It's "no-duh" that yoga can hurt you. But what makes the exercise particularly dangerous is that people go into it because it is seen as a recuperative, healing exercise. And the nature of it makes it easy to get into and possibly go too far.
Compare it to swimming, which is also seen as a recuperative exercise. But in swimming, it is very difficult to accidentally over-exert yourself...you'll get too tired. So the danger of someone who is completely out of shape going too far is minimal. However, in yoga, it is very easy to go too far because just entering or holding (what seemed easy to get into) the poses may overstrain a muscle or joint.
And let's not discount the mindset of many yoga practitioners, novice and expert. Swimming may be a healing sport, but it has the connotation of being a sport. Yoga is seen as not just a physical activity, but as a way to connect spiritually, be at inner peace, and not worry about competition (even if it implicitly happens, as demonstrated in the article). So there is additional danger is in the naive mindset of yoga practitioners...comparatively few people go into long-distance running with the belief that it won't have impact on their knees or back.
* Another way to look at it...speaking from personal experience...there is a high correlation between people who are really into yoga and people who are really into doing periodical "cleanses"...that is, diets in which they spend $200 (no exaggeration) for three days of juice-only servings. This may also be a peculiarity of living in Manhattan...yet I know of other athletes in the city who would never consider doing a juice-diet, or who believe in the "science" of cleanses.
The point is is that yoga attracts people who want a less rigorous way of being healthy, and these people may not realize that yoga can be as damaging as standard weightlifting.
It's still crazy to me how exhausting swimming can be. It probably doesn't help that I tend to sink like a rock so I have to work harder; even so, it's such a simple motion one would think it isn't that great of a workout, but it definitely is. And it just goes to show that people don't need all these fancy workouts, machines, ranges of motion (like yoga) to get in great shape. Just do what feels natural, like your body's meant to do.
I've been thinking about finding a nearby place to swim regularly but the only place nearby is the YMCA, and from what I recall as a kid, the pool isn't exactly clean.
As for yoga, I've done P90X a couple of times and for those that don't know, according to Tony Horton, yoga's an essential part of working out. But something about it never really sat right with me, and reading the other comments here has helped me pinpoint why. When I would do yoga, the first few times I'd make it through the entire hour and a half (first 45 minutes were various Ashtanga Vinyasa sequences; last 45 minutes were balances/stretches) and the last half always made me really uncomfortable. I told myself it would get better once I got used to it, but after a few weeks it didn't get any less uncomfortable so I just stopped doing the stretches/balances; and if anything, I'd bet this this actually helped with my overall fitness. When I was balancing on my neck/shoulders and putting my legs behind me, I remember thinking every time, "How can this possibly be good for me?" Lo and behold, I wasn't alone. These days when I do yoga, I just do my own thing (whatever feels natural) and it seems to work pretty well because I usually have sweat dripping off of me by the end.
> "and from what I recall as a kid, the pool isn't exactly clean."
Sad but true, but any pool that isn't horrifyingly exclusive is going to be the same way. I spent years swimming competitively and have had the plantar warts (and the treatments) to show for it.
> "It probably doesn't help that I tend to sink like a rock so I have to work harder"
This is the wrong way about it. If you have trouble staying afloat, or moving forward, swimming harder will just tire you out and make you sink more - you need to swim smarter and with better technique. Swimming is really quite effortless if you've got decent technique. Flailing about in the water will tire you out quickly, and from an exercise perspective isn't as effective as simply going a couple of miles with good form.
I suppose a good analogy would be an untrained runner deciding to simply sprint his heart out - he's going to run out of juice pretty quickly, feel horrible, and not get as much exercise as if he'd paced himself.
It's a great technique and I improved vastly, but I've spent maybe between 100 and 200 hours practising (rough estimate) and I still can only swim between 50 and 100 m before I run out of breath.
And I'm still sinking like a rock. There's an exercise we do, exhale and submerge, and sit on the bottom of the pool. Every instructor does it with some effort, so much is their buoyancy, but that's the one where I shine.
And I know my problem, every instructor tells me - I have to be more relaxed. Well, except that I can not tell myself to relax and just do it - somehow it's a long and slow process, and so far I don't see the way to learn 'relaxing' quickly and effortlessly.
There was no quick fix, I just swam twice a week for years until (a) my muscles became more used to the exercise and (b) I learnt to relax and enjoy it.
I've found that not kicking at all and focussing purely on the arm movements helped a lot.
In fact, I swam 2km yesterday without kicking at all.
I'm trying to kick as little as I possibly can, as in 2-beat kick. But I don't have years of practise, so if I try to swim without kicking at all, I'd just start sinking very, very soon. :)
Swimming skill and the learning ability somehow does not correlate with things like fitness, strength, flexibility or even coordination - I practise a martial art and weight training, my body is much better developed compared to an average person ... ON LAND. But in the water - everyone, no matter how old or large or stiff - progresses faster and swims better ... that's frustrating and motivating at the same time.
Swimming is only seen as recuperative by people who never swam seriously. Most competitive swimmers have experienced shoulder tendinitis, and there are many other joints under stress: ankles, elbows, neck, knees. The masters swimmers I know are very mindful of not overdoing their training intensity and volume.
