Is Yoga Safe?

If you’ve read the Boston Globe or the New York Times recently, you’ve probably seen several articles about How Yoga can “wreck your body”, and if you’ve never done Yoga before and were thinking about trying it, you may be wondering if it really is safe for you. The fact is Yoga can wreck your body, particularly if it is approached as a form of exercise or conditioning, and if your teacher is not properly trained. Yoga is complicated in that there are so many different styles out there, and so many paths to becoming a Yoga teacher. Fortunately, that means that there are many ways to practice Yoga safely – however, there are also many pitfalls and ways to injure yourself. For anyone looking to try a Yoga class, I recommend these few things:

• Figure out what you are looking for in a Yoga class, and do some research first. Yoga styles range from gentle and meditative up to power and athletic workouts. If you are a middle-aged person who has not exercised much in the past few years, perhaps a gentler and more meditative style would be more appropriate for you.
•  Ask the teacher some questions:
  • What is there level of training? Where did they train? Are they registered with the National Yoga Alliance (YA)? YA is an organization that oversees the training of Yoga teachers in the US, and they certify training institutions. If a teacher is registered with YA, it means that they have completed a minimum number of hours of training with a recognized institution.
  • Find out how big the classes are. Does the teacher actually go around and look at how students are aligned?
  • What is the teacher’s philosophy with regard to Yoga? Are they promoting it exclusively as an exercise program, or do they have a spiritual component to the class?
• If you are a new student, make sure you tell your teacher about any health concerns that you have. And if you are a continuing student and you have an injury or your health changes in any way, make sure your teacher knows.
• Be responsible for your own body and know your limits. If a teacher asks you to do something that doesn’t feel comfortable, don’t do it. And if you are in a class where you feel uncomfortable doing that, then perhaps that isn’t an appropriate class for you.

The bottom line is that practicing Yoga with awareness and with a qualified teacher can reap you enormous benefits that go way beyond the physical. But that is probably a topic for an entirely new blog. Stay tuned…