The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

William J Broad (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 7, 2012

The Science of Yoga draws on a hidden wealth of science, history, and surprising facts to cut through the fog that surrounds contemporary yoga and to show - for the first time - what is uplifting and beneficial and what is delusional, flaky, and dangerous. At heart, it illuminates the risks and rewards. The book takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of undiscovered yoga that goes from old libraries in Calcutta to the world capitals of medical research, from little-known archives to spotless laboratories, from sweaty yoga classes with master teachers to the cosy offices of yoga healers. In the process, it shatters myths, lays out unexpected benefits, and offers a compelling vision of how to improve the discipline.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dramatic...a flair for provocation...valuable."

--"Publishers Weekly"

About the Author

William J. Broad has practiced yoga since 1970. A bestselling author and senior writer at The New York Times, he has won every major award in print and television during more than thirty years as a science journalist. With New York Times colleagues, he has twice won the Pulitzer Prize, as well as an Emmy Award and a DuPont. He is the author or coauthor of seven books, including Germs: Biological Weapons and America’s Secret War, a #1 New York Times bestseller.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1 edition (February 7, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451641427
• ISBN-13: 978-1451641424
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (130 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William J. Broad is a best-selling author and a senior writer at The New York Times. In more than thirty years as a science journalist, he has written hundreds of front-page articles and won every major journalistic award in print and film. His reporting shows unusual depth and breadth - everything from exploding stars and the secret life of marine mammals to the spread of nuclear arms and why the Titanic sank so fast. The Best American Science Writing, a yearly anthology, has twice featured his work.

He joined The Times in 1983 and before that worked in Washington for Science, the magazine of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Broad has won two Pulitzer Prizes with Times colleagues, as well as an Emmy and a DuPont. He won the Pulitzers for coverage of the space shuttle Challenger disaster and the feasibility of antimissile arms. In 2002, he won the Emmy (PBS Nova) for a documentary that detailed the threat of germ terrorism. He was a Pulitzer finalist in 2005 for articles written with Times colleague David E. Sanger on nuclear proliferation. In 2007, he shared a DuPont Award (The Discovery Channel) from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism for the television documentary, "Nuclear Jihad: Can Terrorists Get the Bomb?"

Broad is the author or co-author of eight books, most recently The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards (Simon & Schuster, 2012), a New York Times bestseller. His books have been translated into dozens of languages. His other titles include Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War (Simon & Schuster, 2001), a number-one New York Times bestseller; The Universe Below: Discovering the Secrets of the Deep Sea (Simon & Schuster, 1997); Teller's War: The Top-Secret Story Behind the Star Wars Deception (Simon & Schuster, 1992); and Betrayers of the Truth: Fraud and Deceit in the Halls of Science (Simon & Schuster, 1982).

Broad's reporting has taken him to Paris and Vienna, Brazil and Ecuador, Kiev and Kazakhstan. In December 1991, he was among the last Westerners to see the Soviet hammer and sickle flying over the Kremlin.

Broad's media appearances include Larry King Live, The Charlie Rose Show, The Discovery Channel, Nova, The History Channel, and National Public Radio. His speaking engagements have ranged from the U.S. Navy in Washington, to the Knickerbocker Club in New York, to the Monterey Aquarium in California. He has also given talks at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City.

Broad earned a masters degree in the History of Science from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He has three adult children and lives with his wife in the New York metropolitan area.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

629 of 688 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Deeply flawed, but a must-read February 7, 2012

By Leslie Kaminoff

Format:Hardcover

Review of William J. Broad's "The Science of Yoga" by Leslie Kaminoff, author of Yoga Anatomy-2nd Edition

In spite of the fact that I have some highly critical things to say about this book, I am recommending that every yoga student, yoga teacher and teacher of yoga teachers read "The Science of Yoga." The issues that Mr. Broad raises are too important to be ignored, and need to be openly and objectively discussed by anyone who cares about truth, clarity and safety.

