Suddenly yoga is on the outs. “For many people, a number of commonly taught yoga poses are inherently risky,” according to a new yoga-bashing book excerpted in the New York Times Magazine last month. The book’s author, science writer William Broad, described his own experience where his back went out while engaged in an extended-side-angle pose “hailed as a cure for many diseases” and said that led him to lose his belief that “yoga was a source of healing and never harm.”

Globe writer Beth Teitell wrote that for many of the yoga averse, “who’ve felt guilty or lazy or out of step for avoiding the fitness trend, the report was the best yoga-related news ever.”

While yoga helps improve flexiblity, balance, and muscle strength -- as well as calming the mind -- it isn’t a must-do fitness activity. Nothing short of walking is.

But does that mean we should shun yoga altogether? After all, any exercise can cause injury and perhaps Broad was ridiculously naiive to think that spinal twists, headstands, and back arches would never harm.

“I’ve actually hurt my shoulder washing the dishes,” said David Magone, a yoga instructor who teaches workshops at Exhale in Boston. But, he added, he’s seen his fair share of yoga injuries in both beginners as well as in experienced practitioners who push their bodies beyond their limits.

Avoiding these five common mistakes can go a long way, Magone said, to preventing yoga injuries.

Mistake #1: Practicing yoga every day. Yoga is a strength-building activity, Magone said, so you need to give your muscles a chance to recuperate and recover from those microtears that occur after every workout. “I recommend doing yoga every other day and supplementing with a cardiovascular workout [running, biking, swimming] on days you don’t do yoga,” said Magone. “Otherwise your muscles will be exhausted and you’re likely to get sloppy and injure yourself.”

For those avid yogis who don’t want to skip a day away from their postures, Magone recommends focusing on three different sets of postures -- each working a different set of muscle groups -- on consecutive days such as hips on Mondays, back bends on Tuesdays, standing poses on Wednesdays, and then repeating the cycle for the rest of the week.

Mistake #2: Pushing too far too fast. Two weeks ago, I noticed that I can’t comfortably sit cross-legged on the floor to play board games with my kids, so I’ve been doing simple yoga hip stretches several times a week to try to regain some flexibility. While I’m tempted to force my legs into positions where they used to go easily, Magone tells me to go slowly.

“Never push to the point of pain -- especially in your joints. lower back, or shoulders. It’s possible to get your flexiblity back, but you need to go slowly and do the stretches three times a week,” he said.

Mistake #3: Not warming up properly. Under a time crunch, you may be tempted to skip some warm-up moves and go directly into a complicated posture, but that’s sure to increase your risk of injury.

“It takes a full 20 minutes to warm your body up to the point where it’s safe to go into those serious poses that require a deeper level of strength, balance, and flexiblity,” said Magone. A yoga class should involve getting your heart rate up with those initial simple poses -- often sun salutations that begin from a standing position -- that might get you a little sweaty.

(High temperatures in hot Bikram yoga classes will also loosen muscles, but you still need to do warm-up moves, said Magone.)

If you’re practicing yoga postures yourself, march in place, jump rope, or hit the treadmill for several minutes to get your body warmed up and then engage in simple stretches before taking on more complicated postures.

“When your body is warmed up, it increases your flexibility by 20 percent and reduces the likelihood of muscle pulls,” said Magone.

Mistake #4: Not cooling down after workouts. Just like with any workout, a cool-down for about 10 to 15 minutes is vital to help your muscles recover and repair before your next workout. It will also help you avoid dizziness or fainting which can occur if too much blood pools in your legs during standing postures. Yoga classes should be designed to gradually increase to peak intensity before moving you back down to a resting energy level, said Magone. “Avoid instructors who don’t do this,” he added.

Mistake #5: Taking a yoga class to heal an injury. “I don’t recommend a large class,” said Magone, “if you have chronic pain from an injury,” to your knee, back, or hip. Instructors have too many clients to focus on without modifying every posture to suit your injury needs. He recommends going to a physical therapist with specific training in yoga to get rehabilitation postures to help strengthen muscles without further aggravating the injury.

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Last week the San Francisco International Airport announced the opening of its new "Yoga Room,” a peaceful space in which travelers can practice yoga, do breathing exercises or simply meditate. The room, represented in airport directional signage by a pictograph of a seated figure in the lotus position, is located past the security check-in, allowing folks to wind down from that often stressful experience before boarding their plane.

