Archive for the 'Yoga – General' Category
Response to “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body” article in NYT
RESPONSE BY NICOLE DOHERTY, NICOLEPRESENTS: YOGA, HEALTH & WELLNESS
The “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body” article in the New York Times recently has gained quite a reputation in the Yoga community. The article adapted from “The Science of Yoga: The Risks and Rewards,” by William J. Broad is a bit of a scare tactic article, but brings very important information to light. Thank you to William for bringing this awareness of yoga to the public eye and for creating space to talk about Yoga’s risks and benefits. With articles like this we can begin to develop a safer and more effective landscape in a fast growing popular industry.
If we want to see yoga continue to grow and spread to help heal people’s bodies and minds (and not just be a fitness fad) then we do need to scrutinize what’s happening in the industry and talk about the risks of unqualified teachers and uneducated students. After all, Yoga is a 5000 + year old time tested practice that’s healed more people around the globe than it’s injured, but we need to educate everyone in the market as to how to practice safely and with intelligence.
Personally, I am a professional yoga teacher and I work at one of the leading providers of Yoga in in the industry, YogaWorks. I feel this article needs some clarification as some of my clients are now concerned for their practice.
I’m going to respond to parts of the 5 page article that I find require some attention and clarification so that my clients can continue to feel safe and trust me and educate themselves!
Please feel free to comment on this as well. Great discussion creates a great education!
**************************************************************************************************************888
NYT: “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body”
Nicole: Let’s change the title to: “Educate yourself about yoga and its risks so you can have a lifetime of healthy practice!”
NYT: Black walked around the room, joking and talking. “Is this yoga?” he asked as we sweated through a pose that seemed to demand superhuman endurance. “It is if you’re paying attention.” Throughout the class, he urged us to pay attention to the thresholds of pain. “I make it as hard as possible,” he told the group. “It’s up to you to make it easy on yourself.” The emphasis on holding only a few simple poses, the absence of common inversions like headstands and shoulder stands. He gave me the kind of answer you’d expect from any yoga teacher: that awareness is more important than rushing through a series of postures just to say you’d done them…Black recently took that message to a conference at the Omega Institute, his feelings on the subject deepened by his recent operation. But his warnings seemed to fall on deaf ears. “I was a little more emphatic than usual,” he recalled. “My message was that ‘Asana is not a panacea or a cure-all. In fact, if you do it with ego or obsession, you’ll end up causing problems.’ A lot of people don’t like to hear that.”
Nicole: I agree that the most important aspect of yoga is about being mindful, aware, finding concentration and using the breath. I always say, “If you have lost your breath you have lost your Yoga.” If the breath is gone, you are pushing too far and too hard. Check your Ego at the door. Awareness is most important. At YogaWorks, we place emphasis on slowing down and holding poses statically, so we can maintain this sense of concentration and focus on alignment. We are start at the foundation of a pose and work our way up the body. If you move too fast, it is challenging to align the body, access the subtle actions, incorporate the guidance of the teacher and have the time to adjust and breathe. This is risky. The steadiness and ease that Black mentions comes into play when you have a bit more time. So why rush? People want to “work out”. But what is absent in this mindset is understanding that you don’t have to move fast in order to create heat in the body. We understand if we deepen our breath, we generate sweat and heat from the inside. I can guarantee Black’s students are sweating when they are holding his poses for a long length of time. At YogaWorks, we still flow, if you like that practice, but we don’t feel the need to rush anything so you can understand the messages and sensations the body is sending you.
As Black mentions if you practice from obsession and ego, you aren’t being aware. It’s like anything – if you go too far, too quick, too fast – then there is no balance. Moderation is key to any practice and art form. Asana is designed to quiet the mind. When we gain awareness of the body we eventually come to place of quieting the mind and accessing meditation, peace and stillness.
NYT: Not just students but celebrated teachers too, Black said, injure themselves in droves because most have underlying physical weaknesses or problems that make serious injury all but inevitable. Instead of doing yoga, “they need to be doing a specific range of motions for articulation, for organ condition,” he said, to strengthen weak parts of the body. “Yoga is for people in good physical condition. Or it can be used therapeutically. It’s controversial to say, but it really shouldn’t be used for a general class.”
Nicole: Interesting comment above. I’d like to expound on what Black is saying. I agree that Yoga is difficult in large classes because everyone has such different bodies. If you are in a large class with all these body types and injuries, is there really enough time for a teacher to understand all the injuries and body types in one class and generalize?
