This article in the New York Times caused a fair amount of fuss, also the our very own Guardian published this article, Ashtanga New York responded with this article we had a head office email which included our BWY CEO Pierre Bibby's response -
Dear All
Pierre has asked me to contact you on his behalf as he has been out of the office this week attending meetings. Some of you may be aware of a recent news item, which first surfaced in the New York Times and was subsequently followed up by The Guardian. The essence of the original article, made on the back of a recent book publication, is that yoga is bad for your health. The Guardian essentially reported on this article without substantially adding anything to the commentary. Should you have missed either item, links to both are reproduced below.
To put the UK article in context, BWY was contacted and Pierre spent some while on the phone to The Guardian journalist but nothing of what he said was reproduced. I likewise spent a great deal of time on the phone to a Sunday Times journalist who was hell bent on taking the line that the UK is full of people who have been damaged by yoga and wanted to speak to the BWY legal dept (!) to discuss how many cases of litigation there are. She wasn't interested at all in anything I had to say and made that very clear.
Pierre has sent out the attached letter to the media by way of response. It is limited in scope because they simply won't print a long response however we don't have much hope of this being published as I say, the press tend to prefer the more controversial rather than accurate items. Should you see any follow up items I should be very grateful if you could let me know. We will follow them up. Pierre is also briefing me on the approach BWY will take to launching and publicising the research referred to in the letter in the hopes that we can counter some of the misinformation perpetrated by articles such as these.
19 Jan 2012
Sirs,
The recent New York Times article on the “dangers” of yoga, adapted from a book by William J. Broad on The Science of Yoga: The Risks and Rewards, is heavy on anecdote and slim on science. It is full of physiological inaccuracy’s and confines itself to the most sensationalistic aspects of yoga-related injury, cherry picking a few extreme examples to implicate the entire practice.
A more balanced article would acknowledge that it is problematic to produce accurate figures on injuries directly causally linked solely to the practice of yoga. Injuries can result from physical activity whether or not we are taking risks. This is not to say that yoga practice is without risk of injuries, which might occur due to the over enthusiasm of a student who wants to achieve more extreme postures and ignores the guidance of the teacher. It could also be that a student has an underlying health issue which they haven’t shared with the teacher – a problem with can be exacerbated in very full classes in gyms etc.
Mr Black – the yoga teacher interviewed by Broad - is quoted as saying that he has no formal training for determining which yoga poses are good for a student and which may be problematic, preferring to rely on his “ ton of experience.” At the British Wheel of Yoga (the National Governing Body for Yoga), we do not rely solely on experience. Our teachers complete a rigorous diploma course (the only yoga teaching qualification in the UK equivalent to the first year of undergraduate study), which includes modules on physiology and anatomy, and gives advice and guidance of ways in which postures can be modified so that people with underlying health issues can practice safely. All our teachers have professional indemnity insurance and BWY members benefit from insurance that covers them against injury.
Anyone can practice yoga, regardless of age, sex or ability. As well as stretching and strengthening the body yoga improves posture, promotes feelings of relaxation and has been linked to improved concentration, better quality sleep and a reduction of anxiety and depression. The British Wheel of Yoga, in conjunction with Sheffield University, is about to publish a research report into the therapeutic effects of yoga for health and wellbeing and, if Mr Broad’s experience is anything to go by, we look forward to the comment and debate which we hope will be stimulated by our research. Maybe the biggest benefit for him is that, after the publication of his extremely inflammatory article in the NY Times his book shot to the top of yoga category on Amazon.
Pierre Bibby
CEO
The British Wheel of Yoga
The National Governing Body for Yoga
