The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards (2 page)

Headstand,
Sirsasana

Extended Side Angle,
Utthita Parsvakonasana

Triangle,
Utthita Trikonasana

Locust,
Salabhasana

Sun Salutation,
Surya Namaskar

Hands to Feet,
Padahastasana

Corpse,
Savasana

Shoulder Stand,
Sarvangasana

Downward Facing Dog,
Adho Mukha Svanasana

Thunderbolt,
Vajrasana

Seated Forward Bend,
Paschimottanasana

Cobra,
Bhujangasana

Wheel or Upward Bow,
Urdhva Dhanurasana

Extended Hand to Big Toe,
Utthita Padangusthasana

Plow,
Halasana

Mountain,
Tadasana

Warrior,
Virabhadrasana

Spinal Twist,
Ardha Matsyendrasana

Bow,
Dhanurasana

Head to Knee,
Janu Sirsasana

EZRA A. AMSTERDAM (1936– ).
Cardiologist at the Medical School of the University of California at Davis. Led a 2001 study concluding that yoga improves aerobic conditioning.

BASU KUMAR BAGCHI (1895–1977).
Scientist of Indian birth at the University of Michigan. Found that advanced yogis could slow but not stop their hearts.

KOVOOR T. BEHANAN (1902–1960).
Yale psychologist born in India. Authored the 1937 book
Yoga: A Scientific Evaluation.

HERBERT BENSON (1935– ).
Cardiologist at the Medical School of Harvard University. Found that meditators reduced their breathing, heart rate, and oxygen consumption. Authored in 1975
The Relaxation Response.

T. K. BERA (1949– ).
Director of research at Kaivalyadhama, the scientific ashram of Gune in the hills south of Bombay. Found advanced yogis skilled at slowing their metabolisms.

GLENN BLACK (1949– ).
Yoga teacher and bodyworker. Instructed at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York. Spoke openly of yoga injuries.

THÈRÈSE BROSSE (1902–1991).
French cardiologist. Showed that advanced yogis could slow their heart rate and blood flow.

LORI A. BROTTO (1975– ).
Sex researcher at University of British Columbia. Reported in 2002 and 2009 that fast breathing can result in sexual arousal.

MAYASANDRA S. CHAYA (1953– ).
Indian physiologist. Led team reporting in 2006 that yoga lowers the resting metabolic rate of practitioners and does so twice as effectively in women as in men.

BIKRAM CHOUDHURY (1946– ).
Yogi entrepreneur. Born in Calcutta and based in Los Angeles. Founded Bikram hot yoga. Set up hundreds of licensed and franchised studios around the globe.

CAROLYN C. CLAY (1980– ).
Sports scientist at Texas State
University. Led 2005 study reporting that yoga has few cardiovascular benefits.

KENNETH H. COOPER (1931– ).
Physician who coined the term
aerobics
and advocated energetic sports. Reported few cardiovascular benefits from calisthenics, isometrics, and low-impact exercise.

JAMES C. CORBY (1945– ).
Physician at Stanford University School of Medicine. Led team reporting in 1978 that people in Tantric meditation undergo a number of physiologic arousals.

INDRA DEVI (1899–2002).
Actress turned yogini. Studied with Gune and Krishnamacharya. Taught in Hollywood, Russia, and Argentina. Popularized yoga in her 1953 book
Forever Young, Forever Healthy.

VIKAS DHIKAV (1974– ).
Medical doctor at Ram Manohar
Lohia Hospital, New Delhi. Led team reporting in 2010 that men and women who take up yoga enjoy wide improvements in their sex lives.

CTIBOR DOSTALEK (1928–2011).
Czech neurophysiologist. Studied advanced yogis and reported that their brains exhibited waves of excitement indistinguishable from those of lovers.

GEORG FEUERSTEIN (1947– ).
Indologist of German birth. Authored or coauthored more than thirty books, including
Yoga for Dummies.
Served as editor of
International Journal of Yoga Therapy.

LOREN FISHMAN (1940– ).
Yogi and physician in New York City who specialized in rehabilitation medicine. Employed yoga. Wrote books on yoga for arthritis, back pain, and other afflictions.

JASON K. Y. FONG (1962– ).
Neurologist at Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong. Led team reporting in 1993 that a practitioner suffered a major stroke. Warned that stressful poses can cripple or kill.

MAKRAND M. GORE (1960– ).
Senior researcher at Kaivalyadhama, the scientific ashram of Gune south of Bombay. Studied how long advanced yogis could endure an airtight pit.

ELMER GREEN (1917– ).
Psychologist at the Menninger Foundation. Studied how Swami Rama used his mind alone to redirect blood flow and how students used relaxation to foster states of creative reverie.

