It is the fitness craze of choice for the likes of Madonna, Geri Halliwell and Gwyneth Paltrow, but yoga is injuring more and more of those to whom it is meant to give better health, a perfect body and inner calm.
An increasing number of yoga's army of converts are finding that contorting themselves into complicated positions can hurt their backs and knees, damage their groins, make them faint, bring on splitting headaches and tear muscles and ligaments. One even ruptured his cruciate (knee) ligament from attempting one of yoga's simpler poses.
Devotees will be horrified to learn that many of yoga's most popular positions, such as the cobra, the plough and even touching your toes, are among those likeliest to cause injury. Headstands, which students often try after only a few hours of tuition, are especially dangerous because of the risk of neck damage.
Doctors and physiotherapists report seeing a sudden upsurge in patients suffering pain who thought yoga would make them strong and flexible like the celebrities whose endorsement of yoga has sent its popularity soaring.
Its powerful 'must do' appeal is partly to blame for the problems now emerging. With thousands of new recruits every month, there are too few properly qualified tutors in Britain to supervise the vast array of classes that have sprung up, leaving many eager beginners straining into risky positions under the guidance of inexperienced teachers. Some rogue instructors are injuring students by encouraging them to push themselves into challenging postures that their bodies cannot comfortably reach.
Yoga's governing body, the British Wheel of Yoga, admits that only half the estimated 10,000 people now teaching yoga are properly qualified. Some have trained for only a month before receiving a certificate from one of the plethora of yoga training schools, which allows them to start teaching. The BWY says tutors should study for four years before they are fully qualified. 'That could raise safety issues,' said Swami Satchidananda, the Wheel's education chairman and a yoga teacher for 30 years. 'I hear about unsafe teaching, such as expecting people to do things they maybe can't achieve.'
Chris Moller, a lawyer, succeeded in getting the 'terrible' yoga teacher at her north London sports centre sacked for his 'aggressive and unsympathetic attitude'. She was frustrated to find him working, just a few weeks later, at a renowned yoga centre nearby.
'When I saw him, I was too frightened to go into his class. I complained in writing to the centre, pointing out that it could be laying itself open to a legal claim for damages for personal injury on account of the teacher's negligence,' she said. 'They stopped using him, but only after allowing him to take one more class. What worries me is that he's probably still teaching at other places.'
Melanie Flory, a yoga teacher for 12 years, fears injuries are more likely because of the popularity of the highly physical astanga, or power, yoga. 'It is being promoted by high street gym chains to appeal to members who seem to think that by doing it they can almost overnight get a great body, feel better and think clearer. But there aren't enough qualified teachers, so there's a training gap, and that could cause problems.'
One pupil of Flory's, a super-fit IT consultant, began yoga therapy with her after damaging the cruciate ligament in his right knee by forcing himself into the hero posture, one of yoga's more challenging poses, at a south London gym.
The egos of yoga's new devotees, and their desire to 'succeed' at it, are partly to blame. Many are competitive high-achievers, determined to master an array of postures quickly.
