Yoga guide
Yoga can help dancers, but not by making you bendier. No trial has tested yoga in dancers, and in sport, stretching hasn't been shown to prevent injuries while strength training has. What dancers need from yoga is range they can control: strength at the end of their range, balance, feet and ankles that cope with jumps and relevés, and turnout from the hips without forcing it.
Used that way, yoga sits alongside your technique classes, strength training and the advice of your teachers and dance physiotherapists; it doesn't replace them.
This guide covers where dancers get hurt, what stretching and strength work really do, turnout and the hips, the feet and ankles, being very flexible, when to hold stretches, eating enough for your dancing, and nerves. It includes a free 25-minute class for rest days and the warning signs that need a check.
The one randomised trial with a yoga group used it as the comparison for another type of training, and reviews of dancers' mental health and injury prevention found no yoga studies. This guide builds on what is known about dance, stretching, strength and balance.
Across 25 trials in sport, stretching didn't prevent injuries, while strength training cut them to under a third. International stretching experts agree stretching isn't an all-round way to prevent injury.
In dance students, strengthening at the end of the range with gentle stretching raised how high they could lift a leg themselves more than hard stretching did. Slow, forced stretches injured the hamstring tendon in professional dancers, who took a median of 50 weeks to get back.
Turnout is largely set by the shape of your hip and thigh bones, and forcing more from the knees and feet goes with injury in small studies. Hip openers won't add turnout; hip strength helps you control the turnout you have.
Most elite dancers are hypermobile. One Dance UK: "Stability and strength should be developed as a priority."
Missed or irregular periods are a key sign of not eating enough for your dancing. Bone pain that builds with each jump, a pop high at the back of the thigh during a stretch and 3 missed periods in a row all need checking. The full list is below.
Across 16 studies of recreational, student and professional dancers, there were fewer than 5 injuries per 1,000 hours of dancing, yet 81% of 130 contemporary dance students were injured over a year. In ballet, most injuries build up gradually, and 66% to 91% are in the legs.
In ballet, 14% to 57% of injuries are in the foot and ankle. In two professional ballet companies, pinching and inflammation at the ankle were the commonest problems needing care, and ankle sprains, mostly from jumps, the commonest that stopped dancing. In 54 ballet dancers, 63% of stress fractures were in the foot.
In pre-professional dancers, there's some good evidence that a previous injury and poor coping skills go with more injuries. Getting injuries properly rehabilitated matters more than any one exercise.
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During and after rapid growth, One Dance UK says "increased risk of injury, reduced flexibility, co-ordination and balance are likely", because the bones grow ahead of the muscles and tendons. Don't force lost range back.
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In 147 professional dancers from six opera houses or theatres, 20.8% had at least moderate symptoms of depression, anxiety or an eating disorder, and anxiety was more common than in the general population.
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In one trial, 134 competitive dancers were randomised to two types of conditioning or to Vinyasa yoga as a low-intensity comparison for 4 to 6 weeks; its summary mentions heart and leg power changes in the yoga group, with no numbers. Two unpublished theses (10 and 28 dancers) reported gains in range, balance and confidence, one with no comparison group. A university course with gentle yoga for dance students has finished but posted no results.
Across 25 sports trials (26,610 people), stretching programmes didn't reduce injuries, while strength training cut them to under a third and balance training to about half. In a 2025 expert consensus, stretching improves range of movement but doesn't "serve as an all-encompassing injury prevention strategy".
Across 36 studies of dancers over 16, strength and conditioning raised strength and power. A 2025 meta-analysis of 15 controlled trials (351 dancers) confirmed bigger gains in strength and power, with no change in body weight or body fat, and its effect on flexibility wasn't significant. Twelve weeks of thigh training in professional ballerinas left their thigh size unchanged.
In one ballet company, dancers who kept up three 30-minute sessions a week of strength, balance and foot work were injured much less often, but that result counts only those who stuck with it. A 2026 review of 8 dance prevention studies couldn't say whether programmes work overall.
In 33 modern dance students, 8 weeks of balance training (2 hours a week) improved every balance test compared with technique class alone.
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In college athletes, 10 weeks of yoga twice a week gave small gains in flexibility and balance. In 22 hip-hop dancers, Pilates improved tummy strength but not jumps or balance, and the authors say the findings "do not establish efficacy". Neither yoga nor Pilates has been compared in dancers.
