On January 8th, 2012, the New York Times Sunday Magazine published an article stating that “the vast majority of people should give up yoga altogether,” as it’s “simply too likely to cause harm,” citing Iyengar Yoga teacher Glenn Black, who now resides in New York. In the first Sunday edition of the new year, the article has stirred quite a controversial backlash from the yoga community, with many stepping forward with their response to the negative slants of the “dangers of yoga” that the article claims.
Of the responses that have come forth, that of Chris Beach, president of the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States (IYNAUS), who consulted with many Senior Iyengar Yoga teachers and sent a response letter to the New York Times, stands out. The response letter points out many errors that they believed the article contained as well expressing dissent with its negative tone, in hopes that it will be published to put these issues to rest:
To the Editor:
If yoga hurts, it is not yoga. A student’s overreaching ego, a teacher’s ignorance – many causes may lead to injury while doing yoga, but yoga itself cannot be blamed. Nor can B. K. S. Iyengar, who more than any figure in modern yoga has made yoga safe, accessible and transformative for all.
Many teachers and students of Iyengar Yoga were disturbed by the negative tone and outright errors in “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body” by William J. Broad. Just one example: Broad calls Roger Cole a “reformer” who advocates reducing neck bending in Shoulder Stand by lifting the shoulders on a stack of blankets. But this teaching was devised by Mr. Iyengar – Cole is simply one of many of Mr. Iyengar’s teachers who work this way. Similarly Broad writes that Mr. Iyengar does not address yoga injuries in his seminal book Light on Yoga; any reading will reveal countless instructions on how to perform poses correctly, without harm.
We urge readers to try an Iyengar Yoga class themselves. Iyengar Yoga teachers are held to the most rigorous standards. Only after years of practice and study, and close examination by senior teachers, are they certified. A Certified Iyengar Yoga teacher is a student’s guarantee of a yoga experience which is safe, progressive and personalized to their condition.
During his more than 70 years of practice and teaching, B. K. S. Iyengar has pioneered modern yoga and modern yoga therapeutics. One of his guiding principles – that yoga is for everyone – led him to develop modifications for the yoga asanas (postures) using props which allow them to be performed by practitioners of every age, fitness and skill level.
Iyengar teachers are trained to work even with students with serious limitations and injuries, to recognize when students are ready for certain asanas, and not to ask them to go beyond their readiness. Going to one’s maximum also means not going beyond one’s limits; teachers must help students understand this.
Before undertaking the practice of asana, those who pursue the eight-limbed path of yoga must first practice the guidelines of yama and niyama; first among these is ahimsa – non-violence. For a teacher, this means “do no harm.”
Sincerely,
Christopher Beach, President
The Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States (IYNAUS)
The IYNAUS, pointing to Beach’s letter on the website’s blog, states that the “IYNAUS takes seriously its mission of disseminating the teaching of Sri B. K. S. Iyengar and of promoting Iyengar Yoga teachers in the U.S. and around the world.” They encourage readers to post comments on the blog with their feedback, as well as to write their own response letter to letters@nytimes.com.
The New York Times article also states that it is adapted from The Science of Yoga: The Risks and Rewards, a book written by the article’s author, William J. Broad, to be published next month by Simon & Schuster. Broad is a senior science writer for the newspaper.