About a week and a half ago, The New York Times posted an article about How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body? There are two very important things I’d like to state before we even go any further, 1) this article was based on a book by Glenn Black that discusses the injuries that people have received from yoga and 2) there are TONS of reactions in the yoga community about this article. If you’d like a good collection of responses, YogaDork has a good group of them! Most responses seem to be passionately backing the benefits of yoga or stand behind how any activity can cause hurt and pain. One of my favorite posts that came as a response to this article comes from the lovely Nancy (of flyingyogini.org) over on MindBodyGreen entitled 8 ways you can be your own best yoga teacher.

My hopes is that teachers will learn better ways to help their students find their own breath, their own teacher, and the yoga that best suits them. I hope that students will slowly stop comparing themselves to the person next to them, to the photos in magazines, or what our vision of perfect is in our own minds. I hope that whenever I find myself on my mat, that I can connect with my body, my heart, and my breathe, because that is my bodies way of telling me where my limits are and where I am open. I ask my ego to step aside, so that I can be present enough in my body to acknowledge I am perfect just where I am at, as long as I can breathe, move, and be in my heart. My hope is that you find the same.

So when you are on the mat:

• don’t push so hard you can’t breathe
• if it hurts then BACK OFF, you’re body should not be screaming at you.
• if you are “checking out” mentally, then maybe you’ve gone too far or not far enough. There is a fine line between too easy and pushing too far, try to find that line
• Locking out joints, hyperextending, or throwing your body through space are easy things to adjust that will help prevent injury!

These are just a few things you can look at to make sure you are treating your body with respect and making sure this body lasts! If you are in a one-on-one, speak up! Your teacher isn’t in your body, he or she can’t tell what hurts you, but it is their responsibility to teach a safe class! If you have questions about poses, throw them out there! If you’ve read the article, I’d love to hear thoughts, theories, or concerns, please post a comment, send an e-mail, or express any way that seems right for you.

xx

Liz