It’s important for students to educate themselves on how to be safe and take personal responsibility of their own health and wellness. I know YogaWorks offers fantastic and well educated teachers; intelligent sequencing; the risks of poses; various modifications and adjustments to prevent injury; various levels of postures within each class for a variety of student bodies; props and different levels of classes based on experience too.
But, ultimately we can only control some things. The other part of the equation is the ego as Black discusses and our human competitive nature – are the students listening or blasting out?
As teachers of Yoga, we cannot assume all the risk. We can’t be sure if students are being truthful and vocalizing their injuries to the teachers or their pain levels, etc. This is why it’s very important to start to provide the education necessary to empower the students of yoga to learn and understand their own bodies. Students need to understand what a good, safe effective teacher is and understand more about trainings out there.
We take risks with anything that we do on a daily basis. For instance, we get in our cars every day. We understand the nature of what we are getting ourselves into and we pay close attention. We know that if we are texting and driving we are putting ourselves at risk. Recently, automakers and governing bodies began to campaign to encouraging people not to text and passed laws to enforce them. We believe this article is amazing because it is sending out the same red flag to the industry and now we have an opening and opportunity to begin to educate of the students and bring awareness to quality control of teacher trainings.
NYT: Black seemingly reconciles the dangers of yoga with his own teaching of it by working hard at knowing when a student “shouldn’t do something — the shoulder stand, the headstand or putting any weight on the cervical vertebrae.” Though he studied with Shmuel Tatz, a legendary Manhattan-based physical therapist who devised a method of massage and alignment for actors and dancers, he acknowledges that he has no formal training for determining which poses are good for a student and which may be problematic. What he does have, he says, is “a ton of experience.”
Nicole: There are several things that can be addressed that Black discusses that we wholeheartedly agree with. Teachers need a lot of experience. Also, the student needs to stick with a teacher and a method so they can go deep and their teacher can begin to understand their body. To become a master at anything you need this dedication and practice.
The Yoga practice was designed to be a one on one practice, like any private lesson. A student worked with one, maybe two teachers your whole life. In Western society, we like it fast and furious. We jump around. We like variety. There are fads. Just like there are a million flavors of pasta sauce on the shelves, there are an infinite amount of types of yoga. The creativity in the industry is exciting and amazing, but what happens when the student doesn’t know how to tell the difference? What happens when the student doesn’t know what level they are? What happens when the student jumps from class to class and teacher to teacher?
YogaWorks has worked very hard to build a methodology around safe, effective, foundational sequencing for the lifestyle of the average practitioner. Every teacher that comes through here understands the same method and speaks the same language. They learn this method and then they have to keep educating themselves ongoingly – with credits and certifications. It’s like going to Harvard and getting a business degree. We don’t just offer classes for anyone to teach. Our teachers need to go through the highest levels of certifications and work with a mentor closely and assist classes. They have to continue to work within our system for a long time.
It’s important for students to start to educate themselves on the backgrounds of their teachers. Do your research. Just like you would want to know the credentials of a Harvard professor, you want to know what the background of your teachers and the trainings they come from.
NYT: According to Black, a number of factors have converged to heighten the risk of practicing yoga. The biggest is the demographic shift in those who study it. Indian practitioners of yoga typically squatted and sat cross-legged in daily life, and yoga poses, or asanas, were an outgrowth of these postures. Now urbanites who sit in chairs all day walk into a studio a couple of times a week and strain to twist themselves into ever-more-difficult postures despite their lack of flexibility and other physical problems. Many come to yoga as a gentle alternative to vigorous sports or for rehabilitation for injuries. But yoga’s exploding popularity — the number of Americans doing yoga has risen from about 4 million in 2001 to what some estimate to be as many as 20 million in 2011 — means that there is now an abundance of studios where many teachers lack the deeper training necessary to recognize when students are headed toward injury. “Today many schools of yoga are just about pushing people,” Black said. “You can’t believe what’s going on — teachers jumping on people, pushing and pulling and saying, ‘You should be able to do this by now.’ It has to do with their egos.”
Nicole: On the flip side of the coin, because we sit all day and our posture is poor and our hips are tight, we can find a tremendous amount of relief through a simple yoga practice that heals all the imbalances that occurs from this lifestyle.
Proven benefits include building strength, gaining flexibility, releasing tension, accessing better balance, improving endurance, preventing injury, and recovery. Yoga is also highly adaptable and customizable to people’s needs: a restorative and resting practice, a fast-pasted energy and endurance method, or something in between.
