I picked up a copy of This Explains Everything from
edge.org aggregating essays by 150 influential thinkers responding to the question
– what is your favourite deep, elegant or beautiful explanation? Nassim Taleb
essay on 'Hormesis is Redundancy' really resonated with me. Reflecting upon
this also helped me to articulate some of the questions I have around the
long-term sustainability of an Ashtanga yoga practice.
Hormesis occurs when an organism is exposed to a small dose
of a harmful substance or stressor, resulting in the organism growing stronger
or healthier. So enabling the organism to cope with a larger dose of the
harmful substance or stressor in the future. So simplifying, I like to think of
hormesis as healthy levels of stress stimulating growth. In a yoga context I
can think of hormesis as experiencing stress (physical, mental or emotional)
within a posture. As a result I grow in some sense stronger, more flexible and
better able to cope with the stress of the posture. So the next time I take the
posture I am, all other factors being equal (energy levels, time of day etc.),
able to experience the posture in greater depth or more comfortably. I have
heard several teachers explaining the underpinning rationale for ashtanga yoga
practice in similar terms. So if I understood correctly at a Kino MacGregor
workshop, she proposes that by experiencing and over time learning to cope with
stressful poses in the asthanga sequence the practitioner benefits from
learning to control the stress response of the autonomic (involuntary) nervous
system.
So, this brought me to a question - what is the balance of
benefits and risks in invoking the hormesis response on daily basis over many
years in a traditional ashtanga yoga practice? Or alternatively phrased - where
is the stress created by the ashtanga practice healthy and where is it not?
My approach to unpicking this question is of course shaped
by my personal experiences of the practice. I have practiced ashtanga for about 4
years, for the last 2 year I have practiced daily. Whilst practicing daily I
have experienced some fairly remarkable benefits (e.g. improvements in strength
and flexibility of both my mind and body), but I have also experienced various
injuries. For the past year or so I have had a nagging and recurring doubt that
in medium-long term the ashtanga practice is unsustainable for me. Particularly, due to the
likelihood of repetitive strain injuries from the daily repetition of the same
postures over the years.
In returning to unpick the question I posed above, several
thoughts immediately occur to me.
- Some would argue (e.g. Peter Blackaby and William Broad) that there are fundamental issues with some yoga poses. In terms of the stresses they place on the body when aligned in inherently risky or unhealthy postures. This argument does resonant with my experience to some degree, and I perceive a degree of dogma around the nature of the postures and sequence - which do not seem to evolve to reduce the risk of injury. All that said it seems idealistic to expect yoga (particularly of the more gymnastic variety, such as ashtanga) to be free of the risk of injury. When I play tennis I accept the risk of injury and do my best to manage this through appropriate conditioning and rest.
- The perspectives I have come across on injuries and the practice tend to be polarised. From the perspective that the practice is neutral and all injuries result from errors or an inappropriate approach on the part of the practitioner. To the perspective, that injuries are an inevitable part of the practice and the practitioner should accept this as a price worth paying for realising a multitude of benefits. Where does the middle ground lie between these perspectives? Is understanding this middle ground important in establishing a sustainable practice?
- If I have finite resources to deal with stresses each day, does it make sense to expend a significant proportion these resources each day within my yoga practice. Typically practicing first thing in the morning before starting all my normal day to day activities.
I'm not sure I have reached much of a conclusion on the question of where the stress created by the ashtanga practice is healthy and where is it not? Other than it is very much a personal balance to be struck by the individual practitioner. Your thoughts and comments of course welcome!
