Yoga and Injury: Balancing Effort with Ease
What is the average yoga student to do after reading some of the scary scenarios presented in last Sunday’s New York Times article? The article, in which a prominent yoga teacher claimed that yoga is not for an average population, explored some of the extreme physical risks of practicing yoga. As we all know, yoga’s popularity is growing at record speed. It takes on countless different forms, all falling under the heading of yoga. Although some of these forms may be far removed from the Indian origins of Hatha Yoga, I think most, at least contain a seed of that primary intention. And that intention is a path to one’s potential as a manifestation of the divine.
The physical, mental and spiritual benefits of yoga have quickly reached an astounding number of people, changing their lives, I would argue, mostly for the better. To blame the yoga, when the responsibility really lies with the practitioner, leaves me feeling sad and disappointed. My gut feeling is that the benefits have far outweighed and will continue to override the injuries. What I really look forward to is more specific research being done on the subject.
There is no doubt that yoga has it’s risks just as running, weightlifting or playing a sport has it’s risks. But one thing that yoga offers, that the other activities may not, are the tools to decipher what is appropriate and when. Both veterans and novices alike, can experience injuries from the physical practice of yoga. Extreme poses like headstand and wheel could certainly wreak havoc on the spine. Even a relatively simple downward dog has the potential to cause problems on certain bodies at certain times.
But first, as yoga always teaches, you must move with awareness. That begins with awareness about what studio, what teacher, what style and what level yoga you choose to practice. It’s true there are an overwhelming amount of choices out there today. A symptom of our current culture. It may take much trial and error to find the right fit. And, if one is truly practicing with awareness, that fit may change as the practitioner changes and grows. There are different lessons to be learned at different times in our lives. Therefore there are different kinds of yoga practices for different stages in our lives.
Yoga encourages us to diligently work toward balancing our efforts with ease. This requires a tremendous amount of constant awareness. The adjustments can be so subtle. If we want to improve and continue to grow in our practice we need to learn how to fire up the effort just enough without allowing our ego, or even distraction to push us beyond our range of ease. Even the most experienced yogis may have moments where they struggle with this. It’s very easy to get swept away by the mind and it’s incessant thoughts:
“God, My Bird of Paradise pose is exquisite!”
“I’m not going to let that 25 year old in front of me, show me up!”
“I wonder what my husband is making for dinner tonight.”
This discipline and attention to detail takes time to develop. But ultimately there becomes a gentle and constant pulsation of effort versus ease. Like a Grandfather clock pendulum that starts out with a grand arc. Eventually that arc hovers around your own version of center ticking away the microseconds of your breath.
Awareness of the breath is probably the single most important tool for keeping mental focus during yoga practice. The breath is an indicator of effort. It is the wave that we ride. It can be used to lift us to greater heights, to soften our landings or to simply cradle us. The more we listen to and work with the patterns of our breathing the more present we are. The more present we are the more likely we are to notice when something isn’t right for our body.
One of the controversial aspects of modern yoga is the loss of the spiritual or philosophical side in some classes. There are many self-proclained yogis who argue that this is not yoga at all. It is simply another form of exercise. I will beg to differ, once again noting the seed of the divine that I believe is present.
I do, however, think this aspect is key to avoiding injury. You can’t ignore the philosophical teachings of yoga like non-attachment and non-harming (self) and expect to keep your body out of harms way. I believe that people who pursue a purely physical yoga practice, with little attention to it’s mental or spiritual teachings are in their infant stage with yoga. And it may just take an injury to bring them to that next level of awareness. Odds are they would have hurt themselves in one way or another anyway! I don’t dismiss this stage at all. For many it’s a necessary step and the amount of time a practitioner spends there depends on that individuals own journey.
Just as learning to balance effort with ease takes much practice, so does differentiating between discomfort and pain. I don’t think that is something that can be specifically taught. It’s an individual instinct that arises when the other elements are practiced. And practicing yoga requires a certain amount of discomfort. The best way that I can describe my own experiences with this, is that pain often takes on a sharp quality that does not significantly lessen with deepened breath. Discomfort is more of a dull sort of tension that softens with surrender. But that is simply my interpretation. And I take full responsibility for my perception of it. And I encourage you to do the same.
