Yogis challenge William J. Broad on “yoga injuries”
The panel (left to right): Kaitlin Quistgaard, William J. Broad, Ana Forrest, Gary Krafstow, David Swenson
At yesterday’s “Why Yoga Shouldn’t Hurt” panel at the Yoga Journal Conference, three master yoga instructors and the editor of Yoga Journal sat down to talk about the New York Times‘ “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body” article (and the firestorm it set off) with its now infamous author.
“I do have my bullet-proof vest on,” William J. Broad joked as the panel—featuring Ana Forrest, Gary Kraftstow, David Swenson, and Yoga Journal editor-in-chief Kaitlin Quistgaard—kicked off. Turns out, he needed it.
Unlike the uncomfortably chummy talk Broad recently gave with Tara Stiles, Quistgaard immediately asked hard questions, identifying the flaws with the article that have been commonly cited, i.e the extremely small number of injuries that were presented without a basis for comparison, how old the case studies were, and the atypical nature of the examples.
Broad responded with explanations similar to the ones he gave us previously—namely that there is no funding for yoga research, so the breadth of the data is small, the quality of the studies is poor, and it’s hard to prove causation. But, he said, the injuries that do occur are serious enough that they shouldn’t be ignored. He read a letter he had gotten from a man who had a stroke after practicing yoga for emphasis.
The Hilton ballroom where the talk was held was packed with passionate yogis.
Krafstow interjected and said that his team at the American Viniyoga Institute had gone through Broad’s book and come up with a four-page list of errors. In a cringe-worthy moment, he also corrected Broad’s pronunciation of asana. “The first A is long, Mr.Broad.”
David Swenson chimed in and joked that he would like to promote his new book, “Journalism: The Silent Killer,” and then read statistics of injuries caused by bike riding and sneezing (yes, sneezing), which he noted, blew the yoga injury stats out of the water. When he called Broad’s reporting “sensational,” an extremely heated exchange commenced.
In the end, the panel seemed to agree that while they thought the risk of yoga injuries was overblown in Broad’s article and book, the risk is real and should be addressed.
“I think it’s a great wake up call,” said Forrest. “Whatever type of yoga we’re doing, let’s use it to get wiser and wake up.”
Yoga, they concluded, is a tool, and injuries happen when teachers don’t teach students how to use the tool correctly, or when students use the tool in incorrect ways, pushing their bodies past what they can handle.
Students should “forget about mastering the posture and learn how postures can serve you and transform your body,” said Krafstow, and “teachers shouldn’t teach postures, they should teach students.” —Lisa Elaine Held
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I’m glad that you point out the lack of basis for comparison on this topic. When I first heard about the debate a few months back, I thouht the same thing. How can we say the number of injuries is incresing at a drastic rate if we’ve only just begun monitoring it? And even if there are more injuries, I’m willing to bet there are more people practicing than ever.
I agree with Forrest – it is a wake up call. We need to make sure that we’re practicing safely and conscientiously. Thanks for sharing this article.
I was there. Considering what could have been said, as far as I’m concerned they actually took it easy on Broad.
That said, nothing anyone could have said could discredit him as much as what comes out of his own mouth. His “bulletproof vest” notwithstanding, you want to shoot down William J. Broad? Just give him a microphone and an audience.
Yoga teachers and yoga organizations are on the wrong track. They have made body as a goal and have forgotten the roots of yoga. I am willing to challenge any yoga practitioners, yoga teachers or organization on this subject. I can throw light and awaken them. Check my website and publication.
I have practiced my entire life and have met all known yogis. I have taught for forty years and have written eleven books on the subject.
Yoga teachers and yoga organizations are on the wrong track. They have made body as a goal and have forgotten the roots of yoga. I am willing to challenge any yoga practitioners, yoga teachers or organization on this subject. I can throw light and awaken them. Check my website and publication.
I have practiced my entire life and have met all known yogis. I have taught for forty years and have written eleven books on the subject.
Dear Yogi Shanti Desai.
