A. Physical Risks
- The American Yoga Association itself prohibits yoga for children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers, noting that “it is particularly dangerous for pregnant women to practice yoga exercises, due to the risk of potential vascular air embolism.”[1] Additionally, many yoga instructors, as well as the American Yoga Association, emphasize that practicing yoga poses health risks for children under the age of 16.
- Various yoga websites highlight numerous dangers to the respiratory system of those who practice yoga breathing exercises, including hyperventilation, diaphragm injuries, damage to other respiratory muscles, and the deterioration and collapse of the lungs[2].
B. Spiritual Risks
- Psychiatric studies point to psychiatric complications from meditation,3 and serious studies by specialized psychologists identify various harms that occur in individuals who practice meditation[3]: sudden loss of consciousness, anxiety attacks, memory problems, lack of discernment, inappropriate and disconnected emotional outbursts, prolonged emotional imbalance, muscle pain, cramps, seizures, visual hallucinations, etc.[4] Scientific research shows that people who meditate endanger their physical, mental, and psychological health.
- Yoga is not merely a form of gymnastics; it is a spiritual path, which according to research by experts, as well as the renowned guru Razni, can lead to “temporary or permanent loss of reason.”
1. www.americanyogaassociation.org/general.html
2. www.yogatohealth.com/Being_Aware_Of_Yoga_Breathing_Dangers.html
3. Epstein Mark & Lieff Jonathan, “Psychiatric Complications of Meditation Practice”, in The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, vol. 13, no 2, 1981.
4. Singer Thaler Margaret, Cults in Our Midst -The Continuing Fight Against their Hidden Menace, John Wiley, 2003, chapter 6