I called Baxter Bell, an M.D. and yoga teacher in Oakland, Calif., to ask about the potential health benefits yoga might provide an air traveler.

“I think it could be of some benefit,” Bell says. “The general tenor of travel these days is so stressful, it’s almost designed to get the blood pressure up and stimulate the fight-or-flight response. Stretching [as in doing yoga] can switch from the sympathetic, fight-or-flight nervous system to the parasympathetic, or rest and digest,” system. That could go a long way toward reducing stress.

Bell says he actually just flew into the San Francisco airport but was so eager to get to his nearby home that he didn’t check out the yoga room, which the airport press office says is the first of its kind in the nation. “I would be surprised if many people chose to pop in before going home,” he said. “But it’s a good antidote for the first part of a travel day, which is getting into the airport.” A yoga interlude in a designated room would also be useful “during a layover,” when it would be “such a great place to chill out.”

Chilling out is all well and good, but might there be any non-stress-related benefits to practicing yoga at the airport? Bell, who also writes a blog about yoga and healthy aging, supposes that doing some yoga might offer a bit of protection against deep vein thrombosis, the development of blood clots that sometimes occurs when people remain inactive during long flights by “getting the circulation going.” But he thinks walking up and down the aisle during the flight itself, or doing the seat-bound exercises some airlines recommend on seat cards, might be more beneficial in that regard.

I asked whether people who’ve never done yoga before should avail themselves of airport yoga; the San Francisco airport offers mats and some props but no formal instruction. “It’s a tough call,” he said, “with all the hoopla [surrounding the upcoming publication of William Broad’s book ‘The Science of Yoga’ and a much-discussed New York Times article about it]. It would be irresponsible to just go in and start practicing yoga if you never have practiced yoga before,” just as it would be irresponsible to tackle a rock-climbing wall for the first time without instruction, he says. But yoga newbies can still benefit from “gentle breathing and meditation,” Bell says.

And many people might enjoy their flight more if they manage to squeeze in few simple “inversions,” poses in which the head is positioned below the heart, before boarding. “A simple standing forward-folding bend, downward-facing dog, or legs-up-the-wall pose could prepare you for sitting on the plane, could possible prepare you physiologically to handle the flight better.”

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Most of the 2,500 inmates at the Travis County Correctional Complex are awaiting trial. They've been charged with anything from a misdemeanor to capital murder, and moving through the court system can take months.

In the meantime, inmates at the expansive gray campus east of the airport can enroll in a variety of programs, from theater arts to anger management classes. Sometimes they practice yoga. For more than a year, Community Yoga instructors have volunteered to lead four classes at the complex each week. The program is free, but inmates must submit a request to participate in them or any of the other programs offered at the facility. Yoga classes are limited to 25 people. Three of the classes are for men, with one for women. A waiting list of 60 to 70 inmates is common, officials said.

The walls of the health services building where the programs take place are decorated with inmates' artwork that reinforces lessons Travis County is trying to teach.

"Let yourself cry, it won't last forever," one reads. Another says, "Taking drugs is dumb."Incarceration is a consequence, but Beverly Gentle, the facility's health services building volunteer coordinator of 10 years, said it's also an opportunity for the county to instill positive lifestyle changes in the inmates.

"Sometimes it seems like this is the forgotten population," Gentle said. "If we do nothing, we've made no change. To me, that would be a disservice to them. Everyone deserves a chance to change."

Daniel Smith, the facility's counseling and education manager, said the jail's programming is designed to address factors thought to produce criminal behavior, including low levels of involvement in leisurely noncriminal pursuits.

Addressing those and other issues lessens the likelihood that an inmate will return to jail, Smith said. The yoga classes are in part meant to introduce inmates to a new activity that won't land them in jail. "We want them, when they leave here, to go back into the community better than they came in," he said.

But day to day, it's hard to tell whether the classes change the men and women participating in them. Inmate programs are voluntary, with only a quarter of the population participating, and volunteers often are working to counter a lifetime of bad habits, Smith said. "We're trying to make baby steps."