In 39 dance students over 6 weeks, every method raised passive range, but active range (how high they could lift the leg themselves) improved more with end-range strengthening or gentle stretching, at about 3 out of 10 effort, than with hard stretching at 8 out of 10. Very gentle stretching also beat moderate stretching in 24 dancers, and slow lowering exercises for the hamstrings raised active range as much as stretching while also adding strength.
In 57 conservatoire dancers, 4 hamstring stretches of 3 times 20 seconds, 4 times a week for 7 weeks, raised range, and the gain held through 18 days off. Across 11 trials, strength training raised range about as much as stretching.
Fifteen professional dancers injured the hamstring tendon near the sitting bone "during slow hip-flexion movements with extended knee". The pain felt mild, but they took a median of 50 weeks (30 to 76) to get back.
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Use yoga for active range: holding a leg up yourself, standing balances and back-strengthening lifts. Stretch only what limits your dancing, gently, at about 3 out of 10, for 20 to 30 seconds, after class or on a rest day.
Holds of 60 seconds or more per muscle just before testing cut performance by about 4.6%, against about 1.1% for shorter holds, and moving afterwards cancelled most of the effect. The extra range usually lasted under 30 minutes.
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In 10 dancers, static stretching inside a warm-up "does not appear to be detrimental to a dancer's performance", though moving stretches did better for jumps. In 24 contemporary dancers, short static, moving and partner stretches all raised range "without negatively impacting power or balance".
Before class, a moving warm-up with short holds only where your work needs range (our dance warm-up). Keep longer yoga holds for after class or rest days, as our yoga for athletes guide says: flow before, hold after.
In pooled screening studies, injured dancers had about 23 degrees more forced (compensated) turnout, taken at the knees and feet, than uninjured dancers. A 2026 review found 3 of 4 small studies linked forced turnout with leg injuries, while a 2021 review said no definite conclusions could be drawn. The studies are small and mostly not followed forward in time.
Elite ballet students followed for a year gained some hip rotation "without increasing their total lower limb turnout", and early heavy training changed the twist of the thigh bone without changing the turnout dancers used. Turnout you can hold yourself improved in two tiny studies of turnout conditioning (16 and 6 dancers, no comparison group).
In 11 professional dancers, développé à la seconde, the splits and grand plié made the hip joint pinch and partly slip. For dancers' hip pain, first-line treatment is often physiotherapy to strengthen the trunk and the muscles around the hip.
Turn out from your hips to the range they allow, with your knees over your middle toes. Strengthen the muscles that turn the hips out (clamshells, goddess pose and warrior II with the knee tracking the foot), and don't sit in deep passive hip openers to get more turnout.
Foot-strengthening trials in dancers barely exist. Balance training improved dancers' balance, and the professional ballet trial included foot work with a band and one-leg balance. With the foot and ankle leading injury counts, calf, toe and balance work earn a place.
Readiness depends on years of training, strength and control, not age, and "No student with insufficient ankle and foot plantar flexion range of motion or with poor lower extremity alignment should be allowed to do pointe work". For hypermobile dancers, One Dance UK says pointe work "should be delayed until foot strength and trunk stability is fully established".
Calf raises (parallel, then turned out), towel toe scrunches, ankle circles and one-leg balance, as in our Pilates for dancers class. Keep kneeling on pointed feet (hero pose) short if the front of your ankle or your big toe complains.
72% of 85 elite Australian dancers met the usual cut-off for hypermobility, and the authors suggest a higher cut-off for dancers.
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Hypermobility didn't raise hip pain, injury or retirement in professional ballet dancers over 5 years, or injury in 185 contemporary students. But in 180 modern dance students, both very stiff and very bendy dancers were injured more than those in the middle, and hypermobility with tiredness went with injury in young ballet students.
One Dance UK: "Hypermobile dancers like to stretch. They find it easy and it feels good, but stretching for long periods into the end of range may lead to instability and even injury. Stability and strength should be developed as a priority." Areas that are genuinely tight can still be stretched. The NHS: "do not overextend your joints just because you can". Our yoga for hypermobility guide has a stability-first class.
When you eat too little for the dancing and training you do, your body saves energy by turning down other jobs. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) calls this REDs (relative energy deficiency in sport, also written RED-S): it can stop periods and harm bone, health and performance, in men and in women. A 2024 consensus of dance medicine experts applied it to dance.
Missed or irregular periods are a key sign of not eating enough for your dancing, and more food and a lighter workload come first. See a GP if you've missed 3 periods in a row or your periods haven't started by 15.
The dance experts add that the contraceptive pill shouldn't be used to manage it, and that strength training helps keep bones healthy.
