09/17/2026
One of the best, has this to say,
The jury is in. We, as a community, have a dysfunctional relationship to pain. Whether this phenomenon is more broadly a cultural issue or whether this phenomenon is more acutely represented in yoga circles, I’m not sure. But it is a matter that each of us (whether practitioner or teacher) should spend a little time thinking about because ignoring pain has serious consequences.
I encounter this dysfunctional relationship to pain in every single class I teach: it has many layers and many potential sources. My objective in this brief newsletter is to begin a discussion which I hope to expand so that our yoga community can develop a healthier response to pain.
To begin, I invite you to consider the difference between believing and knowing. There is a fundamental difference between believing something is true and knowing something is true. When we believe, we do so often out of conviction or acceptance based on faith, whereas knowing refers to factual information supported by verifiable evidence. This is why there can be no “alternative facts” because the phrase would alter the very meaning of the word.
The reason I think it’s important to make the distinction between believing and knowing is that I meet an awful lot of people who continue to do practices that cause them quantifiable harm, yet they believe these practices to be “right” or “correct”. They’ve never questioned certain alignment cues and practices because they may have come from the head honcho of a yoga method or tradition or even from the latest influencer who is, with great confidence and authority, insisting you glue your knees together in Revolved Belly Pose (even if it’s killing your sacroiliac joint). Sadly, so many of these practices and alignment instructions ignore the anatomy and kinesiology of our structures. But even without anatomical knowledge, why practice in a way that causes pain?
It’s interesting to also ask: Who do I believe and why? Who do I question and why? Are my beliefs verifiable? And most importantly, do I have confidence in my own felt experience? If you are feeling pain in your hip while trying to follow an alignment cue, that’s a fact. If you are feeling sharp sensations in your sacroiliac joint during a twist, and by the afternoon your back is throbbing, is this not evidence of an unsound practice? If your doctor prescribed a drug that made your skin break out in a rash, wouldn’t you make an appointment to reassess that medication? These kinds of inquiries help us to discern between practices that heal and sustain good function and practices that harm and undermine basic mobility. This is one of the reasons I continue to be passionate about pedagogic models that encourage honest feedback from students, and intelligent discussion about the What, Why, and How of practice modalities. This is the reason I often say to participants: “Don’t believe me, test it in your own experience.”
If we don’t begin these broader discussions, yoga may become a practice that more people avoid and more doctors and physical therapists discourage. In 2020 the Accident Compensation Corporation in New Zealand reported a 5-year 23% increase in women's “gym and fitness” injuries (yoga being grouped inside this category) . . . with the vast majority of ACC soft tissue injuries being primarily back and shoulder strains or sprains. It may simply be that more people are heading to the gym and to yoga classes, but many of the serious injuries that students relate to me tell a different story.
A fourteen-year study of yoga injuries treated in American emergency departments found the same pattern. The trunk was the most commonly injured area, strain or sprain was the most common diagnosis, and the rate of injury climbed steeply with age, close to five times higher after sixty-five than before forty-five. I do not read that as an argument for practicing less as we age. I read it as an argument for practicing with more discernment.
If you would like to take this further, I have written six suggestions for how we can begin to change this relationship to pain; three for your own practice and three for those of you who teach. Click on the link below.