By volunteering at the correctional complex, Community Yoga is fulfilling its mission to make the discipline available to people in the community who might not otherwise have access to classes.

Geoff O'Meara , one of the yoga instructors, also volunteers at Austin Recovery, teaching poses to men in the drug rehabilitation and alcoholic treatment center's long-term residential program. O'Meara said he hopes jail inmates can live a happier life as a result of his class.

"By giving the inmates a tool that will help them to break cycles of addiction, violence and negative thinking, by supporting them in their efforts to improve their lives, they will inevitably improve the community as a whole," O'Meara said. Some people stay in the class for months. O'Meara said a handful of inmates have taken the class for more than a year.

At the end of each class, O'Meara gives the inmates a sheet with instructions on how to perform the poses they practice in class that day. A handout earlier this month included an Oprah Winfrey quote: "Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher."During the first weeks of class, O'Meara said some of the men are leery of what they signed up for — they think it's for girls.

O'Meara said it doesn't take long before they learn that yoga is nothing to sniff at, that it's strenuous. A semicircle of about 10 inmates seemed to think so at a recent class in which they balanced on one foot and leaned forward with the other leg extended behind them. Some gripped a chair to help them balance. Many groaned with relief when O'Meara finally told them to lower their legs, laughing as they shook their muscles.

Brows in furrowed concentration while learning each new pose, group members sat quietly in their gray stripes and Crocs during exercises that called for stretching their arms in the air, first to the left, then the right. Soft puffs of air carried around the room as they concentrated on their breathing.

Marcus Lang, 33, said the class made him feel energized. "I hate to say it, but I feel high a little bit," he said. Lang, who has been charged with multiple drug-related offenses, said he had used hallucinogenics to achieve such a feeling.

Jacob Vasquez, 32, said it helped him deal with the stress of being incarcerated. He said his fiancée practices yoga, and the class helps him feel closer to her while he's behind bars. Charged with burglary, among other things, Vasquez said he had to postpone his wedding. "It helps me every week, to come in here," he said. "It helps me just to not think about being here."

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Students clamored for a spot in Christine Ojala’s one-credit yoga class this semester in the People’s Center Gym on  West Bank. The class, offered through the Barbara Barker Center for Dance, filled quickly last semester, as did the waitlist — it’s full with 88 students, according to dance department administrative specialist Hannah Carney.

And that doesn’t count the 100-plus students who have bombarded Ojala with emails, begging for a spot to help cope with mental and physical issues like chronic back pain and stress. “My best guess … is that I received between 100 and 150 emails [from potential students] that I turned away regretfully,” she said.

An instructor with the University of Minnesota since 2003, Ojala teaches two morning yoga sections with 25 to 30 students each. She guessed that interest in her class has skyrocketed due to the pressures of student life. “I would make a direct link to increased anxiety and the increase in enrollment,” she said.

Students taking her class write two reflection papers during the semester and Ojala said that almost all of the papers include topics dealing with anxiety and stress. “The number of cases of anxiety as well as the magnitude of the students’ anxiety has increased … by 100 percent, from what I can tell,” she said.

At the end of the semester, Ojala said reflection papers show that while students are still feeling overworked and overscheduled, they have a newfound ability to manage their stress. For students who have already registered for 13 credits, the class is essentially free or included in the cost of tuition. But those paying per credit could end up paying between $448 and $640 for the class.

For nearly four months of yoga, the price is similar to a monthly membership at CorePower Yoga in Stadium Village. While the possibility of taking a yoga class for credit is appealing to many, students also have the option to take a yoga class through the University’s Department of Recreational Sports. By purchasing a $55 Fit Pass, a gym member can attend any group fitness class for a semester.

“Last semester, we were constantly making more fitness passes,” said Meghan Edwards, a group fitness assistant at the Recreation and Wellness Center. Out of the 1,100 passes for fall semester, more than 800 went to students. While cardio kickboxing and the Latin dance class “Zumba” are both popular aerobic classes, yoga class attendance numbers are more consistent, Edwards said.

So far this semester, Edwards said they have made 1,000 Fit Passes and expect to make more in the coming weeks. The group fitness department offers various types of yoga classes with varying degrees of difficulty and style, like Hatha Yoga, Yoga Flow, Kundalini Yoga, Advanced Yoga and FitYoga.

