Mitch Blum

The suggestion that Yoga is dangerous might be born out by the historical secrecy surrounding the practice – Yoga was, after all, a verbal tradition, passed down one by one from guru to initiate, somewhere in the forests or mountains, outside of the traditional hierarchy of authority. I guess that’s the romantic viewpoint. The opposing viewpoint would be that Yoga knowledge was co-opted and hoarded by certain segments of society and ultimately society needed to be reformed, with Siddhartha Guatama reframing and disseminating the classical yoga knowledge to the masses.

Either way, I’m not terribly interested in an academic analysis of arguments that span two thousand years. I’m just trying to figure out whether Yoga is dangerous or not for us in the West right here and now.

Let’s first establish that Yoga practice is a process of de-conditioning one’s mind. Let’s put aside metaphysical concepts such as rebirth, purusha and prakriti, chakras and the rest. They’re wonderful ways of describing things that are impossible to describe. They can be useful guideposts along the way but ultimately they’re still just concepts. In my estimation, the state of samadhi is the state of non-thinking. And when we’re not thinking, we’re experiencing the moment as it is. And as soon as we start thinking, we are analyzing the moment. We are judging the moment. We are comparing the moment to other moments. The thinking actually becomes a barrier to – and a filter of – direct experience.

As Yoga practice is really a process for us to learn to live without thinking (while also teaching us how to use our intelligence as a tool – employing good thinking only when necessary,) we should accept the possibility that the more we learn and the more concepts that we embrace the further from the state of non-thinking we are actually getting.

We practice Yoga in an attempt to clear our mind of concepts; Concepts about who we are, what we are, and how we are. Think of your mind as a blackboard. Every thought, concept and experience is a chalk mark on the board. Even when we erase the chalk mark a trace of it still remains. The board is still obscured by chalk dust. We want to get (back) to the state where there is no more chalk or chalk dust on the board. We need to permanently erase concepts and stop thinking up and adopting new ones.

Yoga practice is allegedly a successful technique to clear away those concepts. Postures (asana) to strip away the physical habits; Self study (svadhyaya) to strip away the mental habits; and meditation (dhyana) to strip away the “thinking” habit in and of itself.

So, where’s the danger? What could possibly be dangerous about going to Yoga class a few times a week, stretching and trying to chill out? Worst case scenario you get in better shape or get bored and move on to something else. I love the idea that you try Yoga and the “magic” inherent in the practice will wash over you, whether you consciously want it to or not. And the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it. Early conclusion: Yoga is not dangerous.

Okay. Now let’s analyze the “Yoga is dangerous” perspective. Seeing how I’m guilty of all of the following charges, I feel well qualified to outline them:

The physical danger is obvious. Asana practice is addictive and it’s easy to fall into the trap of becoming obsessive towards one’s body. Push too hard and you’ll get injured. Don’t push hard enough and nothing will happen. The physical practice is about finding balance. The danger is in becoming more imbalanced.

The mental danger is more subtle. Yoga is a lifestyle as well as a practice. There’s a difference between adopting Yoga as a lifestyle and doing Yoga as a practice. Being a “Yogi” in the West can easily add to your self-created persona/your ego (ahamkara). It’s actually self-defeating. Rather than stripping down your (manufactured) personality you’re actually building it up. The mental practice is about letting go of concepts. The danger is in embracing more concepts.

The intellectual danger is even subtler still. Yoga is a practice. It is meant to be done. Obey the limbs. Do your work. Sit and meditate. Don’t obsess about why it works or if it works or how it works. Just do it and eventually you’ll find out. Or not. Reading, writing, and thinking about the practice actually has nothing to do with the practice. It’s like thinking about going on a diet while waiting in line at Ben & Jerry’s. The intellectual practice is about letting go of the thinking habit. The danger is in thinking even more.

Paradoxically, fully embracing Yoga can actually take one further away from the state of Yoga. Reluctantly, I am forced to conclude that Yoga is dangerous. But the rub here is that the danger doesn’t actually apply to dabblers. There’s really no danger (beyond stretching injuries) in being a Weekend Virabhadra. The danger is greatest for those of us that fully embrace Yoga. It’s a wonderful challenge: Can we practice Yoga diligently without becoming Yogis? Can we use Yoga as a tool to strip away the muck in our bodies, our minds and our lives or does Yoga become just another badge, another way to tell others who we are, what we are and how we are?

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