I learned early on that I’m not suited for extreme sports like wingsuit flying, mountain boarding, or even kite surfing (I like having my arm sockets connected to my torso)! But in my wildest dreams I never imagined that someone would point out the perils of yoga. Not only point them out, but do so after I’ve become an avid and praise-singing devotee. What next? Walking?
In early January a nationally well-known yoga teacher, Glenn Black, dropped a karmic bombshell while being interviewed for a New York Times article titled "How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body." Essentially what he said was that most people should give up the stress-relieving exercise because it’s bad for us. Not long thereafter, even my beloved Brian Williams did a similar segment called Stretching the Limits on the ABC Nightly News.
My initial reaction was disbelief. I not only love yoga, I’ve seen positive and dramatic physical and mental self-improvement as a result of my practice. Sure, I’ve had those moments when I felt like you’d have to be Gumby to get into some of the poses, but I’ve never felt competitive when it comes to yoga, so I would leave the heavy “lifting” to bodies more limber (and younger). I’ll be the first to admit, I hate pain, so I’m more than happy to do as the instructor says and listen to my body. Sometimes my body will surprise me and easily strike a difficult pose. Sometimes my body will surprise me and strike out for the nearest donut shop. I’m happy either way.
I guess what I’ve always assumed is that if you can twist your body into a pose, or manage to do a headstand, backbend, or some other variation on this theme – it’s a good thing. During the Brian Williams clip, a sports medicine doctor was interviewed who said she’d seen numerous shoulder, neck and low back injuries caused by yoga.
Because today’s media is, after all, about the ratings, they even reported that someone could suffer a stroke while doing yoga. The reason – pressure from certain poses can place stress on the blood vessels carrying oxygen to the brain! They did not mention that someone could suffer a stroke trying to wedge her body into spandex three sizes too small, regardless of the exercise.
Black argues that the masses should skip Yoga because most people are so out of shape and deconditioned, yoga is just out of reach for them. In the interview he says, “people injure themselves in droves because most have underlying physical weaknesses or problems that make serious injury all but inevitable. Yoga is for people in good physical condition.” In fact it’s revealed toward the end of the post that Mr. Black himself had spinal surgery that he attributes to years of abusing his spine via yoga. And he’s a renowned teacher. Hmmmm …
I’ve never been a fan of trying to twist the human spine in directions it’s not really designed for, or in a way that will never be needed in real life. In fact just as with any form of exercise, the more extreme the movement, the greater the chance of injury.
How many people throw out their backs while doing squats, injure a shoulder on a bench press, rupture an ACL skiing, or tear an Achilles tendon running? It’s just common sense to remember that when we engage in any physical activity there is an inherent risk we may get hurt, and there is simply no way around that. The alternative is to become a couch potato and the negative health risks tied to that behavior far outweigh the possibility of injury while pursuing better overall health.
Any physical activity has its cautions. You don’t go immediately from inactive to running a marathon. There are sensible steps from one to the other. Heck, I sprained my thumb once kneading bread (don’t ask, and I certainly won’t tell)!
Here are just a few common-sense tips for anyone attending yoga classes, but they would apply regardless of whether you are pursuing yoga or tiddlywinks:
- Never allow an instructor to put their hands on you and push your body into position.
- Stick with the basic, safer movements and avoid the more risky, potentially injurious poses. If you didn’t do shoulder stands or head stands in your 20s, what makes you think it’s a good idea now?
- Want a recipe for disaster? Allow your ego to make you think you need to compete with others (or yourself)!
- Practice yoga in conjunction with other modes of exercise, not as a stand-alone program. Variety is good both for the body and the mind. Go for a walk. Ride your bike (but wear a helmet because news flash, if you fall off you could get hurt)! Swim (but don’t breathe under water because, yet another news flash, you might drown)!
- Before taking any class, find out your teacher’s credentials. And remember to let them know you are a breast cancer survivor so they can provide suggestions for modifying poses that might otherwise be too strenuous.
So what’s our take-home message here? It isn’t yoga that poses the problem. It’s behaving like life is a sprint, when those of us who have had breast cancer know with any luck it’s definitely a marathon – and for that you have to train!