Having teachers saying anything like, ‘You should be able to do this by now.’ definitely is not working from within a yogic construct. We agree this has to do with the teacher’s egos. The best practice for a student is to honor their own body and its messages. We as teachers can guide you and offer a little gentle loving push, but as a student you are the master of your body. We can’t feel what you are feeling. Manage your practice and be vocal and expressive about it.
NYT: But a growing body of medical evidence supports Black’s contention that, for many people, a number of commonly taught yoga poses are inherently risky. The first reports of yoga injuries appeared decades ago, published in some of the world’s most respected journals — among them, Neurology, The British Medical Journal and The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Nicole: There is also a growing body of medical evidence that supports the healing and health that people are experiencing beyond even the physical aspects of the practice that no other physical sport and activity is offering. There are few physical practices that offer the whole mind-body benefits out there. There are studies and research out there that support the health benefits equally.
I agree that there are many risks with inversions. At YogaWorks we pay special and close attention to the integrity of these postures. These are advanced level poses and students need to have years of experience building up and opening other parts of the body to even consider these postures.
This brings up again the importance of paying attention to class levels which has not been addressed. Most studios are under the pressure of trying to remain afloat in a very competitive landscape in large cities like LA, SF and NY. Studios are starting to offer “all level” class structures. However, this structure increases the risk factors for both the student and the teacher. For example, let’s liken this to martial arts and karate. Would you pair up with a black belt if you just entered this practice? You could, but would you want to? Students need to start with the basics and foundations and move up from there.
It’s safer and more effective when classes are much more specific to the demographic they are targeting and outline the levels of practitioners through not only years of practice but how often they practice. This allows the teacher to be specific about their education and language.
NYT: In 2009, a New York City team based at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons published an ambitious worldwide survey of yoga teachers, therapists and doctors. The answers to the survey’s central question — What were the most serious yoga-related injuries (disabling and/or of long duration) they had seen? — revealed that the largest number of injuries (231) centered on the lower back. The other main sites were, in declining order of prevalence: the shoulder (219), the knee (174) and the neck (110). Then came stroke. The respondents noted four cases in which yoga’s extreme bending and contortions resulted in some degree of brain damage. The numbers weren’t alarming but the acknowledgment of risk — nearly four decades after Russell first issued his warning — pointed to a decided shift in the perception of the dangers yoga posed.
Nicole: What’s interesting in the above statistics as you will notice is that all of these injuries occur in the most vulnerable parts of the spine. These are the most common injuries in almost any sport. That’s why Yoga places specific intention and awareness to building the muscle around the joints and stabilizing the most vulnerable parts of the body. If the teachers aren’t guiding their students in this direction of stabilization these parts of the body will be the ones affected and injured. So again, it’s very important for teachers to skills to speak intelligently to align, stabilize and elongate the body.
NYT: One of the most vocal reformers is Roger Cole, an Iyengar teacher with degrees in psychology from Stanford and the University of California, San Francisco. Cole has written extensively for Yoga Journal and speaks on yoga safety to the American College of Sports Medicine. In one column, Cole discussed the practice of reducing neck bending in a shoulder stand by lifting the shoulders on a stack of folded blankets and letting the head fall below it. The modification eases the angle between the head and the torso, from 90 degrees to perhaps 110 degrees. Cole ticked off the dangers of doing an unmodified shoulder stand: muscle strains, overstretched ligaments and cervical-disk injuries.
Nicole: Yes… a vote for props! Why is it in today’s society and in yoga rooms around the world, we are seeing the absence of props? Somewhere along the line people decided it was not cool to use them. We hear it all the time. That is the ego. Props are amazing. Like red is the new black – props are the new cool!
Blocks and blankets for instance are props and they are used to support your body while practicing yoga postures and to help modify certain poses as you learn them. Other props that you may find in a studio are straps and bolsters. If a teacher hands you a prop, this does not mean that you are not a good student. For instance, all levels and age ranges of people use props to:
• help them safely into or out of a posture
• protect the body from injury
• provide support during balance postures
• create a method for total relaxation
• improve alignment and create extension in the spine
• offer assistance while injured
• keep your body in balance if one side is less flexible than the other
• release old habits and improve a posture
For example, blocks can be used under the hands in standing poses like triangle pose so that students can place their hand on flat surface if they can’t reach the ground quite yet due to tight hamstrings.
Straps for example are often used in shoulder openers to assist students with tight shoulders, but this is certainly not their only use. Students can create a loop around their arms with the strap to allow proper alignment in handstands, too.