Ojala’s class focuses on Vinyasa yoga, also known as Yoga Flow. She said this style is especially popular with students due to its movement-focused poses and exercises. She added that giving students the opportunity to take a class that teaches its participants how to properly balance their life is essential at a university.

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Up to 33% of breast cancer survivors are afflicted with symptoms of cancer-related persistent fatigue. Until recently, little has been discovered as a valid modality of treatment for reducing the fatigue and increasing the vigor among breast cancer survivors. Now, however, a recent study shows that Iyengar yoga has promise as a valid treatment that can reduce persistent fatigue.

Persistent fatigue is a crippling condition experienced by many breast cancer survivors that interferes with overall quality of life. While fatigue understandably increases significantly during breast cancer treatment, the majority of survivors eventually regain their former vigor after successful completion of treatment for their breast cancer. However, at least one-third of breast cancer survivors report feeling persistent fatigue that remains as long as 10 years post diagnosis—which indicates that this subset of breast cancer survivors is in need of targeted therapies to alleviate their fatigue.

For breast cancer patients, therapies such as exercise interventions and stress management have successfully addressed cancer-related fatigue during treatment for cancer. However, applying the same therapies to breast cancer patients experiencing fatigue following treatment does not always work as the constant fatigue causes the survivors to be unwilling and unable to participate in traditional exercise programs.

As an alternative to traditional exercise programs such as walking and bicycling, researchers have been looking at using some tailored forms of yoga as an intervention for patients with differing medical conditions. In one study involving patients with multiple sclerosis, a form of Iyengar yoga has demonstrated success in achieving positive results toward treating depression, pain, physical mobility…and fatigue.

Iyengar yoga is a traditional form of Hatha yoga that focuses on the therapeutic benefits of specific postures and breathing techniques to address specific medical conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, osteoarthritis, lower back pain and depressed mood. It is characterized by its use of props, such as belts, blocks, and blankets as aids in performing postures called “asanas.” The risk of yoga-related injuries is minimized via the prop aids, which makes this type of yoga accessible and relatively safe for patients with particular medical conditions that would otherwise limit their ability to exercise.

In a recent article published in the journal Cancer, researchers published their findings in a comparison study of 15 breast cancer survivor patients with persistent fatigue who received Iyengar yoga for 3 months to a control sample of 16 breast cancer survivors with persistent fatigue that did received health education, but no yoga training. The purpose of the study was to evaluate whether Iyengar yoga could be used as a successful intervention toward treating fatigue experienced by breast cancer survivors.

Measurements for fatigue were made at baseline, during treatment, and 3 months after yoga treatment was completed. Other factors measured included changes in vigor, mood, sleep, perceived stress and physical performance.

What the researchers found was that the persistent fatigue experienced by breast cancer survivors who performed yoga for three months declined significantly between the baseline to post-treatment periods, as well as during a 3-month follow-up relative to the control participants who received health counseling/education only. Furthermore, the yoga test group achieved significant increases in vigor relative to the control participants.

Both groups experienced positive changes in mood and perceived stress, with no significant changes in sleep or physical performance.

The conclusion of the researchers is that Iyengar yoga as a targeted intervention can lead to significant improvements in fatigue and vigor among breast cancer survivors with persistent fatigue symptoms. Furthermore, that the patients’ yoga experience was positive enough to motivate continued yoga exercise at their homes following the study period.

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Yoga, once the pastime of contemplative types, now comes in more varieties than ice-cream. All yoga has postures, relaxation and controlled breathing as core ingredients. But some schools emphasise power and strength and can include exercises that verge on the unnatural. Headstands, which you tell your children not to do, are a favourite of some yoga devotees, as are shoulder stands (not good for all the major nerve junction in your armpit) and squats that can put huge pressure on your knees.

But when William J Broad wrote an article in the New York Times two weeks ago called "How yoga can wreck your body" he was attacked by practitioners. Yoga is now so popular, he argued, and used to get fit as much as for relaxation, that it's no wonder it is causing injuries. So should you try something less dangerous or can you minimise the risks?

The solution
The main risks involve putting your body into extreme positions. Broad cited examples of yoga positions causing strokes by over-extending the neck and compressing the basilar artery, which supplies blood to the brain. These positions also caused headaches, dizziness and loss of balance. Often, Broad said, people didn't associate their problems with yoga.

