The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards (46 page)

117
An intermediate stage:
Iyengar,
Light on Yoga
, p. 358.

118
according to a team in Chicago:
Steven H. Hanus, Terri D. Homer, and Donald H. Harter, “Vertebral Artery Occlusion Complicating Yoga Exercises,”
Archives of Neurology
, vol. 34, no. 9 (1977), pp. 574–75.

118
fascinated by the case:
Interviews, Steven H. Hanus, June 9 and July 1, 2011.

120
medical team at the University of Hong Kong:
K. Y. Fong, R. T. Cheung, Y. L. Yu, et al., “Basilar Artery Occlusion Following Yoga Exercise: A Case Report,”
Clinical and Experimental Neurology
, vol. 30 (1993), pp. 104–9; see also Robin,
A Physiological Handbook
, p. 516.

121
a common feature of medical concern:
See, for example, W. Pryse-Phillips, “Infarction of the medulla and cervical cord after fitness exercises,”
Stroke
, vol. 20 (1989), pp. 292–94; Daniel J. DeBehnke and William Brady, “Vertebral Artery Dissection Due to Minor Neck Trauma,”
Journal of Emergency Medicine
, vol. 12, no. 1 (1994), pp. 27–31; Schievink, “Spontaneous Dissection.”

121
Science of Flexibility: Michael J. Alter,
Science of Flexibility
, 3rd ed. (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2004), pp. 198–200.

121
its surveys showed:
Letter to author, Vicky B. Leonard, Technical Information Specialist, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, March 20, 2008. The enclosed data sheets from Leonard showed the results of a search I had requested of the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System for records citing the term “yoga” for the years 1996 through 2006.

122
An analysis of the information:
By the author.

122-13
found much of it fawning:
Robert Love, “Fear of Yoga,”
Columbia Journalism Review
, November–December 2006, pp. 80–90.

123
Stories appeared:
For example, see Leslie Kaminoff, with Coeli Carr, “Mr. Fix It for Injured Yoga Enthusiasts,”
New York Times
, Aug 11, 2002, Section 3, p. 13; Stacey Colino, “The Wounded Warrior,”
Washington Post
, April 16, 2002, Section HE, p. 1.

123
The rising public debate:
During this period, the number of articles and scientific reports on yoga injury and safety approached two hundred. See Trisha Lamb, “Injuries from Yoga and Contraindications,” a bibliography by the International Association of Yoga Therapists, April 27, 2006.

123
Body & Soul
magazine recounted:
Alanna Fincke, “Yoga Now: Bent Out of Shape,”
Body & Soul
, March–April 2003, p. 40.

123
An article in
The New York Times
:
Lorraine Kreahling, “When Does Flexible Become Harmful? ‘Hot’ Yoga Draws Fire,”
New York Times
, March 30, 2004, Section F, p. 5.

124
“twist and stretch with less chance”:
Choudhury,
Bikram Yoga
, p. 74.

124
told of being filmed one day:
Carol Krucoff, “Insight from Injury,”
Yoga Journal
, May–June 2003, pp. 120–24, 203.

125
“Yogi beware”:
Judith Lasater, “Yogi Beware: Hidden Dangers Can Lurk Within Even the Most Familiar Pose,”
Yoga Journal
, January–February 2005, pp. 110–19.

125
told of how she had reinjured:
Kaitlin Quistgaard, “Safety Dance,”
Yoga Journal
, March 2008, p. 12.

125
began to run a legal proviso:
See, for instance, Anonymous, “Letters,”
Yoga Journal
, February 2009, p. 16.

126
“Proceed with Caution”:
Catherine Guthrie, “Proceed with Caution: A Medical Review Points to the Potential Dangers of Sudden Neck Movements in Certain Poses,”
Yoga Journal
, December 2001, p. 33.

127
no scientist had ever published:
The studies lumped all known causes together. See Schievink, “Spontaneous Dissection”; Ralf W. Baumgartner, Julien Bogousslavsky, Valeria Caso, et al., eds.,
Handbook on Cerebral Artery Dissection
(Basel: Karger Publishers, 2005), pp. 12–29, 44–53; Kwan-Woong Park, Jong-Sun Park, Sun-Chul Hwang, et al., “Vertebral Artery Dissection: Natural History, Clinical Features and Therapeutic Considerations,”
Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
, vol. 44, no. 3 (2008), pp. 109–15.

128
no general notice on the Internet:
Author’s Google search, January 5, 2011.

128
the Internet buzzed:
www.yogaforums.com/forums/f18/yoga-and-stroke-604.html.

129
states began their regulatory effort:
A. G. Sulzberger, “Yoga Faces Regulation, and Firmly Pushes Back,”
New York Times
, July 11, 2009, Section A, p. 1.

129
involved a woman of twenty-nine:
Derek B. Johnson, Mathew J. Tierney, and Parvis J. Sadighi, “Kapalabhati Pranayama: Breath of Fire or Cause of Pneumothorax?”
Chest
, vol. 125, no. 5 (May 2004), pp. 1951–52.

129
an emergency procedure:
Polly E. Parsons and John E. Heffner, eds.,
Pulmonary/
Respiratory Therapy Secrets
(Philadelphia: Hanley & Belfus, 2001), pp. 68–69.

