Yoga Accidents: When East Meets West

Thirty-some years in the past, after I was starting to show yoga, accidents associated to yoga apply have been comparatively uncommon. They did occur, after all, however they have been an anomaly. Lately, yoga accidents have grow to be a sizzling matter of dialog in Western yoga tradition. A 2017 examine discovered that accidents are on the rise.

From a Yoga Journal article in regards to the examine:

“The examine, titled Yoga-Associated Accidents in america From 2001 to 2014, discovered that there have been 29,590 yoga-related accidents seen in hospital emergency departments from 2001 to 2014. Total, yoga accidents grew to become nearly twice as widespread in 2014 as in 2001. However amongst seniors particularly, yoga accidents really skyrocketed. Throughout the identical time interval, the speed of yoga accidents amongst adults 65 and older elevated greater than eightfold.”

Why May Yoga Accidents Be Extra Frequent These Days?

There are numerous potential causes for the rise in yoga accidents. First, with the sheer numbers of individuals working towards asana today in comparison with 30 years in the past, it could be odd if there weren’t extra accidents. Second, the popularization of yoga within the West has required that yoga look extra like what we interpret as train—elevating your coronary heart fee, sweating, and many others. Third, we’ve imported only one side of a complete apply into our tradition, unbiased of its bigger conte. Lastly, Jap concepts about apply are essentially totally different from Western concepts. Within the West, we method asana apply from a very totally different intention.

It is smart that changes should be made to suit Western practitioners. For instance, most of us who apply yoga usually are not holed up in caves working towards all day. We’re house owners with households, jobs and different competing pursuits.

The yoga custom really makes loads of room for the householder. You is perhaps shocked to seek out that the philosophy of one among yoga’s historical and defining texts, The Bhagavad Gita says {that a} yogi needn’t depart the world with a view to discover freedom. In accordance with Mircea Eliade, scholar and creator of Yoga, Immortality and Freedom, Krishna encourages Arjuna to proceed to be a “man of motion,” discovering his freedom within the midst of his life on the earth.

Conditioned to Compete

The issue with plopping one small element of a apply as huge and deep as yoga into a very totally different tradition is one among context. Within the West, from an early age we’re conditioned to interpret bodily endeavors by means of the lens of competitors. Give it some thought:  We watch aggressive workforce sports activities for leisure. Even sports activities the place the judging is no less than considerably subjective—assume ice skating and gymnastics—are topic to competitors.

For many people bodily endeavors like working, mountaineering and bicycling are topic to the “no ache, no acquire” conditioning we’ve all grown up with. We nearly count on to injure ourselves in bodily apply, so on the floor, yoga accidents would possibly even appear utterly regular.

Once we sever asana apply from its roots and produce it to a tradition that celebrates competitors, we’ll interpret it by means of the aggressive lens as a result of that’s the lens we all know. Because of this a lot of the yoga that’s common in the present day is energetic and quick paced, with a give attention to a high-intensity bodily exercise.

A Context for Yoga Accidents

I’m not saying, “Western tradition=unhealthy, Jap tradition=good.” Nor am I knocking wholesome competitors. I’m simply stating that the majority of us have been conditioned, just by rising up right here, to equate bodily exercise with pushing oneself, striving for excellence, and many others. That is neither good nor unhealthy. It’s merely the context from which most of us, no less than initially, will understand and interpret asana apply as a result of that’s our most acquainted filter. When competitors, striving and forcing are our context, yoga accidents usually tend to happen.

Early in my apply it was simple for me to see my very own aggressive tendencies. I used to be born with a physique that’s able to doing fancy poses, and I practiced them commonly for years. Practising fancy poses is enjoyable. However after I was within the stage of apply the place these poses have been vital to me, I didn’t discover that performing them made me a kinder, wiser or extra compassionate particular person. They didn’t make meditation any simpler both. Since that’s the putative function of working towards asana, I started to query and shift my apply.

