Is yoga dangerous? The media debate rages on
David Regelin can do this, but he probably doesn't think you should. (Photo credit: Danny Kim for NYMag.com)
In the past few days, yoga has been thrown into the media spotlight, and not for the usual charge of navel gazing.
According to The New York Times and New York Magazine, the way yoga is practiced in the West right now is seriously dangerous.
The Times piece caused the most hubbub, and for good reason. The visceral descriptions of yoga-class injuries like popping ribs to strokes were painful to read.
Several big-name yoga teachers have responded to the story and its fear-mongering, including Roger Cole (quoted in the piece), Eddie Stern, and Michael Taylor. (YogaDork’s rebuttal round-up also includes commentary from a physical therapist and a chiropractor.)
New York Magazine‘s piece profiled instructor David Regelin’s decision to leave Kula Yoga Project after deciding that the yoga being practiced had become too focused on athleticism, and that most people were doing it wrong (and therefore risking injury) in order to keep up or show off.
While debates rage on about these points (and feel free to rant in the Comments section, below!), there’s an interesting thing about this new yoga-injury zeitgeist: Now, in the mainstream media, yoga being viewed as an athletic pursuit.
Publications like the Times and New York Magazine went from treating yoga like a pansy pursuit in their coverage to calling it aneurysm-causing—overnight.
What do you think? Did the Times and New York Magazine give yoga a fair shake? Is yoga more dangerous than it should be? Tell us, in the Comments, below!
Yoga… eh well what next? Are they going to attack swimming and senior water aerobatics next? Well as low impacting swimming is I guess you could still drown, or bonk your head on the pool wall, be caught by brambles in a lake and get hurt. But seriously? Not buying it.
[...] course, fire on the yoga flames is that “Tree Pose” dropped within days of the incendiary New York Times yoga-causes-injuries-and-strokes article.Regelin’s response is pretty measured, articulate, and unasshole-ish. For those of you who don’t [...]
I found the NYtimes article very biased and alarmist. People can get hurt doing anything, even just walking down the sidewalk. There are risks to all physical activities but in the case of yoga, the benefits by far out weigh the potential risk.
I’d really like the Media to stop generating fear and skepticism of yoga. too many Americans are obese and sick, they could use some encouragement to do more physical activity, whether that is walking or yoga or zumba
To backlash against the backlash, remember that yoga has bloomed into a billion-dollar industry during one of the worst recessions in American history because it makes people feel and look good. Remember, too, that risk is relative. The pharmaceutical and fast-food industries will cripple us long before our yoga teachers do.
Can somebody please…pretty pretty please mention the issue that students have come to depend on a Yoga Alliance credentials RYT or E-Ryt instead of getting to know teachers and their ability as teachers. Yoga Alliance means absolutely nothing…..it’s up to the student to get to know their teachers, their teachers experience and to find a teacher that they trust.
[...] have been a few stories published this week about the dangers of yoga: Check out this post on Well+Good NYC for a good explanation (and links to both stories). Personally, I think there’s a risk of [...]
If you use common sense when doing Yoga and practice the kind of Yoga that is suited to you, there shouldn’t be a problem. I take a senior stretch, breathing and balance class and am pretty sure I am not in any danger. The video we watch during class stresses that you shouldn’t try to stretch, bend or twist past what does not feel comfortable for you. I WISH I could do the kind of Yoga where you get into a pretzel shape etc. and wish I had started when I was 20 but am way past that. I love my Yoga class !
As a dancer, I find this debate very interesting. Yoga is a very specific practice with its own set of risks, just like any body-centered practice. When “hot-yoga” became a trend I was concerned about who would be drawn to it and what injuries might come of it. Heating up the body so quickly can give someone a false sense of their own body’s limits. I agree that using common sense about what type of yoga one chooses to do is a great approach, but I think the problem being addressed is that some people are taking it up for its popularity and doing so unwisely. I think it is the responsibility of the instructors to be clear whether or not a particular class fits the student’s abilities prior to entry. There are certainly dangers associated with yoga, but these mostly can be avoided by smart decision-making regarding the class one takes and the choices one makes while in class.
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