Instructor matters in yoga practice

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Carrie Davis, instructor at Sky Yoga, teaches Ellen Smith of Naperville how to get into the “sphinx” pose.

Updated: February 6, 2012 5:26PM

The yoga world is abuzz with a recent New York Times article, “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body,” written by William J. Broad.

The article left many experienced yogis losing their “dhyana” while potential students are second guessing their New Year’s leap into a yoga class.

According to Ryan Crandall, owner of FYT4All in Albuquerque, N.M., and a 10-year yoga instructor, “Many yoga classes are taught by people who know very little about the human body — thus injuries can be high. As for students, most people go into a yoga class thinking that they’re supposed to do what their instructor and experienced neighbor can do. If they can’t, they feel inadequate.”

Carrie Davis is a yoga teacher at Sky Yoga in Naperville. She has been taking yoga since 1994 and became an instructor last fall. She believes fault can fall either way.

“Some people treat yoga as a competitive sport,” she says. “They haven’t yet learned that yoga is a personal practice, so they try to go farther than they should and push themselves to do something that causes an injury.

“As for instructors, I have been to yoga classes where the teacher sets up students for competition, saying things like, ‘Be the lowest person in the room.’ ” Davis said that a good yoga teacher will explain poses and posture until everyone understands.

“A good yoga teacher is knowledgeable, clear, confident and compassionate,” Davis said. “It is a red flag if an instructor offers very little explanation on alignment or form, because someone will end up hurt. Further, if an instructor suggests or encourages competition, I’d find another instructor.”

Crandall and Davis believe that most people have been in class and tried to do something their bodies weren’t ready for, usually because they’re trying to emulate a more experienced student or teacher.

Crandall feels regulation might help with more consistent instruction, but given the wide variety of yoga practices, how and who would regulate the industry?

“There is huge debate in the health and fitness industry over which method is best, and I don’t see the science catching up and telling us what method is best anytime soon,” Crandall said. “I’m fortunate in that I have a physical therapy background, but not all instructors have vast body knowledge. Also, knowing that people have pre-existing conditions that might make something like the lotus pose put a dislocating strain on the hip of some yoga students.”

Davis offers some questions and suggestions to assess the credibility of a yoga instructor or class:

† If questions are discouraged during class, you’re in the wrong place.

† Try several instructors/studios until you find the one that feels “right.”

† If the instructor sets up a class as competitive, find another instructor.

† Look for an instructor who can lead an entire class while providing individual attention and support.

† The instructor should demonstrate postures as well as walking around the room to check on alignments of students.

† Instructors should never force a student to do a pose he or she is uncomfortable with.

† Instructors should be trained at a Yoga Alliance Registered School.