Aggressive Thoughts vs. Knowledge Thoughts

Even now, I typically catch my aggressive thoughts feeling the necessity to justify a sluggish, quiet apply. I’ve discovered myself questioning if I’m actually doing a authentic apply after I merely lie on tennis balls for an hour to assist alleviate again discomfort from spending an excessive amount of time in chairs.

My knowledge thoughts helps me do not forget that no matter apply brings my physique/thoughts to steadiness in a given second is the most effective apply. I proceed to study that asana apply should be versatile. I have to keep versatile additionally—mentally and emotionally—to do not forget that asana apply is designed to serve the person wants of every particular person in every second. We’re not right here to serve asana apply; it’s the different manner round.

Even if you happen to don’t depend your self among the many Sort A crowd, the method of rewiring the aggressive thoughts can take time. Whereas I hardly ever act from aggressive thoughts in my asana apply anymore, it nonetheless makes its voice heard. The distinction is that I now have the ability to decide on which thoughts to hearken to.

How you can Keep away from—Or At Least Reduce the Chance of—Yoga Accidents

• Assess your wants. We’re not all the identical. Every one that involves yoga apply has totally different strengths and weaknesses. If you’re simply beginning out, and also you need to ease into apply, steer towards courses titled “Hatha Yoga,” “Iyengar Yoga,” or “Viniyoga” somewhat than these titled “Energy Yoga,” “Ashtanga” or “Vinyasa.” The latter are fast-paced courses the place it’s way more troublesome for college students to apply wholesome alignment and for the instructor to offer particular person help. If you wish to apply a faster-paced yoga in some unspecified time in the future, attend these courses after you’ve constructed a powerful basis.
• Discover a certified instructor. Not all yoga lecturers are the identical. Expertise and schooling of lecturers can differ extensively. You might want to do a little analysis right here. The variety of schooling hours required for a Yoga Alliance-registered instructor is comparatively small—200 hours. Make some telephone calls. Interview lecturers to seek out out about their expertise and their philosophy for apply.
• Respect your physique. All of us come into the world with vastly totally different constructions, which implies our ranges of pure mobility and stability are all very totally different. Some folks’s constructions won’t ever do fancy poses, whereas others will carry out superb feats of flexibility from day one. Flip your thoughts inward to what’s really occurring in your physique within the second, somewhat than evaluating your self to others.
• No ache, no ache. One in all my essential asana lecturers, Judith Hanson Lasater, has modified the previous “No ache, no acquire” philosophy. As a substitute, she says, “No ache, no ache.” Which means no ache in your current apply will extra doubtless yield no ache in your future. After all, you must distinguish between ache and the sensations of stretching. (That’s an entire totally different submit!) However typically, if you happen to really feel painful sensations, particularly in any of your joints, it’s a good suggestion to again off. Ache is a sign to cease doing what you’re doing, to not attempt to “push by means of it.”
• Meet your physique the place it’s in the present day. It’s useful to do not forget that every time we come to our yoga mat, our our bodies are totally different. At the moment’s Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) is totally distinctive, irrespective of what number of occasions you’ve practiced the pose previously. Let go of the expectation that in the present day’s apply ought to be like your final apply. Additionally, let go of the concept that since you’ve been working towards for x variety of years, you ought to have the ability to carry out sure poses like the recent Instagram yogis do. What does your physique want in the present day?

We’d love to listen to your suggestions for avoiding yoga accidents and making a more healthy asana apply.

About Charlotte Bell

Charlotte Bell found yoga in 1982 and started educating in 1986. Charlotte is the creator of Conscious Yoga, Conscious Life: A Information for On a regular basis Follow and Yoga for Meditators, each revealed by Rodmell Press. Her third guide is titled Hip-Wholesome Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Information to Defending the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Ache (Shambhala Publications). She writes a month-to-month column for CATALYST Journal and serves as editor for Yoga U On-line. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte performs oboe and English horn within the Salt Lake Symphony and people sextet Crimson Rock Rondo, whose DVD gained two Emmy awards in 2010.