"A $5bn industry is outraged over a New York Times article saying that the keep fit regime is bad for your body" according to today's Guardian (link below). Speaking as a stressed-out baby boomer who regularly practices yoga, it has helped me enormously with breathing and relaxation...but I have similar concerns about some of the classes that I've taken over the years. I think that yoga exacerbated my carpel tunnel syndrome. I even have some lower back pain now that didn't exist before I did yoga, although I'm willing to keep an open mind about that....as it may have been caused by other activities, who knows...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/14/yoga-can-damage-body-row
Some yoga teachers seem to have this idea of "one size fits all" and there was little consideration of different levels of fitness, age, and so on. A couple of classes were more like Boot Camp than yoga and I was forced to go well beyond my comfort zone. I'm sticking with restorative yoga and basic Hatha and Kundalini yoga from now on and leaving the more advanced stuff to the super fit and flexible...but I do think beginning students should be a little wary and not underestimate the potential damage.
Here's the New York Times article that sparked the recent outrage:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/how-yoga-can-wreck-your-body.html?pagewanted=all
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