Your body makes noises during yoga... is it normal?

If you've ever been mid-yoga session and heard a loud crack from your knee, a pop in your shoulder, or an unexpected sound from somewhere lower 🫢 you're in good company. Body noises during practice are incredibly common, and they're one of those things people quietly wonder about but rarely ask.

So let's talk about it!

The three types of sounds that can come from your joints (and when to worry)

The first is cavitation: the same mechanism behind knuckle cracking (btw, it used to be so common when I was younger, but I rarely hear anyone doing it anymore... I wonder why). When you stretch a joint, the pressure inside the joint capsule drops, and it creates tiny gas bubbles that collapse with a pop. It's usually harmless, and it's not reproducible straight away, which is how you know that's what it is.

The second is tendon movement: a tendon sliding over a bony structure and snapping back into place. I personally have that in my left hip. Every time I do an ab exercise like the bicycle crunch, a tendon in my hip rolls over my hip bone and snaps back into place, with a loud POP. It's nothing to worry about, but if you do it repeatedly, it can irritate the tendon and create inflammation. I prefer to change the movement to avoid this noise and leave my tendon in peace.

The third is articular wear: with age or arthritis, our cartilage becomes rougher, sometimes damaged. This one can come with swelling, pain, redness or reduced range of motion, and is definitely worth monitoring. If this sounds like what's happening to you, please talk to a health professional.

As for digestive sounds...

There's no way around it: yoga is great at stimulating our digestion, for better and for worse! Both with movement (we extend, compress and twist our digestive organs) and with breath (deep breathing massages our organs). Of COURSE some gas is going to be let out. I'm not going to pretend farts don't make me laugh (I'm only human), but in 10 years of teaching I've heard them all, and my poker face is unmatched 😎

Oh, and you should know that if you hear gargling sounds during Savasana, it's actually your nervous system doing its job. When you shift from active to rest mode, your body redirects blood flow from the muscles toward digestion. It's a really good sign that everything is going to plan, AND that your nervous system is flexible enough to switch from one state to the other.

You have been active, and now your body knows it's time to rest and digest.

Om, peace 🧡

Clem