Yoga may not be that beneficial after all!

While many will rattle off the benefits of this ancient practice - such as calming, healing, strengthening and enhancing moods - it seems yoga can have a dark and unhealthy side as well, News.com.au reported.

Those taking part in the exercise have come off second best with some people, especially men, suffering fractures, dislocations and in extreme cases even shattered backs.According to William J Broad, New York Times reporter and author of 'The Science of Yoga', women are well known to be more flexible than men.

He wrote that macho guys, too often used their muscles to force themselves into challenging poses and got hurt.

Broad goes on to argue that women's added flexibility could prove to be their undoing with extreme bends resulting in serious wear and tear on the hips.One yoga teacher in Hawaii told him that "chronic stress could develop into agonising pain and, in some cases, the need for urgent hip repairs".

He then called some of America's top surgeons who revealed hundreds of women were turning up at offices across the US with unbearable pain and needing expensive surgery to repair hip damage.