So, CAN yoga wreck your body?

So, everyone (and by everyone, I mean people in the yoga community or people who have pushy friends in the yoga community) is in an uproar over the recent New York Time's article How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body. Those who practice are quick to call the writer and the sources fools, the research questionable, and the logic weak. Those who are annoyed with their friends/brothers/sisters/sons/daughters/etc who are constantly pressuring them to come to a yoga class, to sweat through 110 degrees of Bikram, or ujjayi breathe 24 hours a day, seven days a week, are happy to wave this article as proof that yoga is a crock and we're all better off doing anything but.

What it comes down to is simple. Can yoga hurt your body? Of course. But show me a single thing that can't. I literally once strained a muscle in my ribs by yawning. I hurt myself yawning. It took about two months to heal. What are you going to do?

Bottom line is, any time you move, you are working thousands of components in this amazing machine that is your body. Accept it will always have certain limitations, so don't try to force it into a pose just because the person next to you seems to be doing it effortlessly. They could have more open hips, hamstrings, shoulders, etc. They may not have a body predisposed to weaknesses in the knees, or a history of sciatic pain or herniated discs.

Trust your own body and listen to what it's telling you. If you are in a class and you feel a pain in your shoulder each time you chaturanga down, here's a thought -- stop chaturangaing down! Yoga should not cause you pain. Talk to your instructor afterwards. Hopefully, you're attending class with a well-trained teacher who can give you some modifications to help you compensate and adjust for whatever body issue you're facing.

If you're in a class and you feel it's not a right match either in the style of yoga or teacher's style, that's okay. Listen to your gut, and keep on searching. You are the only person who knows what feels right for your body, and you are the only person who is in control of the movements you ask it to do.

And be careful yawning.