Last week at Cottonwood Com Ed class, we were working on Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana (Hand to Foot Pose) with the airborne foot on a table. All of a sudden the student two persons down from me fell. It was blindingly fast, so one had a chance to help her. It turned out she hit on her tailbone, and it was still bothering her at class last night.
In all of these years, I've only had two students collapse. This lady, and one years ago who had hypoglycemia and hadn't eaten for about 12 hours. Since there has been a lot of bad rap in the media lately about how so many people get injuries when they do yoga, I thought it appropriate to address the issue.
The lady who hurt her tailbone fell simply because she was unable to hold her focus while she was standing on one foot. Most of us come in to yoga with our focus fractured. It's a result of living this fast-paced technology overloaded life. Yoga teaches us to focus, and our focus gets better the more we spend time on the mat. Better focus is also the result of practice, refining it more and more as we work.
My students who have attended other yoga classes complain a lot that many teachers really "kick butt" and make them work hard and fast like new military recruits in boot camp. This is not a good idea. This takes away the yoga principle of teaching us pratyahara (sense withdrawal), or to "go within" and work with where the body is in this moment. Kick butt yoga fosters an atmosphere of competitiveness which, in my opinion, is not the real aim of yoga. The competitive environment encourages the students to overdue the stretches and poses which can lead to injury. It distracts from the end result of true practice which is the union of body, mind, and spirit.
As students we must always be aware of our limitations and work with them, not against them. As teachers we must respect where our students are and not push them past their limits. Kick butt yoga is an immature approach and is not helping our students become aware of the inner landscape of the body. It doesn't matter what we look like in a pose, or if we perform asanas perfectly. Injuries can be avoided if we work intelligently by being aware of where our bodies are in the present moment. If we're in the present moment, we're paying attention, and our focus is activated. There is very little chance of getting injured if we're practicing yoga with our full awareness.
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In all of these years, I've only had two students collapse. This lady, and one years ago who had hypoglycemia and hadn't eaten for about 12 hours. Since there has been a lot of bad rap in the media lately about how so many people get injuries when they do yoga, I thought it appropriate to address the issue.
The lady who hurt her tailbone fell simply because she was unable to hold her focus while she was standing on one foot. Most of us come in to yoga with our focus fractured. It's a result of living this fast-paced technology overloaded life. Yoga teaches us to focus, and our focus gets better the more we spend time on the mat. Better focus is also the result of practice, refining it more and more as we work.
My students who have attended other yoga classes complain a lot that many teachers really "kick butt" and make them work hard and fast like new military recruits in boot camp. This is not a good idea. This takes away the yoga principle of teaching us pratyahara (sense withdrawal), or to "go within" and work with where the body is in this moment. Kick butt yoga fosters an atmosphere of competitiveness which, in my opinion, is not the real aim of yoga. The competitive environment encourages the students to overdue the stretches and poses which can lead to injury. It distracts from the end result of true practice which is the union of body, mind, and spirit.
As students we must always be aware of our limitations and work with them, not against them. As teachers we must respect where our students are and not push them past their limits. Kick butt yoga is an immature approach and is not helping our students become aware of the inner landscape of the body. It doesn't matter what we look like in a pose, or if we perform asanas perfectly. Injuries can be avoided if we work intelligently by being aware of where our bodies are in the present moment. If we're in the present moment, we're paying attention, and our focus is activated. There is very little chance of getting injured if we're practicing yoga with our full awareness.
Subscribe to The Aging Yogi blog.
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