Like a lot of graying male athletes, I came to yoga a few years ago to help prolong my adolescent sports fantasies: the dream powder run down some distant Alaskan peak; heading in the winning goal in the dying seconds of my city-league championship soccer game. Those things may never happen, but at least yoga helps sustain my belief that they were possible. True, the Lululemon-clad genuflectors could be a little weird and ripe for ridicule, but “practicing” yoga has helped me recover from hard training and competition, and, as I’ve often extolled to yoga-phobic friends, kept injury at bay by cultivating flexibility and correcting muscle imbalances, or so I liked to think.
So it was with great interest that I read the recent New York Times Magazine feature, "How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body," excerpted from The Science of Yoga: The Risks and Rewards, a new book by William Broad. While there have been many times in yoga class when I’ve felt like an important piece of connective tissue was about to go sproing, I have never been hurt (touch wood). But Broad had. During an extended-side-angle pose he’d thrown out his back, though we never learn the full extent of his injury.
The story goes on to investigate the bodily harm we court in yoga, which currently attracts some 20 million Americans, according to the story. Broad provides an extensive catalog of injuries, some quite grave, including ruptured achilles tendons, torn rotator cuffs, stroke, brain damage, cervical-disk injuries, spinal stenosis, and others. “A growing body of medical evidence supports [the] contention that, for many people, a number of commonly taught yoga poses are inherently risky,” Broad writes. Woah, was I about to become another casualty among the hordes of unsuspecting yoga victims?
By the time I finished the story, I found myself more annoyed than enlightened. And it seemed I wasn’t alone. Before the story appeared in print on Sunday, there were nearly 400 comments attached to the Web version, precious few of them ringing endorsements. As a lot of people pointed out, Broad’s logic defied common sense, and his most vivid examples were dated, some from as far back as the seventies.
The evidence he marshals falls short of persuasive. For example, he points out that in 2002, emergency-room visits for yoga-related injuries jumped to 46 from 20 the year before—for the 100 hospitals surveyed. This “statistically significant” bump is one of his strongest points, but while there is no doubt that the number of yoga injuries is growing in absolute terms, I could find no evidence that these figures were increasing as a percentage of participation, which seems essential if you are arguing a trend. I called the Consumer Products Safety Commission, the federal agency that keeps tabs on a vast array of injuries and which Broad cites in his story. The most recent numbers they could provide were from 2006, when they pegged yoga-related injuries at 4,459—a figure that had actually gone down from the previous year’s 5,089. By way of comparison, 2006 also saw 3,180 injuries from archery, and 3,328 zipper accidents.
Still not satisfied, I ran the story by some folks who would have a more informed opinion than me. “Are yoga injuries on the rise? Yes,” says Andy Pruitt, founder of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine in Colorado. “But am I going to black-flag it? No, because I think there are many benefits that yoga, done right, can offer.”
I asked my own instructor, Ja Soon Kim, an Iyengar-certified yogi in Santa Fe, about it. Ja Soon has been practicing for 40 years and teaching for 12, and I trust her take. “People get hurt, that’s for sure,” she said. “It’s paramount that you study with someone who’s properly trained.”
She described seeing classes in New York and Los Angeles, with 50 or more students and the instructor on a dias at the front of the room. “They’re just doing their own routine up there and expecting people to follow them,” she told me. Part of the problem, she explained, is that there’s no standard certification and licensing process for teachers. “You have people who do a little bit of yoga, are flexible, and then begin to teach. But teaching is all about the students. It should never be about you.”
Comments
The New York Times recently ran an article, “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body,”that has a rather sensational and silly title and a fairly simple point: doing yoga can cause injuries. The article, citing the musings of yoga teacher Glenn Black, references the medley of yoga injuries that have been developing through the West over the last ten years. The article whispers to us in horror: ‘Black has come to believe that “the vast majority of people” should give up yoga altogether. It’s simply too likely to cause harm.’ The response to this: Well, duh. Of course it can cause injuries. Hatha Yoga (which includes power, flow, Anusara, “hatha”, and every other physical form of yoga) is a physical, bio-mechanical practice. Ask any yoga teacher and – if they’re over 30 and being honest – you’re likely to find some sort of medical history. To share my personal trophies, I’ve torn my hamstring in Prasarita Padottanasana, damaged the meniscus in my knee from too many lotus attempts, and dislocated a rib facet falling out of handstand. And these days, with the emphasis on “getting” handstand in the middle of the room to be a “real yogi” or pushing through thirty chaturangas in a class to “test your edge”, it’s no wonder that we are limping to the physio and crying to our RMT’s. But before you gasp in shock and tremble because yoga is supposed to be a cure all, listen up. Read more: http://www.rachelyoga.com/2012/01/a-response/
Flag ThisI am a yoga teacher and I completely agree with the article. While learning the practice of yoga, I am strained my hamstrings, caused severe sciatic pain, injured my quads, etc. Especially for those of us that are athletic and like to 'push our limits' we tend to 'over stretch' and over exert ourselves. The advanced poses, sport yoga, athletic-styled practices are not suggested for beginners. Yoga for beginners and those unfamiliar with anatomy should take gentle and slower yoga classes. In order to advance your practice, focus on one-one-one classes with a certified teacher who can correct your form and check-in on you personally OR studying the history of yoga, human anatomy, and exercise physiology. Yoga creates body awareness - but that takes time and patience. Learning your stopping point is important. Otherwise that can lead to injury. With any exercise, yoga, weightlifting, running or otherwise; overexertion will lead to injury. That's why I feel oversized group classes, mass yoga classes, corporate chain studios, and 'fitness' yoga classes are not the option to what is supposed to be a relaxing, low-impact practice.
Flag ThisSolid articles - I'm referring to outside magazine and the new york times article - I think the important thing to do is to blend them together because they are both speaking for knowledgeable perspectives and there are two sides to the story. Yoga can and is good for you is the takeaway from this article, it improves muscle function and flexibility, both of which are paramount to overall health. The other side of the story is that taking if taken too far it can cause serious injuries, such as ligaments and muscles. I would say that yoga is great, but be careful not to take it too far and push yourself too much because there is a breaking point. Similar to running, running is fantastic for you, but I wouldnt run 100 miles in a day would be detrimental. Keep it in moderation, and you don't have to kill yourself.
Flag ThisNick, I think your article is far more balanced than the NYTimes article was. People get hurt doing ANYTHING and everything. Yoga has been amazing for me after a bad accident. I went to many studios to find the right teachers, ones that focus on form, that teach in the class, and studios that have small class sizes. I have never been injured practicing yoga. BUT I know my limits. Know your own body and have some judgement. If you have neck problems or back problems to begin with, take it easy on certain poses or don't do them at all until you're fit or flexible enough. There were many poses I didn't do at all after my accident. It took me a year of yoga to get to the point of core strength and flexibility to do back bends. If you are inflexible and you force yourself into yoga poses that cause a high level of pain, or try advanced ones as a beginner, or go to the extreme, then you're foolish at best and probably going to eventually get hurt. It would be like someone dead lifting 200lbs when they are 120lbs soaking wet, have never lifted in their life, and have little or no muscle tone and deciding to just go for the challenge. I also agree that you really need to be careful who you take yoga from and I have witnessed many teachers who do not teach form. I believe form is critical in yoga to avoid injury and to achieve the benefits. There are people who become addicted to yoga like anything else. People who work out excessively and end up fracturing or tearing muscles are no different than if you obsessively practice yoga to the point of pain. Everything in moderation folks...including yoga!
Flag This