In an online survey of 247 dancers, 57% of women and 29% of men reported signs of low energy availability. Across 11 studies of female dancers, period problems affected 40% to 66%, and eating disorders affect about 12% of dancers (16.4% in ballet). These are mostly screening results, not diagnoses.
Yoga doesn't fix low energy availability, and extra classes add to the energy you need. Food and a manageable workload come first. In class, no weighing and no comments on bodies, as our sport dance guide says.
No trial has tested it in dancers. In young professional musicians, yoga gave "a trend towards less music performance anxiety", and in 135 adolescent musicians (not randomised) performance anxiety fell. A mindfulness programme in 16 professional ballet dancers changed nothing on its questionnaires, and a 2025 review rated the evidence for psychological help with dancers' performance anxiety low to moderate.
In 35 ballet dancers, 12 weeks of training in relaxation, imagery and self-talk cut time spent injured compared with dancers who didn't have it.
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A calming tool, not a treatment (our suggestion, from the NHS breathing exercise):
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Anxiety is more common in professional dancers than in the general population. If it's affecting your dancing or your life, talk to your GP or your school or company's health team.
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Slow breathing: 2 minutes to start a practice (our yoga for runners class), or at least 5 minutes on its own (the move's page).
Towel scrunch: 2 sets of 12 each foot; calf raises: 2 sets of 10, parallel then turned out, rising through the big toe (our Pilates for dancers class). Single-leg calf raise from a step: 2 sets of 12 each leg once two-leg raises are easy; tibialis raise: 3 sets of 10 (our strength workout for dancers). Ankle circles: 10 slow circles each way with each foot (the move's page).
Clamshell: 10 each side, turning out from the hip (our dance warm-up and Pilates for dancers class). Goddess pose: 3 holds of 3 breaths, feet turned out only as far as your knees stay over your middle toes (our yoga for diabetes class). Warrior II: 5 breaths each side; chair pose: 3 holds of 5 breaths (our yoga for balance class).
Tree pose: 3 to 5 breaths each side, twice; standing hand-to-big-toe pose: 3 breaths each side, standing tall rather than lifting higher; warrior III: 3 breaths each side, twice, hands on a chair to start (our yoga for balance class). Single-leg stand: 2 holds of 20 seconds each leg, parallel then turned out (our Pilates for dancers class). Dancer's pose: 20 seconds each side with a hand on a wall (our hot yoga sequence), only once you're steady in tree pose, and not with low back pain.
3D demoTree pose (Vrksasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoStanding hand-to-big-toe pose (Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoWarrior III (Virabhadrasana III)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoSingle-leg standBeginner · A wall
3D demoDancer pose (Natarajasana)Advanced · No equipmentSide plank: 2 holds of 20 seconds each side, knees down to start (our Pilates for dancers class). Locust: 3 to 5 lifts held 3 to 5 seconds; glute bridge: 8 to 10 slow lifts (our yoga for posture class).
Low lunge, strap hamstring stretch and reclined figure four: 45 seconds each side at a mild pull, about 3 out of 10; legs up the wall: 2 minutes; corpse pose: 3 minutes (our yoga for runners class).
3D demoLow lunge (Anjaneyasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSupine hamstring stretch with a strapBeginner · No equipment
3D demoReclined figure four (eye of the needle, Sucirandhrasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoLegs up the wall (Viparita Karani)Beginner · A wall
3D demoCorpse pose (Savasana)Beginner · No equipmentThese rest on the stretching, turnout and hypermobility evidence rather than trials of particular poses.
Front and middle splits, deep pigeon held for a long time, wide-angle folds pushed further and long yin holds. They don't prevent injuries or add usable range, slow forced stretching has caused serious hamstring injuries, and for hypermobile dancers long end-range stretching "may lead to instability".
Lotus, half lotus or wide-legged poses used to open the hips for turnout. Keep your knees over your middle toes.
Wheel, camel and bow, especially in teenagers: a young dancer's back pain that is worse when arching back needs checking, as our sport dance guide says.
Keep holds under about 60 seconds per muscle and finish with moving work.
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Headstand and shoulder stand aren't needed, and they're among the practices most often linked with harms in yoga. Leave them out with hypermobility or a neck problem.
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Heat makes range feel easier without making it usable, and adds to sweat losses. With hypermobility, more range is the wrong goal (our hot yoga and hypermobility guides).
With missed periods or worries about food, more training makes low energy availability worse: see a GP.
