I’ve written here before about the curious case of yoga and The New York Times. The Times often seems both obsessed and confused about yoga, as I wrote in 2010 when the Times published five stories on yoga in one week.
Now the Times weighs in, in this week’s upcoming Sunday magazine, with a piece by veteran Times science writer William J. Broad entitled, “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body.” If you suspect that this story might not be fair and balanced, you are correct.
The Times could run a similar headline on almost any form of physical activity. It might commission a piece called “How Running Can Wreck Your Knees,” or “How Tennis Can Wreck Your Elbow,” or “How Moving A Refrigerator Can Crush Your Toes, Break Your Back, and Rip Your Rotator Cuff.” But the story it did was on yoga.
The piece is adapted from Broad’s new book, “The Science of Yoga: The Risks and Rewards,” to be published next month by Simon & Schuster. Compare the titles of the book and the article: A book about the risks and rewards of yoga (I haven’t seen the book) might be expected to say a lot about how it can be both harmful and helpful. The Times magazine editors, however, focused only on the risks; the excerpt says little about the rewards, except to claim that they are often overstated.
The magazine excerpt notes, in the setup near the top, that “Among devotees, from gurus to acolytes forever carrying their rolled-up mats, yoga is described as a nearly miraculous agent of renewal and healing.” That makes the criticism easy. It’s much easier to argue that yoga is not nearly miraculous than to discuss the risks and rewards, which would likely have resulted in a more accurate story.
We then hear about a yoga student who had trouble walking after remaining in a particular yoga position “for hours a day.” Well, sitting in an office chair for hours a day has adverse health consequences, too. Is Broad demolishing yoga on the basis of the experiences of a fanatic?
But wait, there’s more. Next we hear about a 28-year-old woman who had a stroke while practicing another yoga position. Frightening, right? But Broad had to reach back almost 40 years to find that example–it happened in 1973. If yoga caused one stroke in 40 years, that’s probably far fewer than occurred among people sitting in chairs during that same time.
We hear a few more extreme examples, and I begin to wonder if some Times magazine editor who thinks yoga is a superstition or faded fashion trend wants to rid the world of this scourge–and to do so by terrifying Times readers.
I do not approach this subject without biases of my own. I’ve practiced yoga for nearly a decade, at many different studios, and my experience is that most yoga teachers encourage moderation. Yoga, in my view, is neither “nearly miraculous” nor is it especially dangerous, particularly when compared to other sports. (How many of last November’s New York marathon runners found they couldn’t walk after completing the race?)
I would say the Times story is silly, but I’m afraid many readers will take it seriously and be needlessly frightened.
Can we look for a follow-up story in the Times magazine on the rewards of yoga, the other part of Broad’s book?
I’d say that’s unlikely. The Times doesn’t appear to be interested in the science of yoga. It seems to be interested in slaying a dragon.
– Paul Raeburn
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