I accept your challenge, but only on the condition that we make it a traditional Vedic debate with a qualified referee. The loser has to surrender his credentials to the winner and become his disciple.
We’ll put the whole thing on video and broadcast it to the world.
Agreed?
I find it incredible the amount of attention that article has gotten… and odder still how many people are taking it seriously. The conclusion I think most people take away is it’s better to stay home and play Yoga WII as it’s safer. :)
_ Lucas
My teacher one said,’It’s not Yoga that causes you injury, it’s the WAY you practice yoga that injuries yourself’ If Broad reckons that Yoga is the culprit, can I also say our Mind can become part of the gang too? After all, when yoga is practised as a tool to get well in any aspects of all beings, our mind always follows. Putting this into perspective, how’s ‘the Mind wrecks the body as Yoga provides the pathway’ sound?
So who is the killer? – Our Ego. Learnt the Art of Yoga, and try not to exploit her with our egotistic thoughts.
To Leslie Kaminoff:
I claim that yoga training today is on the wrong track. What is the goal of yoga?
I am an eternal disciple of truth. I consider you my Guru because nobody has challenged me. and you have done it. I surrender all my credentials right now. I do not have any credentials but my life experiences. I do not teach commercially but out of love to awaken those who are ready.
Call me if you wish. My phone and Detail is in “www.yogishantidesai.com”
A debate will be a fantstic idea with the conditions you present. It will give me the greatest joy.It will awaken more people to the real purpose and application of yoga.
Physical yoga is to make friendship with the body and not to fight it. Menatl yoga is to make friendship with the mind. Body and mind are the means to attain unity with higher Self. Injuries occur only when you fight and compete.
Yoga is not regulated and therefore the government does not keep accurate statistics on yoga injuries. The truth is that we do not know the real numbers. Myself, like many other bodywork professionals feel that the reported injuries are the tip of an iceberg. Broad was in a panel with four other people who are heavily invested in the business of yoga. It would have been fair to include a bio-mechanics expert and a physical therapist.
I have practiced yoga over 40 years and taught for 20 but I am also a bodyworker and posture educator and an author of a book callled YogAlign, Pain-free Yoga from Your Inner Core. It is based on a global perspective of the human body and includes the fascial tensegrity model of the human body as outlined by Thomas Myers in his Anatomy Trains work. No part of the human body moves in isolation. We should never compromise the integrity of the human spine to perform a pose. Straight leg forward bending is especially dangerous because we it stretches the sacral and knee ligaments as well as putting a huge amount of pressure on a flexed spine.
I work with yoga injured people everyday and have for over ten years and I find that most injuries are a result of longterm joint destabilizations which lead to a lack of structural support in the lower back, knee, neck, shoulder, wrist and feet. Ligament stretching especially in the sacral area ( most common injury site for yogis) is leading to what I call the saggy sacrum syndrome. ( a flat butt)
There are no straight lines in nature and man is no exception. The right angle and straight knee forms of yoga make no anatomical sense and require us to fit our body into a right angle like sitting in the chair. ( the bane of life in the modern world) . WE are designed to move and yoga poses where one is required to put the body in a right angle or to bend forward with the knees straight are akin to driving with the brake on. Ligaments should not be stretched and yet in yoga we constantly stretch our body in positions that do not simulate real life function. ( try to walk without bending your knees and you will get the picture)
The flexey bendy people are in the most serious danger because they will not feel the slow destabilization that occurs in the joints until many years later just like the ballet dancers and gymnasts. If anyone bothered to read the hundreds of posts from people who responded to the original NY times article about Yoga wrecking your body, you will see the many posts of people writing about their yoga injuries. Any yoga teacher who has been teaching for a few years knows this too. Yoga teachers need more anatomical training and yoga poses need to be reviewed by experts in all scientific fields not just by yoga teachers. Broad is right. Its time for yoga to grow up.
The above letter is why I created Minardi Yoga (aka Surfer Yoga). There are may too many white belt yoga teachers who think they are seasoned Black Belts.
whole body stablization and mobility rule the roost.