JAGANNATH G. GUNE (1883–1966).
Indian yogi and educator.
Began what is considered to be the world’s first major experimental study of yoga in 1924 at his ashram south of Bombay. Guided the field’s development for decades.

MARSHALL HAGINS (1957– ).
Physical therapist at Long Island University. Participated in 2007 study that found yoga fails to meet the minimum aerobic recommendations of medical and government groups.

STEVEN H. HANUS (1954– ).
Physician at the Medical School of Northwestern University. Led team reporting in 1977 that a yoga practitioner suffered a major stroke after doing the Shoulder Stand.

B. K. S. IYENGAR (1918– ).
Yogi innovator. Studied with Krishnamacharya. Authored the 1965 book
Light on Yoga
, a global bestseller. Originated a precise style practiced around the world.

EDMUND JACOBSON (1888–1983).
Physician at the University of Chicago. Taught patients how to undo muscle tension as a way to lift moods and promote healing. Authored the 1929 book
Progressive Relaxation.

VIRGINIA E. JOHNSON (1925– ).
Sex researcher at Washington University in Saint Louis. Coauthored in 1966
Human Sexual Response.
Documented long orgasms in women.

K. PATTABHI JOIS (1915–2009).
Yogi innovator. Studied with Krishnamacharya. Founded style known as Ashtanga, after the eight rules of spiritual living in Patanjali’s
Yoga Sutras.

CARL JUNG (1875–1961).
Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology. Pioneered the academic study of kundalini, a yogic state characterized by strong body currents, especially up the spine. Warned in 1938 that the experience could result in madness.

SAT BIR KHALSA (1951– ).
Yogi and neurophysiologist at the Medical School of Harvard University. Directed many investigations of yoga, including its ability to promote sleep and reduce stage fright in musicians.

BARRY KOMISARUK (1941– ).
Sex researcher at Rutgers University. Studied the nature of the human orgasm and women who can think themselves into states of ecstasy.

GOPI KRISHNA (1903–1984).
Kashmiri mystic. Spoke and wrote openly about his kundalini arousal. Characterized the experience as sexual in nature and a source of creativity.

TIRUMALAI KRISHNAMACHARYA (1888–1989).
Guru to modern gurus. Taught yoga in Mysore, India. Trained a number of gifted students who spread modernized yoga around the globe.

WILLIAM H. MASTERS (1915–2001).
Sex researcher at Washington University in Saint Louis. Coauthored the 1966 book
Human Sexual Response.
Documented fast breathing as a regular part of sexual arousal.

TIMOTHY MCCALL (1956– ).
Doctor and medical editor of
Yoga Journal.
Authored in 2007
Yoga as Medicine.
Recommended that general yoga classes avoid Headstands because of the risk of injury.

RINAD MINVALEEV (1965– ).
Russian physiologist at Saint Petersburg State University. Led team reporting in 2004 that the Cobra position raises blood levels of testosterone, a primary sex hormone in men and women.

WILLIBALD NAGLER (1929– ).
Physician in Manhattan at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Described in 1973 a case study in which a stressful pose resulted in a major stroke.

ANDREW NEWBERG (1966– ).
Neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. Reported in 2009 that yoga activates the right brain—the side associated with creativity.

DEAN ORNISH (1953– ).
Physician known for promoting lifestyle changes to fight heart disease. Reported evidence in 2008 that yoga can lengthen cellular life spans, implying that it may fight aging.

PATANJALI (C. 400
CE
).
Ancient guru. Compiled
Yoga Sutras
, a collection of aphorisms about spiritual living. Urged cleanliness, good posture, breath control, ethical restraint, concentration, and meditation.

N. C. PAUL (C. 1820–1880).
Indian medical doctor schooled in Calcutta. Performed what is regarded as the world’s first scientific study of yoga. Authored the 1851 book
A Treatise on the Yoga Philosophy.

LARRY PAYNE (1944– ).
Yoga teacher and therapist in Los Angeles. Served as founding president of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Coauthored the book
Yoga for Dummies.

DALE POND (1955– ).
Health-care specialist who investigated
mystics. Helped found the Institute for Consciousness Research, a Canadian group that studied kundalini as a source of creativity.

PAUL POND (1944– ).
Physicist turned mystic investigator. Helped found the Institute for Consciousness Research.

JOHN P. PORCARI (1955– ).
Exercise physiologist at the University of Wisconsin. Participated in 2005 study that found vigorous yoga produced few aerobic benefits.

SWAMI RAMA (1925–1996).
Yoga celebrity. Came to the United States from India in 1969. Underwent scientific testing in 1970 at the Menninger Foundation and displayed mental control over blood flow.

RAMAKRISHNA (1836–1886).
Hindu mystic. Described the physical sensations of kundalini running up his spine.