Some of the most common yoga poses, if done repeatedly and over-enthusiastically may be harmful. The chair pose in which you squat with your knees bent and back straight is meant to straighten your legs but can put pressure on your knees, especially the anterior cruciate ligament which once over-stretched is rarely the same again. The downward-facing dog pose in which you put hands and feet on the floor and form an inverted V has been credited with tearing the achilles tendon at the heel and over-extending wrists.

The idea that yoga could harm as well as heal is not new. In 1971 the Journal of the American Medical Association published a report of a man who had sat in a pose that involved kneeling and sitting on his heels (for hours a day in his case) and damaged a branch of his sciatic nerve running down the back of his leg. This caused what became known as yoga foot drop. He couldn't walk because his feet had become weak but after stopping he recovered quickly.

Yoga is credited with improving heart and lung function in older people, reducing blood pressure and doing as much to relieve back pain as to cause it. It may reduce anxiety and probably does help with obsessive-compulsive disorder. But the evidence for the benefits of yoga is plagued by small studies using different methodologies.

It is essential to practise under the guidance of an experienced and reputable teacher. If you get pins and needles or anything goes numb, stop. Be reflective rather than competitive; do not over-extend anything, ever.

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Many preach that yoga helps keep them centered, toned and flexible. The messages seem to be spreading — according to a recent New York Times article, the number of Americans practicing yoga grew from about 4 million in 2001 to an estimated 20 million in 2011.

But recent news articles have also drawn attention to possible injuries that can come with practicing yoga, such as damage to hip joints, nerves, knees and back.  Here are four tips to remain safe during yoga practice.
 
Beware of bends
Forward bends, such as Uttanasana, which involves a person standing with their feet together and bending at the hip, can relieve stress and stretch the calves, hamstrings and hips. But certain people should steer clear.
 
Those with osteoporosis could fracture their spines by bending forward, and those with herniated disks may suffer pain from these stretches, said Dr. Loren Fishman, a New York City physician who is also a yoga instructor. Fishman said those with herniated disks could do back bends instead. "It's a known physical therapy technique," he said.
 
However, people with spinal stenosis — narrowing of the spinal column that causes pressure on the spinal cord — should not do back bends, because it may exacerbate their condition, he said.
 
Fishman also added that 5 percent of people experience the opposite effects of these poses: A small number of people with spinal stenosis benefit from back bends, and a small number of people with herniated disks benefit from forward bends. "It's always best to do test these poses and see what is helping or hurting," Fishman said. "Don't just pick up a rule and run with it."
 
Individualize your inversions
"The advantages of any inverted pose are terrific," Fishman said. Being upside down can "strengthen the diaphragm, helping people with asthma, emphysema and bronchitis, and bring blood to the upper lung fields, places that are under-infused with blood."   
 
The headstand, known as Shirshasana, can lower blood pressure, temporarily slowing down the heart and calming the body. "It also gives you a different viewpoint on life, which is an added benefit," Fishman said.
 
But people who have neck or back problems, glaucoma or cerebrovascular problems should not do headstands, Fishman said.  Some people with glaucoma may benefit instead by doing poses such as the Sarvangasana, which is a shoulder stand. Studies examining how headstands and shoulder stands affect the pressure within the eyes have found that it does not increase during shoulder stands, whereas the pressure can double in less than 30 seconds during a headstand, Fishman said.
 
However, people with neck problems, herniated disks or bad arthritis should not do shoulder stands, Fishman said.  Fishman suggested a safer way for anyone to do another inversion, called the plow, or Halasana, which involves laying on your back and bringing the legs up and over the head until your feet touch the floor. The best way to do this stretch, he said, is to place two blankets under the shoulders for cushioning. Still, it should not be done by people with herniated disks or instability in the neck or upper back, he said.
 
There has been controversy in the yoga world about whether inversions should be done by menstruating women, Fishman said. Some believe that inverted poses may alter menstrual flow, leading to endometriosis, a condition in which uterine cells grow outside the uterus, in other regions of the abdominal cavity.  Fishman said he has observed menstruating women do headstands and that his advice is "if it hurts, don't do it." But there have been no documented cases of endometriosis resulting from headstands, he said.
 
