Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Can Yoga Really Wreck Your Body? HECK YEAH!!

The New York Times just ran a bold headline: How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body.

The accusatory, innately negative tone no doubt spurred outrage, defensive denials, and offers to meditate on their un-yogic vibe through the yoga community.

But this IY is here to say that I agree with this article 100%. Yoga can absolutely injure, damage, and wreck your body. I've been practicing for twelve years and teaching for four. I am an anatomy geek. I'm knowledgeable and informed. And I STILL have gotten injured when taking other teachers' classes.

I could not agree more with what this article represents. In fact, I've reached some of the same conclusions on my own. When I was in India this summer, I was amazed to see the general public squatting and sitting cross-legged on the ground. Contrast that to our chair-loving western culture and it comes as no huge shock that a system designed in India for Indian bodies could...gasp...not work so well for chair-loving westerners. 

I could not agree more that inversions are far too dangerous for most practitioners and that the alleged benefits aren't worth it in comparison. Which is why I don't teach them.

I know not everyone agrees with me--and that's fine (sort of). So let's talk about it! What do YOU think?

3 comments:

  1. Great article! I feel so much better about myself and my unwillingness (or is it inability) to do any of those crazy poses. I tried a headstand once and fell over.

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  2. interesting follow-up interview: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eden-g-fromberg-do/yoga_b_1202465.html

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