Blankets can also be used for many different purposes but are most often used under the shoulders in shoulder-stand to alleviate any potential risks with the neck by providing space for the cervical spine to be in its natural curve and alignment.
Don’t be afraid to use props or ask a teacher how to modify a pose using props if something doesn’t feel quite right. When your body is in alignment, you can actually get deeper into your practice and will progress in a healthier and more effective way.
For the full version of the New York Times article click HERE.
No comments
DATE CHANGE!!! Yogi Seasonal Food Cleanse – Winter – New Start Date January 16th
YOGI SEASONAL FOOD CLEANSE
Winter – 14 Days
NEW DATE – moved it back because of people’s holiday schedules
Monday, January 16th – Sunday, January 29th
It’s time to cleanse after all the holiday cheer! Join our professional team of yogis for a 14 Day Yogi Seasonal Food Cleanse designed to align your physical and energetic bodies as the weather and season changes. You will learn how to detoxify and heal the body through the use of local, organic, sustainable food and use our yoga practice to further eliminate toxins and boost your immune system in preparation for the holiday and flu season. This is the ultimate “foodie” cleanse! No starving here, just wholesome clean foods that will make you feel better than ever! We hope that after participating in the 14 Day Yogi Seasonal Food Cleanse, you will attain the knowledge that will guide you toward long term healthier practices and an enhanced life!
14 Day Cleanse Includes:
- PDF workbook including a detailed description of the cleanse, expert advice on how to succeed and get the most out of the cleanse, journal templates, 2 week sample menu, shopping lists, list of local farmers markets and organic markets, vegan restaurant guide, delicious seasonal vegan recipes and more.One in-person group q & a meeting (optional attendance)
- Daily outdoor yoga classes at “Bronson Canyon Yoga” geared specifically toward the cleansing process. ** If you are out of town or pay for yoga elsewhere you can still join the cleanse (choose “no yoga” option below)
- Email forum/Facebook
- Yoga class the day before cleanse start date, plus optional Q & A
Testimonials from our past cleanse groups!
Save the Date:
Sunday, January 15th
9:00am optional Q & A; 9:30am class
Price:
$80 – $120
(see options below)
nic@nicolepresents.com
Bronson Canyon Yoga + Hike – Sat Dec 17th
Bronson Canyon Yoga Hike
Saturday, December 17th
8:30 – 10:30 AM
Join Nicole & Chrissy for a yoga/hike excursion in the hills of Bronson Canyon. This 90-minute journey will combine the cardiovascular elements of hiking with the mindful practice of yoga and meditation. We will warm up with some breath work and sun salutations, then journey through nature and into the deepest parts of ourselves. Throughout the hike, we will stop to stretch & release tension from the body. Towards the end, we will cool down with some restoratives and meditation, concluding a well-rounded mind and body experience.
What to bring: Wear sneakers. Bring a towel & water. No mat required.
Where to meet: Just past the parking lot on the right. 3200 Canyon Drive
What if it rains: When you pay, I will email you to exchange # numbers.
You will be refunded or credited for your next hike.
Meeting time: 8:30a
RESERVE YOUR SPACE FOR THIS AWESOME FUN!
VISIT US “BRONSON CANYON YOGA”
- Yelp
- Meetup.com
No comments
Results In! We love the Yogi Seasonal Food Cleanse!
Congratulations to our 14 Day Yogi Seasonal Food Cleansers! The results are in! You loved it and some of you are still doing it because you feel so great :-P
We are so proud of you! We want to thank you for giving us the opportunity to work and learn from you as well. We have received a ton of amazing testimonials and solid positive feedback about the program that we are happy to finally share. We plan to implement your suggestions and continually improve and refine the program with each and every group we work with. We are so excited for this opportunity!
The next Winter Cleanse will be held in January 2012 after the holidays, so I hope you can join us in celebrating transformation after the New Year!
Our cleansers reported that they experienced:
• More energy and focus
• More mindfulness
• Weight loss
• A whitening of the eyes
• Softer and clearer skin
• Detoxifying and cleanse inspired yoga classes
• A new awareness of their habits regarding food consumption (ie: emotional eating)
• A better understanding of the importance of buying seasonal, local and organic food
• Intentional self-care as a necessity, not a luxury
• Better sleep
• Reduction or complete removal of habitual substances, like caffeine & alcohol
• A shift in consciousness around food choices and its origins
• A deeper understanding of how food is prepared
• More knowledge about how to shop for food
• Joy in knowing that raw food could taste great!