As you rightly pointed out, Yoga attracts people who want a less rigorous way of being healthy.
Ironically Yoga was created as one of the most disciplined arts and was hand in glove with nerve-wrecking penance. That's what most people who want to do yoga miss nowadays, they don't really know what it was for , they just get into it because it's easy, and that ends up being a big mistake because it was made to not be easy.
Also funnily enough, even if people practice yoga on their own, it was developed with the inherent fail-safe of body pain in mind, so it wouldn't harm them. However nowadays you have expert teachers who push you beyond your body's limits and that's truly dangerous.
So to sum up, if you want to get into Yoga, get a good book and do it on your own.
OR
Make sure you find a really really good teacher and do a thorough check before joining a class, and don't just enter into a Yoga program on a whim.
Those are the only two ways I see to stay safe, and still benefit from learning Yoga.
Wow.. NO NO NO, DO NOT do it on your own at first. The second tip however, find a good teacher is a MUST..
Doing yoga by yourself with no experience and just a book and no one to help you understand proper alignment in your foundation poses at first is a great way to hurt yourself at worst, or get nothing out of the effort at best.
Which is why I said get a good book. As I said earlier Yoga was designed with a fail-safe (although I cannot cite references right now). Unless you just trudge through the discomfort in your body, you will not get hurt doing it on your own.
Sorry but this is false. Sensing pain can mean it's already too late and damage is already occurring.
Would you learn to fly a plane from a book? "When you are upside down in a flat spin, you may be in trouble"..
Get a good teacher who can guide you through the foundation alignments and do hands-on adjustments when you are starting out. A book can certainly help but it can't be your only guide.
Pain isn't necessarily a bad thing and doesn't necessarily mean 'damage is already occurring'.
If you are remotely in touch with your own body and athletic you can teach yourself yoga from books/youtube/podcasts. The best progress I had doing yoga was when I was living in Taiwan and 90% of the class was in Mandarin (which I don't speak). It caused me to focus more and listen to my body.
The problem is that you can't tell that you're doing a posture wrong by looking at yourself (even in a mirror) or by how it feels. Beginners really need the guidance of someone with experience who can look at their postures and help them get them right.
Okay, so let me be a bit clearer.
This is the advice I got from a hermit who has been practicing Yoga for 22 years, and teaching for 14.
He specifically told me that initially Yoga (particularly Hatha Yoga) is meant to help you with your everyday postures, such as standing and sitting, and breathing correctly.
That part is easy, but it requires practice. The Yoga postures are not really the essence of Yoga for a beginner. It's only the correction of your everyday postures. That is what I said should be done alone, from a book. That is what the body can handle, and you will not be hurting yourself. Again, this is truly expert advice, and you may follow it if you feel it is.
The hard part of Yoga is undoubtedly dangerous to pursue alone, but even more dangerous to pursue with a teacher who does not know what he/she is doing. So, even though this seems like a Kobiyashi Maru, I would advise finding a really good teacher first, and if that doesn't work, and you really have to do Yoga (for whatever reasons) you're better of doing it on your own, with instructions from a really good book. By no means do I say doing it alone should be your first option.
Your basing your thoughts on the perception that 'yoga is gentle and easy.' This is farther from the truth: There is a spectrum. Most yoga people actually start out with are the more vigorous forms.
Starting on your own is a generally a bad idea, unless you have a friend who is experienced and can help you properly understand positioning. There's some very proper positioning you need to know to avoid injury, or creating weakness / going farther than you should initially, and everyone's body is different. There is no one book that will not have excess information than what a beginner needs to know.
DO NOT learn yoga from a book. Your body will follow the path of least resistance and trick you into doing asanas incorrectly. That's a major way people get injured or at the very least don't get full benefits from their practice. It is essential you find a teacher that knows what (s)he's doing.
Compare it to swimming, which is also seen as a recuperative exercise. But in swimming, it is very difficult to accidentally over-exert yourself...you'll get too tired. So the danger of someone who is completely out of shape going too far is minimal. However, in yoga, it is very easy to go too far because just entering or holding (what seemed easy to get into) the poses may overstrain a muscle or joint.
And let's not discount the mindset of many yoga practitioners, novice and expert. Swimming may be a healing sport, but it has the connotation of being a sport. Yoga is seen as not just a physical activity, but as a way to connect spiritually, be at inner peace, and not worry about competition (even if it implicitly happens, as demonstrated in the article). So there is additional danger is in the naive mindset of yoga practitioners...comparatively few people go into long-distance running with the belief that it won't have impact on their knees or back.
* Another way to look at it...speaking from personal experience...there is a high correlation between people who are really into yoga and people who are really into doing periodical "cleanses"...that is, diets in which they spend $200 (no exaggeration) for three days of juice-only servings. This may also be a peculiarity of living in Manhattan...yet I know of other athletes in the city who would never consider doing a juice-diet, or who believe in the "science" of cleanses.
The point is is that yoga attracts people who want a less rigorous way of being healthy, and these people may not realize that yoga can be as damaging as standard weightlifting.