flexibility.
Stop for sharp or increasing pain, tingling, numbness, weakness, dizziness or feeling unwell. Seek urgent advice for significant swelling, inability to use the limb or symptoms that worsen quickly. One-sided calf pain with swelling needs urgent assessment; with chest pain or breathlessness, seek emergency help.
Choose individual guidance for pregnancy, recent surgery, joint replacement, osteoporosis, or a diagnosed condition affecting movement. This searcher does not clear someone to exercise and does not replace a clinical assessment.
Research on complete yoga programmes suggests benefits for some persistent pain conditions. It does not prove that a particular pose heals a strained muscle. The movement examples here are educational adaptations, not clinician-prescribed rehabilitation plans.
NCCIH: yoga evidence and safety ↗ · NHS: sprains and strains ↗
Sources checked 12 September 2026 · Independent clinical review pending.
Illustrations: OpenStax, adapted in size and format only. Access the anatomy textbook for free ↗