By Carol Krucoff, E-RYT, author of Healing Yoga for Neck and Shoulder Pain
Yoga's booming popularity has resulted in some classes that are called "yoga," but are actually just yoga-flavored exercise classes. Students learn yoga postures -- such as Warrior, Tree and Downward-facing Dog -- but get no instruction in the deeper teachings of yoga, about breathing, awareness, and cultivating a "non-striving" attitude. So rather than an authentic yoga practice -- which is a journey of self-discovery, healing and transformation -- these yoga-flavored exercise classes are just another workout where participants push themselves, compete with each other, focus on appearance and -- all too often -- feel like failures if they can't achieve a particular pose.
As a yoga teacher who specializes in working with people who have health challenges, I often hear unsettling stories about negative experiences in yoga classes -- being injured by an over-zealous adjustment from a teacher, feeling embarrassed by not being as "good" as others in class and -- most alarming of all -- being told that pain is good because it means you're breaking through to a new level.
Frequently, these kinds of experiences occur in yoga-flavored exercise classes, which are characterized by a Western, competitive fitness mentality and ignore fundamental teachings of the yogic tradition, including the instruction from the Yoga Sutras that "a yoga pose should be steady and comfortable," (sometimes translated as "stable and sweet"). Authentic yoga teaches people to challenge themselves, but never strain. If people are pushing themselves to the point of pain, striving to look a certain way or being told they are, in any way, not good enough, then they are doing gymnastics or calisthenics, but not yoga.
Those new to yoga may find it challenging to determine whether or not a class is rooted in the spirit and intention of authentic yoga practice, or if it's just another workout. Here are two questions to help you decide:
While yoga is often touted as a way to gain flexibility or a "yoga butt", the practice is actually designed to quiet the mind and connect with the spirit. As a holistic discipline, yoga recognizes that physical ailments -- such as back pain and heart disease -- also have emotional and spiritual components. Yoga is much more than a workout; it's a comprehensive system for uniting mind, body and spirit.
Postures are just one part of this practice. Equally (and arguably more) important are breathing exercises, meditation and yogic attitudes, including ahimsa (non-harming) and santosha (contentment). A class that focuses solely on getting a posture "right" is missing essential parts of the yoga practice.
Yoga's popularity has resulted in some classes being taught by exercise instructors who have attended a weekend yoga workshop. Consider asking teachers how long they've taught yoga, where they studied, and how long they've practiced yoga. Authentic yoga instruction is rooted in a teacher's own yoga practice, and the best yoga teachers live their yoga on and off the mat. At a minimum, an instructor should be a registered yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance, or have equivalent experience. An indication that a teacher has extra training and interest in therapeutic yoga is membership in the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
A skilled yoga teacher will not be drill sergeant, but will act as a guide -- pointing you in the direction of your own "inner guru" (teacher) and helping you explore what works best for you.
Over time and with practice in an authentic yoga class, you'll learn much more than how to do postures. Yoga practice is designed to teach us about our own tendencies, habits and patterns, and guide us to healthier ways of inhabiting our bodies and dealing with life's challenges. Or, as one of my teachers was fond of saying, in the yoga practice, we put ourselves into complicated positions, then focus on doing our best to relax and breath, so that when life places us in complicated positions, we can draw upon this knowledge to relax and breathe. The result is learning more skillful ways to relate to ourselves, to each other and to the world.
Carol Krucoff, E-RYT, is a yoga therapist at Duke Integrative Medicine in Durham, N.C., and has practiced yoga for more than 30 years. She is the author of Healing Yoga for Neck and Shoulder Pain: Easy, Effective Practices for Releasing Tension and Relieving Pain.
Follow New Harbinger on Twitter: www.twitter.com/newharbinger
Pooja R. Mottl: Exercises For Balance, Coordination And Agility
Om Shanti
i agree with most everything in this article, like, the importance of "no instruction in the deeper teachings of yoga, about breathing, awareness" as being a big red flag about a yoga class
or that "Yoga practice is designed to teach us about our own tendencies, habits and patterns, and guide us to healthier ways of inhabiting our bodies and dealing with life's challenges"
and of course, "instruction from the Yoga Sutras that 'a yoga pose should be steady and comfortable,' (sometimes translated as 'stable and sweet')" -
but people searching for a class, in my experience, get many of the uncalled for "adjustments" and push into pain, in so-called authentic yoga classes that teach sutras and mantras - let's face it, there's many an "originating" yoga practice that demands harsh obedience or adherances
plus, membership in yoga alliance, as a "minimum"?
wouldn't a yoga teacher with studies in anatomy and health and wellness be a better minimum?
i'd much more prefer credentials such as your own instead...
and mindfulness toward breathing and awareness then a great step up?
not to say yoga alliance may not one day fulfill it's promise of being more than a registry, and i hope it does, would best for many...
but all in all, i'm quibbling - your points are still vital in one's search for a safe fulfilling yoga class
thanks so much,
adan
And then if you want something more from your practice, be discerning.
I do not think "being spiritual" equates with "throwing your critical thinking skills out the window." We live in a world which is not perfect, part of the yoga practice is viveka - learning to discern what is useful from what is not useful as you move towards oneness. Some things are more useful than others. That's not a judgment, it's just a reality. Flatlanding the situation by saying you subscribe to non-dualism is useless, it doesn't help you navigate through the very real necessity of making discerning choices.
Shanti
I live in a tiny bible belt town and twice weekly 40+ elderly people in a concrete conference hall practice breathing, concentrating their minds, balancing, strengthening, stabilizing and listening to their bodies, releasing things that don’t serve them, loving themselves, and hearing how beautiful, special and important they are. And the word yoga never appears, because why invite conflict based on spiritual egoism?
You're talking about some teachers you’ve experienced (I certainly hope so) who aren't well trained. You're talking about poor teachers, not the subculture of yoga that focuses on helping people live more comfortable, joyful, balanced lives, whether they appear in an ashram in India or the local community center.
And you breed spiritual hypocrisy. Legions of young teachers who have no physical pain and not much life experience, expounding philosophies they barely understand instead of paying attention to their students; and injuring people because they haven’t been properly trained in anatomy.
I met a guy whose Sanskrit pronunciation was perfect. It was his prized possession as a yoga teacher, but he had no idea how to help a golfer improve his game. Before you judge that, consider, What would a Non-Dualist Think? Swinging a golf club is a form of meditation, and yoga asana prepares the body for meditation.
You want to offer something useful? Talk about teachers improving their education. Help people, or zip it.
His question to me was, "What is it that you want to unite with?" He had a monotheistic suggestion.
When I first trained in 1967 yoga wasn't even known in the U.S. other than the movie
'Auntie Mame' & that was a comedy :-))
If I may make a reading suggestion. The Mahabharata; book 3 - the book of the forest; (3-37.f) The Colloguy of the Brahmin and the Hunter.
also ther are simple asanas -
The beauty of yoga is that it can be designed to fit anyone's ability - as it is there to serve people not be served - not meant to be competitive and should be enjoyed and fun!
SwB - Ed
what you say:
I'm really thrilled when a student goes within, finds their breath, touches their inner peace and enjoys the asanas.
is great!
SwB - Ed