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Are your mind, body and spirit out of tune? You might think about pulling out the yoga mat. Yoga is practiced by millions worldwide to reduce stress, increase flexibility and improve overall health, but some experts warn that all of those complex stretches and maneuvers could be doing serious damage to your body. Is yoga the secret to a healthy life, or could you just be kicking yourself?
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Physical Therapists Concur That Stiff is Better Than Flexible
- From Shirley Sahrmann
By Shirley Sahrmann, A, PT, PhD, FAPTA - Washington U School of Medicine
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The problem is lack of instructor knowledge
I agree that there is a lack of oversight for yoga teachers. Many individuals leading classes are not qualified to guide others in the practice of yoga. When the teacher does not understand issues of joint mobility and limitations, yoga becomes unsafe and potentially harmful. However, it is not fair to say that "yoga harms the body." Yoga taught INCORRECTLY harms the body, in the same way that medicine practiced incorrectly harms the body, or surgery performed incorrectly harms that body. It is irresponsible and uninformed teachers, not the practice of yoga itself, who are to blame. A safe yoga practice, modified according to the individual needs of the student, can benefit anyone.
- jennyeverettking
October 29, 2008 9:17AM
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I agree....SOME PTs agree with your statement....
I happen to know a few who would go one step further in qualifying such a statement and say that it's not as simple as saying "stiff is better" or "flexible is better"
The key is balance; proper stability can't occur without the requisit mobility and mobility without stability leads to injury. Parts of the body need to be "stiff" at certain times while other parts are "fluid".
It's a dynamic equilibrium.....not a static "stiff" OR "fluid".
I think the initial question is poorly written....it shouldn't be "does yoga harm the body?", it should be "can yoga harm the body?"
The answer....absolutely if there is mobility without coordinated and efficient stability. That is what a good yoga instructor understands; what is all too often missed is how to go about seeing mobility/stability issues before one harms oneself while performing yoga.
Dr. Tim Irving DC, LMT, CKTP
Portland, OR
www.OptFunction.com
- timirvingdc
November 6, 2008 10:36AM
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Dr Bernard Preston, DC
Shirley's answer is like the parson's egg: good in parts. Yes, I would agree - people with highly flexible joints do seem to be more prone to injury. Perhaps because they tend to flex too far without using their knees for example. I often say those who can pick strawberries without bending their knees are more prone to back pain!
But, and it's a big but, those with very stiff joints are also prone to injury. We aren't comparing apples with apples. She is talking about people with congenital hypermobile joints whereas the opposition is talking about acquired stiffness through injury and disease.
I have no doubt whatsoever that stretching stiff joints and muscles, and that is what good yoga is about - training of instructors in this debate is irrelant surely - has benefit. But overstretching of hypermobile joints, yes, can be detrimental. As in picking strawberries!
- Barrie Lewis
November 13, 2008 1:38AM
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yoga gave me back my mobility and strength
...in my early 40s, used to waking up with a stiff back, and not even being able to bend forward to brush my teeth in the morning... yoga brought me back to being able to function in daily life without lower back pain.
My lifestyle has improved and my level of happiness and a sense of well-being has improved.
That is not to say that yoga has been an experience without any injury. But the incidence of injuries that have occurred I have learned to eliminate by not pushing myself too far.
Good teachers always tell students in a class to FIRST LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. Do not push yourself to do things that your body is screaming at you not to do. Go slowly with each move. Feel each part of the move throughout the range of the move. Stop before straining too much. There is no place for ego in performing the move. While struggle and effort is required, it is to be tempered with awareness (which we all have) of what is gentle extension beyond our comfort zone versus strain beyond our safety zone.
We make these judgments in everyday life: the difference between overcoming laziness, to what we know to be dangerous risk taking.
As adults, even though we have come to rely on professional advisers, really, except with extreme illness, we do not need doctors or other professionals to tell us what is and is not good for us... we just have to listen to our bodies.
- sean joshua
June 3, 2009 6:14PM
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Does Physical Therapy Harm the Body?
i am not suggesting that anyone has the intention of harm. the way we treat injuries today is much different than we did 50 years ago. was harm done then?
should yoga teachers know more? without question.
EVERYTHING has the potential to be harmful. what's not clear in the inital argument (i.e., "Physical Therapists Concur That Stiff is Better Than Flexible"), is how to explain the origins of the "stiffness". and for what purpose is stiff better than flexible.
if we make the assumption that we are assessing the patient using the nine point flexibility test, then flexible (i.e., hyper-flexible) is more challenging to rehabilitate; adding functional tension to joints that are congenitally lax. hyper-flexible requires significant strengthening of the soft tissues that cross the joint(s).
when treating patients, it is my experience that it is easier to work with those who are not outliers, but those in the middle of the curve.
stiffness, if a result of a sendentary lifesytle, is considerably easier to rehabilitate. along with releasing trigger points and normalizing the soft tissue, adding functional movement therapy is relatively easier than rehabilitating hyper-mobile patients.
there is no stability in stiff. i think we all agree that instability leads to injury -- whether hyper-flexible or stiff.
anyone injured, with postural distortions or dysfunctional movement patterns needs more than a minimally trained yoga teacher; similarly, a general practitioner is inappropriate to perform brain surgery.
- JayaJeff
June 8, 2009 4:48AM
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I voted no it cannot harm the body but it
sure does mess with the mind and spirit. I say that because these eastern methods often require that you attempt to empty your mind of all thoughts...that is very dangerous! Why would making yourself like a vegetable be a good idea? The body needs exercise the mind does too...whey exercise the body but numb the mind...not good.
- perfecthope October 12, 2009 1:54PM
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Cats
My cats are very good at Yoga. I know this sounds like satire or sarcasm. Every day they stretch several times. They are 13 and 9 years old. My friends think they act much younger.
Comparison? My medical doctors have used this example with me. I have a good sample to watch at home. I laughed, yet, also knew they had a good point they were making.
I stretch as much as possible, slowly, and do not do more than I know I am capable of doing safely. (OK, maybe sometimes I do stretch out on the floor with my cats) This doesn't hurt either.
I think they see it as bonding as we all sit in our triangle. Laugh, I am. It's fun.
- AmericanWoman February 16, 2010 10:08PM
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