practice for your body not your ego.

"Don't turn your head from side to side in shoulder stand, look up!!" It's amazing how many times I repeated that while teaching at a popular power yoga studio in Honolulu, and still nobody listened. Shifting eyes would look at their neighbor or themselves in the mirror. "Turning your head while in shoulder stand can injure your neck by adding strain to the muscles, vertebrae, and ligaments of the cervical spine"... still the mirror or the neighbor more interesting...
"Don't force yourself into a pose"
"use a block"
"use a strap"
Teachers say these things for a reason.

Yoga is becoming popular- more practicioners, more teachers. Everyone wants to challenge themselves (which is great) but everyone doesn't want to take it easy. Yoga is not a workout, it is a healing practice. Maybe a gentle Iyengar, Hatha, or Yin class is better for your body than a fast pased vinyasa class. "You have many lifetimes to do yoga" one of my teachers says, and he is right. Slow down, tune in, give your body what it needs, and seek out an experienced/knowledgable/educated teacher to help you!


Great Article from the NY Times on how yoga can wreck your body, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/how-yoga-can-wreck-your-body.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&emc=eta1