• Creativity in making new recipes
• That eating less is satisfying and feels better
• Happiness in sharing this experience with friends or loved one
• Celebration in how they began to feel
• A true desire to continue the cleanse even after it is over
• Gratitude in learning tools that have resulted in true change
Some testimonials are below:
“Thanks again so much for this information really was an incredible experience. I feel great. I have more energy. I am more productive. I wake up easier. What I learned on this was life changing. Eating this way makes so much sense – it’s crazy what we’re doing to our bodies with food.”
Thanks again,
Scott A
“I am still following the cleanse regimen……fits perfectly with yoga and running and the weeks preceding Thanksgiving…What I liked about the cleanse was its simplicity. The simple meals..less food..just as satisfying. Love feeling light and empty! A sanguine kind of empty not an abyss kind of empty….Recipes are great…I tweaked recipes by adding garlic cayenne butter (raw)…. or more ginger or lemon here and there. Additionally, I wouldn’t mind more raw days…..YES!!!!
I would do this cleanse again…looking forward to the winter cleanse!!!!! and, of course, I am telling everyone how amazing this cleanse was both for the spirit and body…so I am inviting everyone in my immediate circle to join in on the next one! Hopefully, yoga, too!
Thanks to both you and Nicole for taking such good care of us!”
Peace
Judie G
“What I liked most about the cleanase was how thoughtful and mindful it made me. I am totally aware of what I put into my body. I look and feel different, my skin is smoother. The combination of yoga,hiking, the gym and mindful eating, has made me stronger. I loved the stuffed peppers.
Of course I would do this cleanse again and I would refer anyone to try it in January!”
Liz
If you have ever thought about trying a Vegan diet, or a cleanse, the
two week Bronson Canyon Yogi Seasonal Food Cleanse created by Chrissy
and Nicole is a great way to explore. The menu is soy-free Vegan
focusing on seasonal organic fruits and vegetables as well as assorted
grains and nuts. During the two weeks there is a period of raw food
only which was a challenge at first but ultimately quite doable. In
general I was actually surprised at how easy it was to let go of
certain habitual items, like say diet coke. Since the cleanse my
wife, mostly a vegetarian and I, a confirmed carnivore, have decided
to continue eating Vegan, and have now been doing so for six weeks.
We’re both feeling great and have each lost ten pounds since we
started. Thank you Chrissy and Nicole!
~David
Thank you so much again for being a part of this amazing experience with us! Feel free to contact Chrissy or myself if you’d like to join us for the next cleanse in January. We are also have private one on one cleansing clients. So if you can’t participate in the dates that we’ve outlined we will work with you individually to support your journey to a healthier way of living.
We love you all and we hope you have a blessed holiday!!!!!
Peace, love and nourishment.
No commentsYogi Seasonal Food Cleanse – Fall Oct 11 – 24th
YOGI SEASONAL FOOD CLEANSE – Fall Dates Announced!
Tuesday, October 11th – Monday, October 24 (14 days). Just in time for Halloween ;)
It’s time to cleanse before the crazy holidays! Join our professional team of yogis for a 14 Day Fall Cleanse designed to align your physical and energetic bodies as the weather and season changes. You will learn how to detoxify and heal the body through the use of local, organic, sustainable food and use our yoga practice to further eliminate toxins and boost your immune system in preparation for the holiday and flu season. This is the ultimate “foodie” cleanse! No starving here, just wholesome clean foods that will make you feel better than ever! We hope that after participating in the 14 Day Fall Cleanse, you will attain the knowledge that will guide you toward long term healthier practices and an enhanced life!
14 Day Cleanse Includes:
- One in-person group q & a meeting (optional)
- Daily outdoor yoga classes at “Bronson Canyon Yoga” geared specifically toward the cleansing process. ** if you are out of town email us about discounts or book Skype privates for yoga sessions
- Email forum/Facebook
- PDF workbook including a detailed description of the cleanse, expert advice on how to succeed and get the most out of the cleanse, journal templates, 2 week sample menu, shopping lists, list of local farmers markets and organic markets, vegan restaurant guide, delicious seasonal vegan recipes and more.
Save the Date: (optional class)
Sunday, October 9th
9:30am morning Yoga class + in-person group meeting
Price:
Early Bird Special!!! Pay by October 1st and pay only $150!!!
$190 (under $14 a day including yoga!!!)
Email us if you are not located in LA or can’t attend yoga for discounted cleanse options.
nic@nicolepresents.com
