As you can tell, it has been a while since I have updated my blog, specifically this page of it. I try as best as I can to update and include any yoga-related findings as I can, but due to time and schedule constraints, I am unable to update it as often as I'd like. But thanks for checking back often for updates. I hope that these posting are interesting to you, and if you come across something yoga-related and would like to share with others, feel free to send me an e-mail, and I will be more than happy to post it here...
Onto the purpose of this posting, I came across an article in TIME magazine a few weeks back and thought it was important that others see the other side of yoga that not many people recognize until they are in that situation. I know some of you really are dedicated to your practice, but sometimes, what's more important is to be dedicated to your body and your limitations, and respect those boundaries. Here is the article:
When Yoga Hurts
TIME Magazine Oct. 4, 2007
By Pamela Paul
Amy Toosley was standing in a split pose when her yoga instructor gave her leg a little prod. "I heard the loudest pop I've ever heard, and the instructor said, 'Ooh! Good release, huh?'" Toosley recalls. "Not really--I could hardly walk." With her hamstring muscle snapped, Toosley, 32, avoided yoga for the next three months, and almost a year later, she is still in pain.
Bad-mouthing yoga seems like begging for a hit of unfavorable karma. But with more than 14 million people practicing yoga or tai chi nationwide, up 136% since 2000, orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists and chiropractors across the country are dealing with the increasing fallout from yoga gone awry. Over the past three years, 13,000 Americans were treated in an emergency room or a doctor's office for yoga-related injuries, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Often people get hurt because they assume that yoga is simple and that anybody can pretzel himself or herself on demand. Edward Toriello, an orthopedic surgeon and spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, says most of the injuries he sees are sustained by "weekend warrior" baby boomers who begin yoga without realizing that their bodies are no longer what they used to be. "They think that yoga is an easy way to start exercising, so they go to class once a week, not stretched out at all, and they get hurt."
At the same time, others see yoga--a practice originally conceived to help people achieve inner peace and tranquillity--as a way to get a vigorous workout. More than five times as many people take yoga classes at health clubs today as did a decade ago, and enthusiasts have devised all kinds of variations appalling to purists: hip-hop yoga, disco yoga, power yoga, not to mention controversial hot yoga, or Bikram, which incites people to push themselves to their limit in sweltering rooms in which temperatures are set at 105ºF (41ºC).
The truth is, yoga, regardless of the form, doesn't offer a comprehensive way to get fit. According to a study by the American Council on Exercise, a national nonprofit organization that certifies fitness instructors and promotes physical fitness, dedicated yoga practitioners show no improvement in cardiovascular health. It's not the best way to lose weight either. A typical 50-min. class of hatha yoga, one of the most popular styles of yoga in the U.S., burns off fewer calories than are in three Oreos--about the same as a slow, 50-min. walk. Even power yoga burns fewer calories than a comparable session of calisthenics. And while yoga has been shown to alleviate stress and osteoarthritis, it doesn't develop the muscle-bearing strength needed to help with osteoporosis.
Part of the problem is that increasingly, the people teaching yoga don't know enough about it. Yoga was traditionally taught one-on-one by a yogi over a period of years, but today instructors can lead a class after just a weekend course. Though the Yoga Alliance, formed in 1999 and now based in Clinton, Md., has set a minimum standard of 200 hours of training for certification, only 16,168 of the estimated 70,000 instructors in the U.S. have been certified. "Yoga means bringing together mind, body and spirit, but in Western yoga, we've distilled it down to body," says Shana Meyerson, an instructor in Los Angeles. "That's not even yoga anymore. If the goal is to look like Madonna, you're better off running or spinning." Namaste to that.
Link to article:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1668470,00.html
Hugger Mugger, a company that offers quality yoga-related products, came out with this brilliant idea -- a cork slope to put underneath the front or back of your mat. If placed under the front of your mat, it helps with slippery palms, which is a common tendency during challenging yoga practices. And best of all, it's only $16.95!!! At that price, you could probably get two - one for the front and back of the mat. I haven't tried this product yet, as I do not get sweaty palms during practice, but I am tempted....