Do our 25-minute class once or twice a week on a rest day or after class (our editorial starting point), alongside 2 strength sessions and your dance warm-up. The strength workout is the one built on the professional ballet trial; the yoga for runners class suits after class; and very flexible dancers should start with the hypermobility class.
Twenty-five minutes of yoga for dancers: feet and ankles, turnout from the hips, balances you control yourself, trunk strength, then gentle stretches and rest.
25 minBeginner17 movesOther / check instructions, A bench or boxA strength session for dancers, built on the professional ballet trial: calf and foot work, hip and trunk strength, Nordic lowers, step-downs and landings.
55 minIntermediate21 movesA wall, A stepA dance warm-up for class, rehearsal or performance: easy cardio, ankle circles and rises, leg swings, spine moves, turnout, balance and small jumps.
15 minBeginner16 movesA wall, A dumbbellA 25-minute Pilates class for dancers: feet and calves, turnout control from the hip, trunk endurance and back extension, all in the middle of your range.
25 minBeginner17 movesOther / check instructions, A bench or boxA 15-minute barefoot routine for stronger toes, arches, calves and ankles, finishing with balance. You need only a towel, a wall and a resistance band.
15 minBeginner11 movesA wall, Other / check instructionsA 25-minute yoga class for hypermobile joints, HSD and hEDS: supported lying work, all-fours control, standing poses with soft joints, balance and a legs-up rest.
25 minBeginner15 movesA band, A wallThirty minutes of standing yoga for balance: strong standing poses, one-leg poses at the wall, and side steps, backward steps, reaches and sit-to-stands.
30 minBeginner16 movesA wall, A bench or boxA 20-minute yoga cool-down for runners: calves, hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes, one balance pose and a rest, after an easy run or on a rest day.
20 minBeginner11 movesA wallTwo strength sessions a week, with at least one full rest day, as our sport dance guide suggests.
These follow our Pilates for dancers and sport dance guides word for word. This is general information, not a diagnosis. A&E means accident and emergency.
Call 999 or go to A&E if, after an injury, you heard a crack, the foot or ankle has changed shape or points at an odd angle, a bone is sticking out, there is a bad cut over it, you're in severe pain, or the toes look blue or white, feel numb or are cold to touch. Don't drive yourself.
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Get an urgent GP appointment or help from NHS 111 if, after an injury, you can't put weight on it or walk more than a few steps, the pain is very bad or getting worse, or the swelling or bruising is large or getting worse. See a GP if it isn't better after 2 weeks of looking after it, keeps coming back or stops you doing normal things.
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Pain in one spot of a bone that builds with each jump, then aches at rest or at night, can be a stress fracture: stop jumping and get it checked, even if an early X-ray looks normal. Our stress fracture guide explains.
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Sudden pain or a pop high at the back of the thigh during a stretch needs checking the same day: stretching strains of the hamstring tendon can feel mild but take months to recover.
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See a GP if you've missed your period 3 times in a row, your periods haven't started by 15 or have become irregular, or you've had a stress fracture from ordinary activity or more than one. If you're worried about your eating, see a GP as soon as you can, or call the eating disorder charity Beat on 0808 801 0677.
The NHS lists spending a lot of time worrying about your weight and body shape, avoiding socialising when food might be involved, eating very little, making yourself sick or taking laxatives, exercising too much, very strict habits around food, and changes in mood. See a GP as soon as you can, or call Beat on 0808 801 0677.
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See a GP if you think you have joint hypermobility syndrome: keeping getting sprains, joints that pop out, or pain and stiffness. A joint that has come out and stayed out needs A&E.
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Back pain that lasts more than a couple of weeks, is worse arching back or stops them dancing can be a stress fracture in the spine: see a GP or sports physiotherapist.
Call 999 if someone has hit their head and has been knocked out and hasn't woken up, can't stay awake or keep their eyes open, has a fit, has fallen from a height of more than 1 metre or 5 stairs, has problems with their vision or hearing, has clear fluid coming from their ears or nose, has new numbness or weakness, has problems with walking, balance, understanding, speaking or writing, hit their head at high speed, or their behaviour has changed. Get help from NHS 111 if they're being sick, feel dizzy or take medicine that thins the blood. If you're told to go to A&E (accident and emergency), don't drive yourself there if you have hit your head.
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Call 999 if:
In many areas you can see an NHS physiotherapist through community musculoskeletal services without a GP referral. One Dance UK's Healthier Dancer Programme is a founding partner in the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science, which provides free injury clinics for dancers through the NHS.
