Yoga for Pain Relief: A New Approach to an Ancient Practice

I find this book deeply disturbing to say the least, and highly offensive. I am a 72 year old Indian American physician, Board certified in Internal Medicine with a practice experience of 40 years before retiring a year ago. I have studied Yoga extensively, and in the past couple of decades, when appropriate, have taught various yoga techniques to my patients. I have taught belly breathing to countless patients and have seen in one instance severely elevated blood pressure come down from 220/140 to 140/80 in just five minutes with it. We have come a long way from the 1980s, when Yoga teachers in North Carolina, USA were accused of practicing witchcraft and received threatening phone calls.Now, about this book. It appears that Peggy Cappy, author of a book “Yoga For the Rest Of Us” has propelled this book forward. She states in the book’s foreword that many years ago she developed severe right hip pain which she attributed to sitting in a meditative pose called the half lotus. She states that Lee Albert manipulated her right foot and leg in such a way, that her pain disappeared in two minutes. It is quite obvious to me that a cartilage in her hip joint was jammed down in an abnormal position, in a state of what chiropractors called subluxation. Once corrected, she obtained long lasting relief. This incident helped Ms. Cappy to continue her exploration of yoga and to teach it to countless people by books and videos. She is a radiant personality.The book uses no diacritical marks for Sanskrit terms, which is very unfortunate. For instance, a Yoga posture is called an Asana. Many people mispronounce the word as asaana but it is aasana. People say “haatha” but it really is “hut-ha” implying that some force is required. The author has completely misunderstood the difference between the mention of the word asana in the Yoga Sutras and its use in Hatha Yoga. In the Yoga Sutras, it simply refers to a sitting posture for meditation. The Sanskrit verse is: Sthiram Sukham Aasanam. Which means, your posture for meditation should be steady (stable) and yet comfortable. It implies that we should not contort our bodies into strange and unnatural postures as Peggy Cappy did, sitting for countless hours in a meditative posture that her body was just not accustomed to.Which comes to the core idea being promoted in this book, which is that most of the pain that humanity experiences, is due to misalignment of the skeletal structure, which he attributes to muscle imbalances. Does this sound similar to the principles of chiropractic? Absolutely. The book proposes to teach us how to balance muscle tension and posture. Does this sound so much like the Alexander Technique? Absolutely. As a physician, I find it quite ridiculous and laughable for Mr. Albert to state that most human pain is due to muscular imbalance. What about the horrible pain of cancer, the pain of destructive inflammatory diseases, the oppressive chest pain of heart disease, the horrible pain of gall bladder attacks and pancreatitis and countless other ailments? What about the miseries of migraine headaches, caused by dilatation of the blood vessels of the brain? What about the miseries of pain caused by infections, abscesses and such? One of my friends herniated a neck disk when she sneezed, causing severe pain, requiring surgical care. We physicians would be ridiculed and likely have our licenses suspended, if patients come to us with pain and we tell them that their pain is due to muscle imbalances.On page 34, he states that it is a myth that Yoga is an ancient system of stretching developed thousands of years ago, and a fact that “Modern Yoga” has been developed over the past hundred years or so, and has its roots in gymnastics and strength training. This is an outrage, just revealing his gross ignorance. Mr. Albert need to educate himself further to separate fact from fiction. According to the Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga, Goraksha Nath, who lived in the 9th or 10th century CE, is widely celebrated as the one who popularized Hatha Yoga. Moving forward to the 14th century CE, a Yogi called Svatmarama wrote a treatise called Hatha Yoga Pradipika which translates as “Light on Yoga.” That book contains all the Yoga postures that are currently being taught in Yoga classes. Let us recall that the 10th century is when the Islamic assaults on India began, and a few centuries later, the British domination of India began. So Islamic and Christian onslaughts likely subdued the knowledge and practice of Yoga. Yogis went underground, afraid to practice their art in public. It is only in the past couple of centuries that intellectual freedom, long suppressed by Islam and Christianity, has allowed free expression.Lee Albert insults one of the greatest of teachers of Yoga in the world, BKS Iyengar, 1918-2014. He quotes a journalist called Nicholas Rosen, whoever he was, who wrote an article for the Huffington Post, dated May 14 2009. Rosen wrote: “In a rare interview, BKS Iyengar, the 90 year old ambassador of Yoga to the West, told me that his yoga, as taught to him by his master, was a purely physical exercise and completely unrelated to ancient philosophy. He says he invented and refined much of it himself. It wasn’t until 1960, while on a visit to London, that English intellectuals introduced Iyengar to the ancient “Yoga Sutras.” Five years later, he combined the yoga poses and the Hindu teachings together in his book Light On Yoga which then sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the USA. And voila – the modern craze was born. But it was basically a new age invention, not an ancient practice.” Good God, what an unbelievably outrageous statement. Surely Mr. Albert should have realized this and not taken it as something worth publishing in a book, completely unverified? What did he hope to gain? Sri T. Krishnamacharya, who was Iyengar’s guru (not master) also taught other great Yoga teachers such as Desikachar, Pattabhi Jois and others. Krishnamacharya taught his students the Yoga Sutras and the entire spectrum of Yogic spiritual teachings, not just the postures of Hatha Yoga. Quoting that ridiculous Huff Post article, just reveals Albert’s intellectual incompetence, relying on an unknown journalist with questionable honesty and motives, to defame BKS Iyengar, who has done so much to promote Yoga. I am certain that the BKS Iyengar foundation will investigate this accusation thoroughly.Another concept that some quacks have come up with, which the author has adopted, is that of “ischemia” causing tissue pain. He refers us to a quack site called cure-back-pain dot org (Amazon does not allow actual web links unless it is to its own) which tries to sell all kinds of self-help videos and audios and such. I was so dismayed by this. There is no scientific evidence whatsoever, that soft tissues and joints develop pain due to lack of oxygen. Degeneration, yes. Inflammation, yes. Cartilage cracks or tears, yes. But ischemia? Does Mr. Albert provide one shred of scientific evidence, aside from a quack website? Absolutely not; just his own pet fantasies.So is there any light at the end of the tunnel that this book is? Yes. I do appreciate Mr. Albert’s emphasis on relaxation and meditation and breathing techniques, particularly belly (diaphragmatic) breathing which as I noted above, has been amazingly helpful to countless people that I have taught it to. I appreciate his advice on being cautious in starting Yoga practice. However, the book endlessly repeats itself and obsesses about muscle imbalances in every chapter. Mr. Albert is based at Kripalu Yoga in Massachusetts. The founder of Kripalu Yoga was Yogi Amrit Desai, a remarkable man. Sadly, due to a scandal, he was forced to leave his beloved Yogashram (Yoga home or resort). His students have reported seeing light radiate from his body while he was absorbed in his yoga practice. I have an autographed copy of his superb book “Kripalu Yoga: Meditation In Motion.” He describes a phenomenon which he called “Spontaneous Yoga.” In 1970, he states, that while doing his Yoga practice, an inner force took over his Yoga practice, guided his moves and energized him. He wrote: “In Kripalu Yoga, the purpose of the practice of asanas is not merely to perfect the postures or their physical benefits, but rather to use them as a tool to transcend the limitations of the ego mind, and to awaken to our highest potential.” A combination of deep relaxation combined with mindfulness, will allow our Inner/Greater consciousness to prevail and guide us in everyday life, including our yoga practice.To summarize, this book only reveals Mr. Albert’s gross ignorance about the entire subject of Yoga; his defaming BKS Iyengar is truly an outrage against Yoga itself. Even worse, he has revealed his complete ignorance about the nature of pain that we humans suffer. He, along with Peggy Cappy, have currently been on fund-raising shows of PBS, Public TV. Those shows are just glorified infomercials. One of those shows are what led me to purchase this book and study it in detail. I must say, though, that PBS has brought many outstanding speakers to its channel and provided so much valuable advice regarding our health.

