Hi Bernie.
This week I wrote a short newsletter to my small student group about myths in yoga - one of them was the myth about yoga causing injuries.
In it, I said that I have a number of dear friends who I know would benefit from yoga but that they refuse to come to my classes on the basis that they once got injured in yoga, therefore yoga causes injuries. I went on to explain that yoga itself doesn't cause injuries - that indeed the intention of yoga is to relieve stress, not add it in.
I acknowledged that people often do get injured in yoga classes, but suggested that yoga itself doesn't cause the injury - it's usually a case of a teacher not giving appropriate guidance or a student going too deep / not understanding their own limits etc etc.
My intention being to show that yoga in and of itself is not an inherently dangerous activity.
I received a reply from a regular student who I had not seen for a while. She says that she received an injury in my yin class six months ago due to being hypermobile. She said that when she "let her arms and shoulders go, when she was going to bring them back, she didn't engage the muscles properly and messed up both her shoulder joints/ligaments" and that it has taken time and treatments to get them back to normal.
I think she just wanted to make the point that injuries can happen in yoga (which I stated myself in my newsletter). She said that injuries can happen "if you are not under detailed instruction or know your body's strengths and weaknesses" (which I also explained).
She finishes by saying she will come back to class soon, just not yin class.
I am wondering how to reply to her.
This is the first I have heard of the injury.
I am mindful of going back and saying "Gosh, I'm sorry you got injured" in case that opens me up to any kind of liability (I am insured).
I am also mindful of the fact that even though she is disagreeing with me in principle, she also agrees with me on two of the main points.
But I would like to reply thoughtfully and with all the facts. I have read your post about hypermobility on this site and feel I have a good understanding of it.
I also think that surely it's not possible to move your arm without engaging muscle, so surely that cannot be a full explanation of her injury.
Anyway interested in your thoughts before I go back to her.
Thanks!