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| Stiff, old man yogi finds his lotus late in life |
As David Williams frequently says, "If it hurts, you're doing it wrong." Injuries are not "openings". Pain in yoga, usually means a tear to tissue or connective tissue. Adrenaline rushes to the site of the tear and in time, scar tissue forms making it less likely you will gain flexibility in that area and are then likely to re-injure yourself. This is counter to the sensation of a good but intense stretch where endorphins are flowing through the body delivering healing energy.
I can only speak to my own experience in yoga and as a teacher in what I observe in my students. As a man who came to yoga late in life plagued by back and knee injuries, I sought out this practice to heal my body. It's only natural at times to want to go further, to push beyond one's limits and I know I have. However the body will give you feedback. Maybe it's being an older practitioner, but I listen closely to that feedback now. I examine my practice closely to see where I am pushing too far, trying too hard or expecting too much. I avoid for a while, those postures which I even suspect are causing the discomfort and slowly work back to them over time - or not. For example, I dropped chakrasana, the backward somersault, out of my practice all together years ago and my neck is happier for it. I was heartened to learn that many senior teachers have also dropped this part of their practice. While I have yet to attain enlightenment of any kind, at least I feel good after a practice, not worse. (An interesting thing about the ashtanga sequences is that there is a great deal of wisdom built into this practice. One posture leads to another, allowing the body to open up over time. If you want to move deeper into a particular posture, then it is a good idea to go back through the sequence to see where the foundations of that posture lie and how to move into it safely, over time.) Go slow, yoga is a long term project.
In my classes, I have learned over time to assist students only with alignment with the intention of keeping their practice safe rather than using assists to push a student deeper into a posture. Most type-A ashtangis are already as far into the posture as they can go. Often a better assist is a verbal cue or a gentle hand suggesting where to relax and let go in the posture. Use an assist to support and keep your students safe - they are more likely to come back that way. One essential task is to challenge your students to explore their edge but to diffuse any competitiveness brewing in the class - even if the student is competing with themselves. This is especially true when considering the men in your class who tend to harbor these competitive tendencies.
So, no - yoga is not a practice that leads to injuries. Ahimsa (non-violence) begins at home in your body or in your class. Do no harm to yourself as a practitioner or to your students and soon you will see the great healing potential that yoga holds.
