It's sensationalized headlines like this that ruin something that is inherently good but has been bastardized by peoples needs to be super good at everything they do!
Yoga will not wreck your body - doing it wrongly will. Just like driving drunk can get you killed - doing yoga without understanding it - and knowing what your bodys own limits are will get you killed too.
Anything powerful is always double edged. The author in fact highlights example that prove just that - people who overdo their yoga (the kid who sat in a pose praying for world peace for days) - or jump into it to quickly without any checks or training (the guy who popped his ribs) will definitely wreck themselves.
BUT - so will first time swimmers who decide to try swim across the english channel. Or amateur weightlifters who decide to benchpress twice their bodyweight on the first go. Putting out an article like this just scares people off from something that is inherently good - rather than making them more aware of the fact that its good - but ONLY if used correctly.
I started yoga in India as a kid. The ashram I went to is in Bombay and I was not allowed to start anything without a certificate from a doctor saying I was physically sound - the ashram itself also had a doctor at hand who did yet another check - specific to yoga and had me fill out a full medical history. Based on this history the doctor selected very basic exercises and marked them out in a little book that I was provided. The trainer had me do just those exercises (relaxation exercises, simple leg raises and basic stretches) for almost a month - before I could do them without any trouble - before he moved on to slightly more challenging positions, also again with the approval of the inhouse doctor. Those years of yoga helped me tremendously to overcome some health issues I had - and I am sure there are plenty more out there who's lives have been enriched by yoga.
This is how yoga should be done - and was done through the years - there were people who knew what it was about and had practiced for decades before they started teaching others.
However, as is typical to the consumerization of anything in this world - people try to industrialize things and take short cuts to make a quick buck. We have fancy sounding forms of yoga like hot yoga or power yoga that try to create the fad of the season. Folks do a few months of training in yoga and become "instructors" and charge money to train people in exercises that they really should not be training.
I'd rephrase that article - and say that yoga is great and if done correctly can actually save lives (especially in the overstressed obese and sedentary societies we live in these days). However being the powerful skill that it is - it must be handled with care by people trained and experienced.
TL;DR - Yoga is not bad, people who are doing too much too fast or "teaching" new fancy forms of yoga with no real sound backing are ruining the experience for over enthusiastic beginners who dont get that it has to be taken slow. Do yoga its good for you - but make sure someone who knows what your conditions are and what yoga is all about is teaching you!
Yoga will not wreck your body - doing it wrongly will. Just like driving drunk can get you killed - doing yoga without understanding it - and knowing what your bodys own limits are will get you killed too.
Anything powerful is always double edged. The author in fact highlights example that prove just that - people who overdo their yoga (the kid who sat in a pose praying for world peace for days) - or jump into it to quickly without any checks or training (the guy who popped his ribs) will definitely wreck themselves.
BUT - so will first time swimmers who decide to try swim across the english channel. Or amateur weightlifters who decide to benchpress twice their bodyweight on the first go. Putting out an article like this just scares people off from something that is inherently good - rather than making them more aware of the fact that its good - but ONLY if used correctly.
I started yoga in India as a kid. The ashram I went to is in Bombay and I was not allowed to start anything without a certificate from a doctor saying I was physically sound - the ashram itself also had a doctor at hand who did yet another check - specific to yoga and had me fill out a full medical history. Based on this history the doctor selected very basic exercises and marked them out in a little book that I was provided. The trainer had me do just those exercises (relaxation exercises, simple leg raises and basic stretches) for almost a month - before I could do them without any trouble - before he moved on to slightly more challenging positions, also again with the approval of the inhouse doctor. Those years of yoga helped me tremendously to overcome some health issues I had - and I am sure there are plenty more out there who's lives have been enriched by yoga.
This is how yoga should be done - and was done through the years - there were people who knew what it was about and had practiced for decades before they started teaching others.
However, as is typical to the consumerization of anything in this world - people try to industrialize things and take short cuts to make a quick buck. We have fancy sounding forms of yoga like hot yoga or power yoga that try to create the fad of the season. Folks do a few months of training in yoga and become "instructors" and charge money to train people in exercises that they really should not be training.
I'd rephrase that article - and say that yoga is great and if done correctly can actually save lives (especially in the overstressed obese and sedentary societies we live in these days). However being the powerful skill that it is - it must be handled with care by people trained and experienced.
TL;DR - Yoga is not bad, people who are doing too much too fast or "teaching" new fancy forms of yoga with no real sound backing are ruining the experience for over enthusiastic beginners who dont get that it has to be taken slow. Do yoga its good for you - but make sure someone who knows what your conditions are and what yoga is all about is teaching you!