Can Yoga Really Wreck Your Body?

It reads like the butcher’s bill from a football team’s staff physician: destroyed tendons, compressed spines, torn rotator cuffs, plus the occasional stroke-like symptom.

Instead, it’s a list of yoga-related injuries that, according to a recent article in the New York Times Magazine, are increasingly and disturbingly common.

Does it mean you should give up your regular dose of Downward Dog and Warrior Pose? No, say two Southwest Minneapolis yoga teachers, who instead stress the importance of learning to do yoga correctly, and sticking to small classes.

Camille Gage, a yoga teacher at Southwest Minneapolis’ , said many yoga injuries she sees stem from students pushing themselves too far in poses or maneuvers they are doing improperly. Yoga, she said, requires personal responsibility. 

“If you’re repeating (a pose) over and over and not doing it in proper alignment, you can get hurt,” she said. “Learn the poses individually. You’re going to come from a safe space because you’ve taken the time to learn the correct way.”

Robert Lawrence, a Southwest Minneapolis resident and yoga teacher, thinks optional national certification programs for yoga teachers should require more education in anatomy and physiology, to help teachers catch injuries before they happen. The industry standard yoga teacher certification program requires only 10 hours of classroom time in anatomy as part of a 200-hour training requirement.

Even when teachers know what to look for, Lawrence said, it is hard for teachers with big classes to keep an eye on every student and catch potential injuries before they happen.

“There’s this thing in ‘yoga teacher land’ that we joke about. It’s called the ‘33 percent rule,’” said Lawrence, a former Lifetime Fitness yoga teacher.

“Thirty-three percent are paying attention to you, 33 percent are doing their own thing and know what they’re doing, and 33 percent are off in la-la land, checking out the guy or the girl next to them," he said, "or checking out themselves in the mirror instead of listening to you.”

Gage and the staff of High Moon Yoga & Tai Chi will be  from 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday to answer questions, demonstrate poses, and explain how yoga can be practiced safely.