Last night I read an article about commandments of yoga teachers but I could not find a basic principle that for me would be the most important: “I will not teach you what is good for me or others. I will teach you what is good for you” Think about it. Would you say this is important? It may not matter much in an average class for an average student but what about when students have injuries or health issues? What is bad is that lately I talked to a few orthopedic surgeons and physios and none of them considered yoga as a therapeutic option. They rather recommend you to go to “back care” schools, physiotherapy, pilates or Taichi. Why would that be? I do not want to agree with them but I know where they coming from. Is it possible to meet every student needs when there are 30 students in a class? It probably depends on the teacher’s ability, knowledge, and willingness. Still my question is: should an injured person( knee, shoulder, back or neck problems) go to an average yoga class? Do yoga teachers get enough training to deal with injuries? Not sure. Furthermore, I would say that being a good yoga teacher it is not just about how much you know. It is also about how much you are willing to share or care. I know all of them care and are very compassionate, etc, etc, but is it enough when dealing with injuries?
very good observation.
keeping same points in mind, I replied to the following thread with my views about how people are misusing absolute science like yoga in a rush to make it as a profession of just earning.
https://yogaforums.com/t/yoga-is-very-demanding-industry/16767
But unfortunately I have observed similar issues in medical science too. people are getting degrees but they have no ability to actually cure patients. I don’t mean here that medical science is useless in fact it is the best science but having improper self experience of therapist making it fail. Same goes to any other treatment area like yoga, Pilate and Taichi etc.
I will try to reply your queries:
What is bad is that lately I talked to a few orthopedic surgeons and physios and none of them considered yoga as a therapeutic option
Well no doctor will say like this if she or he has any experience of yoga practice. You can very well observe that physiotherapy ROM or articulations or manual adjustment actually utilize many yoga posture angles.
yoga therapist will call “urdhva prasarita padasana” and physiotherapist will call it “straight leg raise test”.
“Gomukhasana” which was already present in yoga becomes “Apley’s Scratch Test” in physiotherapy.
In my own experience, I have treated severe cases of orthopedic issues of cervical and lumbar regions and have improved ROM or performance of many athletes.
Is it possible to meet every student needs when there are 30 students in a class?
yes and as you have said it is ability and skill of therapist to know his or her student’s ability and condition. then it does not matter how many students are in the class.
should an injured person( knee, shoulder, back or neck problems) go to an average yoga class?
Experience and maturity of Yoga Teacher make a class average or best. But injured person can heal faster if he finds right teacher.
Do yoga teachers get enough training to deal with injuries?
This is the biggest drawback in yoga training that teaching of anatomy and physiology is least considered. It is really bad that people only understand a good yoga teacher based on his or her ability to do complex postures and not with his or her experience to deal with students of various limitations and contraindications. I prefer to see medical reports such as MRI, XRay or blood reports before treating anyone in yoga and I have made people run those who were crawling on the floor with pain. So I have full faith and confidence in yoga therapy. Yoga works wonder and it can do better than that taking help of medical findings and reports.
In a nutshell, I can only say based on my years of experience in yoga and meeting many medical professionals that there is a huge gap of knowledge versus implementations. Therapist are focusing on passing exams to get final certificate or degree.
That’s why as a students or patient, finding right therapist or doctor is the first step. Both medical and yogic sciences are best in the area of treatment. Yoga is best for both prevention and cure and medical science is best for final treatment if earlier preventions and other alternative areas of treatment fail.
All medical and yoga professionals should understand that yoga and medical science don’t cross each other and wise therapist can take help of both to make wonders.
Hi Umesh
Thanks for your answer. I totally agree with you on all the points. However what you explain is how it should be but no how it actually is. Good luck taking a blood test or an MRI to a yoga class. They will not know what to do with it.
I want to insist that in this post I am strictly talking about therapeutic yoga and I am not criticising yoga teachers for not being able to deal with all types of injuries after 200 or 500 hours. I lived many years in London and there are hundreds of classes going on every day but you will be lucky to find more than a couple good therapy yoga classes. You are right, the key is to find the right teacher but it is not that simple. Too many cowboys out there.There are some which are specialized on therapeutic yoga but they really milk their knowledge. An example, six months ago there was a very recognized therapeutic yoga teacher in town and it was charging 200 pounds for a 45 minutes one to one session.
All I am saying is that yoga, AS IT IS GIVEN TO US THESE DAYS, is far from therapeutic. I am talking about yoga asana. Never tried pranayama, kriyas, etc. Yes, you will feel better and improve your health if you are already more or less healthy. No doubt. But you will get the same results by going to pilates, the gym or just playing football with your mates. No much spirituality there but exercise is always good. I honestly have the impression that Yoga is being marketed as a panacea that cures everything. Maybe it is. Who knows!!! Probably, it was under Krishnamacharya’s or Iyengar’s care but those times are gone. I never tried Viniyoga but there are not many teachers around. Why is that? I would also say that Iyengar yoga teachers are quite good cause no matter what they will put you on the pose even if they have to tie you up to a pillar and cover you with bolster.Always a good option.
But honestly be careful where you going if you have injuries cause an average class can be very harmful. Yes, you have to listen to your body but be careful when listening to the wrong teacher because you can really exarcebate your injuries.
Thanks