Common Urban Yoga Myths

Despite being a source of health and wellbeing, yoga is not immune to cultural forces. As yoga gains increasing popularity in the West, the popular “no pain, no gain” mentality easily finds its way into yoga classes. Often advertised as a challenge rather than an invitation to personal health and sustainable self–transformation, many yoga styles and teachers go all out in trying to get their students to go all out, often in conditions that create more tension, not less. That approach revolves around three common myths:

Myth #1: It’s Gotta Be Hot

Despite volumes of scientific medical evidence showing that exercising in intense heat is more a source of stress and injury than sustained openness and strength, much of the yoga scene heats the room far higher than necessary. How much heat is necessary? Just enough to relax. It’s relaxation of the nervous system, not passive heat, that leads to the release of muscular tension. Warming the body naturally through...