The NY times posted an article
titled “How Yoga can Wreck your Body” and it was brought to my attention by
several students curious of my opinion. While the article was quite sensational
I was happy to see that awareness has been brought this somewhat taboo
subject.  While the types of injuries listed in the article are rare, it
does bring to light the importance of listening to your body, making sure you
find a comfortable stretch in a yoga pose, and finding a teacher that teaches
basic alignment principles. What does this mean for you? The Yoga Sutras
explain you should find sweetness and steadiness in your yoga pose. Yes,
sometimes you may walk away from a yoga class feeling sore—but where is the
soreness? If it is in more of the belly of the muscle and feels like a good stretch,
you are probably doing something right. If however you feel it in the joints,
you may need to make some adjustments. Simply, in its essence, yoga is an inner
journey towards discovering yourself, touching your toes in a forward bend is
somewhat secondary.

Your practice on the mat helps you become
acquainted with our habitual actions.  If you find yourself stepping into
a place of competition, searching for the perfect external pose, or trying to
please an outside authority, stop and listen. Your body knows what it needs,
but if your ego wants to do something else (something “bigger” or “better”)—and
you continually feed the ego— at the expense of your body…  your body, and
ultimately you, may suffer. However the same is true if you are always
holding back allowing fear to keep you from exploring new possibilities. Staying
in the same routine or same positions can bring stagnation preventing you from
reaching your full potential as a human being. Where is the edge? Where is your edge? One of the most important
journeys in yoga is to learn how to listen and trust your body, to learn the
language of your body.  I feel one of the roles of a yoga teacher is to
help you understand this language —help you become aware of yourself so you learn
to understand what is going on within.  We call this dynamic tension of
not too much and not too little, exploring the edge in a posture.  At what
point are you pushing too much for the wrong reasons and at what point are you
simply experience the tension of growing? It makes me so happy to see students
explaining what they feel inside and actually understand their body, and this
process. When this edge is found amazing things can happen.