Whispers exchanged on elevators, furtive confessions or rumors circulating as to why a certain teacher doesn’t teach at a particular center. These are not scandals spreading, but the undercover revelations of injuries sustained in yoga practice – particularly within a classroom setting.
Yoga is supposed to protect the practitioner from injury. In fact, therapeutic regimes are often designed to heal injuries sustained somewhere else. But according to confessions, rumors, under-the-breath admissions and even statistics, people injure themselves in yoga classes. And these injuries are climbing.
Types of injuries vary. Some recently overheard stories include a yogi who broke their leg in a particularly vigorous partner yoga class, shoulder injuries from overdoing a flow sequence, torn hamstrings in hanumanasana (full splits) or pulled back muscles in bakasana (crow pose).
Larry Payne, who developed the Yoga Rx therapeutic training program at Loyola Marymount University, asserts he is sought out by injured yogis, predominantly with neck, back, shoulder or wrist injuries.
“Some of the most problematic poses are inversions and then secondarily people injure their wrist, neck and shoulders since the upper body is not made to hold the weight of the entire body repeatedly.”
Although hard statistics documenting yoga injuries are scarce, some are available. According to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, a government reporting agency, 5,000 people were injured in yoga classes in 2005. The commission obtains their numbers from 100 selected hospitals around the country. Five thousand represents a marked increase in injuries; in 2004, the only other year for which this data is available, 3,700 injuries were reported. Since these numbers represent merely 100 hospitals, and not everyone who is injured in a yoga class necessarily visits a hospital, real numbers are likely much higher. The Fitness and Wellness Insurance Company, when asked, did not provide statistics on claims made or paid related to yoga injuries.
Reporting may not occur even between teacher and student. When a student is injured, they do not always inform the teacher. Lisa (name changed) was injured during an adjustment by a teacher in class. She felt the teacher was unaware of the harm caused, and she never went back to the teacher to inform them of the condition. This sets up a dangerous situation, where teachers do not receive important feedback.
Teachers and therapists warn that injuries will only increase. Physical therapist and International Association of Yoga Therapists advisory board member Matthew Taylor cautions “As yoga teachers we are going to continue to teach an increasingly complex, diverse and sick population. And this is the general population, taking your average yoga class, not a yoga therapy session.”
Teachers like Larry Payne, PhD are already concerned. According to Payne most injuries occur in people over the age of 35. He states that some of the most problematic poses are inversions and then secondarily people injure their wrist, neck and shoulders since the upper body is not made to hold the weight of the entire body repeatedly.
What to do?
Matthew Taylor has provided depositions in court cases involving yoga-related injuries. Taylor reports that, in situations serious enough to land in court, negligence and lack of follow-through were present by either the teacher and/or the business involved. To rectify this and reduce injuries in general, he recommends incorporating information in teaching programs on preventing injuries and appropriately handling the situation after one occurs.
According to Taylor, the use of intake forms, communication among teachers and checking in with students are all tools to increase awareness of potential problems that may lead to an injury. Insurance, risk management and an organized plan of action to follow if an injury does occur can reduce lawsuits. Initiating a discussion about the problem and taking responsibility are steps to reverse the upward climb of yoga-related injuries.