130
a joint letter:
Deane Hillsman and Vijai Sharma, “Yoga and Pneumothorax,”
Chest
, vol. 127, no. 5 (May 2005), p. 1863.

130
took to the pages:
Vijai P. Sharma, “
Pranayama
Can Be Practiced Safely,”
International Journal of Yoga Therapy
, no. 17 (2007), pp. 75–79.

131
they wrote in their 2007 report:
P. K. Sethi, A. Batra, N. K. Sethi, et al., “Compressive Cervical Myelopathy Due to Sirsasana, a Yoga Posture: A Case Report,”
Internet Journal of Neurology
, vol. 6, no. 1 (2007).

131
Even Iyengar got involved:
At his institute in Pune, Iyengar admitted that some postures in
Light on Yoga
might threaten injury. He called it a “dead book” and, to his credit, took an active role in pose redesign. For instance, students of Iyengar tell me that he pioneered the use of folded blankets to ease neck strain in Shoulder Stand, introducing the precaution as long ago as 1975. For Iyengar being quoted on the dated nature of his book, see Pat Musburger, “A Note from the President: Teachers and Teaching,” Iyengar Yoga Association of the Northwest,
IYANW Update
, November 2007, p. 1.
For his speaking openly of injuries and how to avoid them, see B.K.S. Iyengar,
Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health
(New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2007), pp. 7, 25, 194, 230, 243, 408.

132
“The whole weight”:
Iyengar,
Light on Yoga
, p. 187.

132
called for exactly the reverse:
Richard Rosen, “Taking the Danger out of the Headstand,”
Yoga World
, vol. 1, no. 9 (April–June 1999), pp. 3–4.

132
“At this point in the game”:
Yoga class with Mel Robin, Yoga Loft, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, April 14, 2007.

132
too dangerous for general yoga classes:
Timothy McCall,
Yoga as Medicine: The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing
(New York: Bantam, 2007), pp. 499–500; Timothy McCall, “Upside Downside?”
Yoga Journal
, September–October 2003, p. 34.

132
led to a condition:
McCall,
Yoga as Medicine
, pp. 89–90.

133
“Knees are hinge joints”:
Quoted in Martica K. Heaner, “Yoga’s Softer Side,”
Health
, vol. 15, no. 6 (July–August 2001), pp. 122–27. For a yoga anatomist who disagrees with the hinge metaphor, see Lasater,
Yogabody
, pp. 115–16.

133
One of the most prolific:
For a short profile, see Anne Cushman, “Science Studies Yoga,”
Yoga Journal
, August 1994, p. 43.

133
spoken on yoga safety:
Anonymous, “Yoga Should Heal, Not Hurt, Says ACSM Expert,” news release, American College of Sports Medicine, April 1, 2005.

133
In one column:
Roger Cole, “Keep the Neck Healthy in Shoulderstand,”
Yoga Journal
,
www.yogajournal.com/for_teachers/1091.

133
researchers in Europe:
Jani Mikkonen, Palle Pedersen, and Peter William McCarthy, “A Survey of Musculoskeletal Injury among
Ashtanga Vinyasa
Yoga Practitioners,”
International Journal of Yoga Therapy
, no. 18 (2008), pp. 59–64.

134
published a far more ambitious survey:
Loren M. Fishman, Ellen Saltonstall, and Susan Genis, “Understanding and Preventing Yoga Injuries,”
International Journal of Yoga Therapy
, no. 19 (2009), pp. 1–8.

135
trains its instructors for nine weeks:
For a portrait of Bikram training, and a glimpse of compassion, see Jeanne Heaton, “Teacher: Experience Needed,”
New York Times
, March 13, 2011, Style section, p. 2.

135
“It was a success”:
Email, Glenn Black, September 30, 2009.

135
caught up with him:
Interview, Glenn Black, Plaza Athénée, October 9, 2009.

V: Healing

137
kept wanting to learn:
Interviews and emails, Loren M. Fishman, Manhattan, August and September, 2007, February and March, 2008.

137
knocked on Iyengar’s door:
The story is recounted in Loren Fishman and Carol Ardman,
Relief Is in the Stretch: End Back Pain Through Yoga
(New York: Norton, 2005), p. 5.

138
a large shelf of Fishman’s books:
In chronological order, they are Loren Fishman and Carol Ardman,
Back Talk: How to Diagnose and Cure Low Back Pain and Sciatica
(New York: Norton, 1997); Fishman and Ardman,
Relief
; Fishman and Ardman,
Sciatica Solutions: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Cure of Spinal and Piriformis Problems
(New York: Norton, 2006); Fishman and Ardman,
Cure Back Pain with Yoga
(New York: Norton, 2006); Fishman and Eric L. Small,
Yoga and Multiple Sclerosis: A Journey to Health and Healing
(New York: Demos Medical Publishing, 2007).

139
his explanation for what stretching did:
Fishman and Ardman,
Relief
, pp. 18–21, 72.

140
told of his therapeutic work:
Interview, Loren Fishman, August 10, 2007.

141
a key feature:
Iyengar,
Light on Yoga
, p. 187.