I like the book and have seen Lee’s pbs show and testimonials from clients he has successfully treated. However, I feel this book is really intended and best used by yoga practitioners and instructors, it’s not for the average student. It is technical and hard to implement unless you work with an Instuctor along with the book. The average person cannot follow his regimen just by this book alone , it’s just not possible. I had really wished it would be adequate but it’s not. I still admire his overall philosophy and teachings.

If you have been living with lower back, hip and/or leg pain as I was, you owe it to yourself to read this book. I exercised regularly, but nothing was helping. After enduring months of pain, I was ready to go to a pain doctor, but decided to try one last thing before I did. I had heard about Lee's IPT therapeutic approach from a friend who had knowledge of his success using specific yoga exercises and techniques to relieve musculoskeletal pain. I then attended his class at Kripalu and began to feel the results immediately. But I knew I needed to continue with the yoga practice he taught, so I purchased this book and set to work. The book is straight-forward, easy to follow, with many helpful diagrams showing the asanas and explaining which areas of the body they target. He also teaches breathing and meditation techniques, which I have begun to incorporate into my practice as well. I am thrilled to say that after a few months of daily sessions following the instructions in his book, I am completely pain-free.

A new spin on yoga ~ taking it back to its more original, gentler form. The first part of the book explains body mechanics and WHY yoga helps relieve pain; the second part demonstrates in pictures how to do yoga postures to obtain the most benefit and avoid injury. As Mr. Albert says ... start slow and work up. Yoga isn't an overnight quick-fix ~ you need to be consistent. I plan to do a 30-day yoga challenge starting tomorrow (Nov 1) following his recommendations. I'll post my thoughts again.

The book is a useful tool and basic introduction to how yoga can help relieve pain. I become aware of the origins of yoga and its present-day developments. I bought the book because my yoga teacher told me to do so. I do need my teacher to show me in person how to work certain poses described in the book. She selects those poses that address my immediate pain concerns. Her help augments the value of the book. Without her guidance, I would lack confidence and direction in choosing and practicing some 15 poses. I understand that it takes many months for me to see the benefits in practicing yoga. I've been practicing daily since early September 2017. I feel that the benefits are real.

I highly recommend "Yoga For Pain Relief" as a tremendous resource for yoga instructors and practitioners alike. Lee Albert's work is highly sought out at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health as a hands-on massage therapist and yoga teacher trainer who created Integrated Positional Therapy for neuromuscular imbalances. In this book, Lee offers simple, easy to follow advice to help us navigate life and yoga in ways that cause no harm to the body. Simple illustrations and practical suggestions help us address common physical issues in the low back, shoulders and neck. By following his protocols, we are left with sound advice to live well and enjoy a healthy yoga practice without injury. Lee's work informs my yoga instruction as a teacher and daily practices as a practitioner. This is a must have for your library.

Following these simple yet essential practices well described and documented by Lee Albert, are invaluable as we age. The most difficult thing is to just get started. Lee gives many good suggestions for weaving these simple practices into daily life.

Over priced. Not much more than a pamphlet.

Well done.

I like itAhmed

Merci!