Stop a stretch that pinches the front of the hip or the back of the ankle, never let anyone push you into the splits or turnout, and with hypermobile joints, stop a move if a joint feels about to slip (our hypermobility guide).
Stretching didn't prevent sports injuries while strength training did, and in dance students end-range strength with gentle stretching beat hard stretching for range they could use.
In modern dance students, both very stiff and very bendy dancers were injured more than those in the middle, forced stretching has caused serious hamstring injuries, and long end-range stretching "may lead to instability".
No trial has counted injuries after yoga in dancers. The one professional ballet prevention trial used strength, balance and foot work.
Turnout is largely set by bone and barely changed over a year of full-time training, forcing it goes with injury, and extreme hip positions made the joint pinch and partly slip. Strengthening helps you hold the turnout you have.
Holds of 60 seconds or more per muscle take a little off your jump just afterwards. Short holds inside a moving warm-up are fine.
Strength training raised dancers' strength and power without changing body weight or body fat, and ballerinas' thigh size didn't change. No exercise lengthens muscles into a different shape.
"Stability and strength should be developed as a priority" (One Dance UK), and "do not overextend your joints just because you can" (the NHS).
Missed or irregular periods are a key sign of low energy, which harms bone. See a GP after 3 missed periods in a row, or if they haven't started by 15.
There's no trial in dancers; in musicians yoga gave only a trend towards less performance anxiety, and a mindfulness pilot in ballet dancers changed nothing measurable. Slow breathing is a calming tool.
We found no study of twists and detoxing. The British Dietetic Association: "The whole idea of detox is nonsense"; your body has "its own built-in ability to 'detoxify' and remove waste".
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It can help, but no trial has tested yoga in dancers: the one randomised trial with a yoga group used it as the comparison. What's known from dance and sport points to strength, balance and gentle range work, which yoga can give you if you hold positions with your own muscles. It works best alongside strength training and your teachers' and physiotherapists' advice.
No trial has compared poses, so choose ones that build control: tree pose and warrior III for balance, standing hand-to-big-toe pose held with your own muscles, warrior II and goddess pose with your knees over your toes, locust for your back, and calf and foot work. Keep deep stretches short and gentle, and do them after class.
After, or on a rest day. Holds of 60 seconds or more per muscle just before explosive work take a little off performance, while short holds inside a moving warm-up didn't harm dancers' jumps or balance. Before class, use a moving warm-up.
Not much. Turnout is largely set by the shape of your hip and thigh bones and barely changed over a year of full-time training, and forcing it from the knees and feet goes with injury. Strengthening the muscles that turn your hips out helps you control and hold the turnout you have.
Stretching does raise range, and strength training raises it about as much. In dance students, strengthening at the end of the range with gentle stretching raised how high they could lift a leg themselves more than hard stretching did. Slow, forced stretching has caused serious hamstring tendon injuries in dancers, so stretch gently and never force a split.
Neither has been compared in dancers. Small Pilates studies in dancers found better trunk strength and alignment but not better jumps or balance, and yoga has no dancer trials. Pick what you enjoy, and keep 2 strength sessions a week either way.
It hasn't been tested. In sport, stretching didn't prevent injuries while strength training cut them to under a third, and the one professional ballet prevention trial used strength, balance and foot work. A previous injury is the strongest known risk, so get injuries properly rehabilitated.
Yes, if it builds strength and control rather than more range. One Dance UK says stability and strength should come first, and that long stretches into the end of range may lead to instability. Keep your knees and elbows soft, and see our yoga for hypermobility guide.
It hasn't been studied in dancers. Heat makes stretching feel easier, but harder stretching didn't add range dancers could use. Any extra class also adds to the energy you need, which matters if you're not eating enough for your dancing.
Possibly, but the evidence is thin: in young musicians, yoga gave only a trend towards less performance anxiety, and a mindfulness pilot in ballet dancers found no change. Slow breathing is a useful calming tool. If anxiety is affecting you, get support from your GP or your school or company.
The foot and ankle lead dance injury counts. Standing balances, calf raises and toe and ankle work build the strength and control your feet need, as in the professional ballet trial's programme. Pain in one spot of a bone that builds with each jump needs checking for a stress fracture.
Once or twice a week, on a rest day or after class, is plenty alongside 2 strength sessions and your dance warm-up. Yoga adds to your training load, so eat enough for it: missed or irregular periods are a key sign of low energy, and the NHS says see a GP if you miss 3 in a row.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition such as glaucoma, high blood pressure or osteoporosis, or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
