Do No Harm. Do Know Yoga.
My phone and email is blowing up because of this article. So if you haven’t read it yet, take a moment. 
There will always be evidence to support any beliefs and experiences. However, my rebuttal is this:
The article is describing (in dramatic detail, I might add!) a couple of injuries that are extreme cases. According to statistics, over 14.3 million people practiced yoga in 2010, and there are over 70,000 teachers registered to teach these Yogis. Add in the various styles of Yoga to the equation, and well, our chances of strokes or other life altering (mostly temporarily) injuries are quite rare.
What it all boils down to is a wee bit of common sense. We are quick to blame someone or something else for our current situation… it’s human nature. But the fact of the matter is, we are the only one that can feel the signals that our body is sending to us; it is imperative that we pay attention to our bodies as we enjoy our practice. If we are in doubt, err on the side of caution. If we are not 100% confident in our instructor, there are 69,999 more to explore. For those that I have had the pleasure to practice with, you know one of my favorite sayings “If you can sleep like this, then we can think about adding on. If not, stay where you are… enjoy that expression of the posture!” Pretty Please!!!
I’d love to hear your success stories! How has Yoga helped you? Please take a few moments to help squelch this article….
Namaste’
Carrisa
My back doesn’t hurt nearly as often thanks to yoga and I finally have spaced again between my shoulders and ears!
Awesome, Robin!!!
Thank you!!
My girlfriend has had great improvement in many of her MS symptoms and I’ve used the knowledge I’ve gained through training to self-treat minor injuries. And with my students, luckily I haven’t had anyone push themselves to serious injury – though I have a few competitive students who need gentle reminders to hold back occasionally (e.g. the woman who said “it hurts when I do this” and shoved herself up into Upward Facing Dog. “Then please don’t!” was my response.)
I was having all sorts of ailments — bad back, headaches, etc. — before I started yoga. Now I feel great, both physically and mentally; I’ve never felt better. Go, yoga!
The article is news media making news. If it weren’t for yoga I would be catatonic (i.e. dead stiff). I heard yesterday about a 56 yr old man with early onset dimensia for whom yoga is helping him focus better. Body/mind.