Tune-up your twists
Twists, such as Matsyendrasana, a seated, half twist, can stretch the back and hips, massage the abdominal organs and increase blood flow to the spine. But they should not be done by people who have had hip replacement operations, according to Fishman.
 
"If someone twists to the side of their hip replacement, the prosthetic can be pulled right out," Fishman said. Also, people with herniated disks should make sure to twist away from the side of the disk, he said.
 
Fishman, in an effort to study yoga's impact on people with osteoporosis, developed a yoga DVD that has been distributed for free around the world. He said despite the fact that many people believe osteoporosis sufferers should not do twists, he has found that twists are not harmful. "We have 49,000 documented hours of people with osteoporosis using our DVD, and no one has ever had a fracture," he said.
 
Take heed of hot yoga
Yoga done in hot rooms, also known as Bikram yoga, has been touted for its ability to burn fat. However, people with multiple sclerosis (MS) should not participate in this type of yoga, according to Fishman, because heat can worsen the condition's symptoms.
 
Fishman recommends that those with MS do Iyengar yoga instead, as it focuses on alignment and is gentler on the body. 

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THERE is a high energy around Kathi Janssens and it’s infectious. The former world class gymnast has turned her hand to fitness and yoga, specialising in women’s health. Her newly-relaunched Discreetly Fit, teaches the unique pelvic floor strengthening technique she learnt during one of her travels back to her native Hungary.

“The technique is different from how women usually try to strengthen their pelvic floor muscles,” Mrs Jenssens, 43, of Quakers Hill, said. “Many women suffer from pelvic floor weakness but it is preventable and in most cases reversible. “The exercises can be practiced in just 10 minutes a day at home.”

The mother of one sprang into local and state prominence last year when she began the Quakers Hill Anti Mobile Tower Action Group, to protest against the planned building of a base tower by Telstra in the area. Mrs Janssens, was, however, ranked internationally in the seventies and eighties as a gymnast and was set for the 1980 Moscow Olympics before being ruled out due to an ankle injury. Her other skills include health educator, exercise therapist, international presenter and sports and fitness trainer. Mrs Janssens, who conducts her classes at various venues in NSW, will hold a free pelvic floor workshop at Hills Yoga, Castle Hill, on Saturday, February 4, at 4 pm.

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A fatal shooting (reportedly of a local gang leader, see update below) occurred in the restaurant of the Vancouver, B.C. hotel where the U.S. women's national team is staying for the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament on Tuesday night. And according to goalkeeper Hope Solo, the members of the team were only kept away from the scene of the city's first murder of 2012 by a yoga session in another part of the hotel. "Saved by our instant yoga session. Was about to walk to starbucks when all hell broke loose in the lobby of our hotel! Life is precious..." she tweeted after a man was shot multiple times, according to the Vancouver Sun.

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Proponents of the soothing art of yoga were outraged on Sunday after reading that their healthy practice was not very healthy, according to a New York Times feature story. The article, titled "How yoga can wreck your body" took up several pages of the prestigious New York Times. In it, senior science writer William Broad reported that yoga causes an enormous amount of injuries in those who practice it. Moreover, he attributed these injuries to "over-ambitious and under-taught yoga moves."The news sent shockwaves through an industry that typically teaches that yoga is the cure for almost every physical, emotional, and mental ailment. People weren't quiet about their opinions, either.

Not only were the regular practitioners of yoga upset, but so was the yoga industry, who rakes in more than $5 billion annually. Though the backlash against the article was venomous, Broad quoted doctors who claimed that they were increasingly seeing patients who had been injured from practicing yoga. He also spoke of unqualified yoga teachers. This controversy from Broad's article--as well as the injuries--may not have been quite so severe, however, had the yoga industry not billed itself as a harmless practice of postures (rather than exercises.). Though Yoga, which originated in India, is a spiritual discipline designed to merge the mind, body, and spirit of the practitioner, few Americans practice it this way. Rather, the most popular type of Yoga practiced in America is Hatha Yoga, whiich concentrates on the physical aspect of beings. In other words, the form of yoga most Americans practice is an exercise that, by its very nature, is always subject to injury.

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