Can yoga wreck your body?

Category : Asanas (Postures), General advice, Philosophy 21st January 2012

Inside Yoga 47 (21/1/2012)

On January 5, this year, the New York Times Magazine published an article titled “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body”, which caused such a backlash within the yoga community that last weekend the Observer carried an article (“Health warning: from the plough to the lotus, yoga can damage your body” January 15), as did other publications, about the original story and the outrage caused.

I must admit I felt an intense annoyance at yet another dramatic story which gives yoga a false and negative image, but I have since read the original story in the New York Times, and now think that some points made in the article are valid, but some key remarks were missing.

The New York Times article centred its story on yoga teacher, Glenn Black, who after more than 20 years of practice developed such a severe back problem that he needed back surgery.

In the article, he said: “My message was that ‘asana is not a panacea or a cure-all. In fact, if you do it with ego or obsession, you’ll end up causing problems.’ A lot of people don’t like to hear that.”

In his classes, he says such things as: “Is this yoga?”, as students sweated through a pose that seemed to demand superhuman endurance. “It is if you’re paying attention,” he added.

I found myself in agreement with some of Black’s comments, as I also mention the importance of awareness while teaching my yoga classes. I also do think that we need to be aware that where yoga asanas (postures that form the physical exercises of yoga) are concerned one must be aware of our limitations and weaknesses, and not demand our bodies get into every yoga posture available.

Compare our approach to running with our approach to yoga. A new runner does not expect, if he or she is sensible, to be able to run the marathon on the first day, and would build up his or her abilities with sustained and regular practice. Yoga asanas need to be treated in the same way, but some people do not do this… their need to “do yoga” drives them too far. This is “ego” driven and some teachers encourage this – which is wrong.

In this respect I agreed with the article, but while reading the New York Times story, I noticed it did not mention certain key points about yoga, which is crucial to this debate and is the reason why yoga is suitable for everyone.

Yoga has eight limbs – or parts – and only one is yoga asanas – postures or exercise. The others are ethical guidelines (yamas and niyamas), pranayamas (breathing techniques), pratyahara (silencing or withdrawing of the senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (absorption – bliss or union).

The point I want to make is that with all this talk of how damaging yoga exercises can be, there is a lot more to yoga than the physical exercises. And stories such as these the newspapers can unfortunately put people off yoga who would otherwise benefit from its practice.

I have taught people, usually my one-to-one clients, who have focused on the meditative practice and learned to use their breathing instead of focusing on asanas, such as a lady in her 70s who, due to a back injury and osteoporosis, is not very mobile but very enthusiastic about learning how breathing and meditation can help her. Why should she be put off yoga by stories such as the New York Times published?

Thankfully, the Observer article touched upon this, with yoga teacher saying: “People who were going to try yoga – the people you can bring in and heal – are going to be afraid now and think yoga’s bad. That’s so tragic and angering.”

The Observer article also mentioned that the Westernisation of yoga is partly to blame for making yoga more about exercise than a holistic practice, which it is really is meant to be. I like to say to people that yoga will not fail to help them, it all depends upon developing the practice which is suitable for them – be it physically challenging or gentle, more about sitting in meditation, or about lifestyle and diet – and also about finding the right teacher for them. I do take care in my classes to explain what one needs to do and what not to do, and while challenging at times, it has always been about our awareness first and foremost.

To read the original stories, see New York Times, click on http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/how-yoga-can-wreck-your-body.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

And the Observer article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/14/yoga-can-damage-body-row?newsfeed=true



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