When he's at his best, Broad does a great service to our field by throughly investigating the history of yoga research and reporting on the actual science that's available to either support or refute many of the claims that are commonly made about yoga's promises. Several of the myths he exposes are ones that I have been trying to debunk for years. He also does a great job of documenting the evidence of yoga's benefits - for health, creativity and mental balance.

When he's at his worst, he's attempting to make his book more colorful by spinning speculative yarns about the personalities of his cast of characters. Most of them are long dead and cannot dispute Broad's assertions about their motivations, ambitions and ethics. However, some of his subjects are very much alive and I know for a fact that at least one of them takes extreme exception to the manner in which he was portrayed (full disclosure: I am referring to a good friend of mine).

Broad also loses his objectivity when, in chapter 4, he launches into the controversial issue of yoga injuries.... I am the last person to deny that asana injuries happen quite regularly, as a significant part of my practice consists of helping practitioners who have sustained them. Nevertheless, the truly scary picture painted in this chapter is not based on any science that would pass Broad's own muster if he was reviewing it in the first 3 chapters of his book. He can cite no serious scientific studies done regarding the actual cause and frequency of severe injuries (stroke, pneumothorax, paralysis, etc.) because there are none. Instead, Broad reports on a handful of case studies dating back to the 70's, and some surveys of emergency room statistics. He then extrapolates from those numbers to conclude there must be a minimum of 300 strokes caused by yoga asanas per year. Any indication of how common these injuries are in the non-yoga practicing population? No. Any context for where asana practice ranks in relation to other "risky" activities (it's safer than golf)? No. Any mention of the fundamental logical rule that correlation is not causation? No. Is this good science? Hell no.

What becomes clear in his epilogue is that Mr. Broad is a man with an agenda. He wants yoga to gain more credibility and acceptance in mainstream health care delivery by medicalizing its educational standards and subjecting itself to governmental regulation (something I've been fighting against for the past 3 decades). This explains why he needed to build the case for yoga's riskiness, and why he felt compelled to unfairly and inaccurately portray the International Association of Yoga Therapists as a non-credible group with shady origins whose main agenda is to provide its members with "phony credentials." He even absurdly proposes the formation of a "Yoga Education Society" whose mission would be to collect information about yoga and disseminate it to the public - the exact same mission the IAYT has been splendidly fulfilling since its founding. Shameful.

Broad's misplaced faith in his own agenda, the medical model and in governmental controls has blinded him to the fact that much of yoga's popularity as a healing modality is precisely because we are an alternative to all that. We are not medical practitioners nor should we aspire to be. We are educators and should fight to remain so.

Nobody asked Mr. Broad to push for the medicalization, accreditation or licensing of yoga. He took it on himself to make a case for it, and its up to us as yoga professionals to show him that he's wrong by continuing to raise the standards of our educational programs, and by keeping our profession free from coercive forces of any kind. That is why I say it's important you read this book and then let your voice be heard. Read more ›

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Partly very good, but when he is bad he is horrid! February 21, 2012

By Timothy McCall, MD

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book created a buzz in the yoga world when a controversial excerpt, entitled "How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body," appeared in the Sunday New York Times magazine. While highlighting the important and under-discussed problem of yoga injuries, the article struck me as imbalanced and alarmist and, I'll admit, I was expecting to dislike the book. But I quite enjoyed author William Broad's lively voice and the various historical anecdotes he unearthed in his five years of research -- and even learned a few things about a topic I've intensely researched for more than a decade.

Where the Pulitzer Prize winning science writer shines is in debunking various myths, which continue to be spouted by well-meaning, but misinformed yoga teachers. Thus, yoga will not help you lose weight by revving up your metabolism, fast yogic breathing does not increase oxygen delivery to the brain (it actually has the opposite effect), and asana, even vigorous versions, won't give you anything like the aerobic workout of running or swimming. The book focuses on modern, athletic yoga styles, with little talk of meditation, cultivating awareness, growing spiritually, or finding your life's mission.

And sometimes in his glee to overturn sacred cows, Broad oversimplifies the science, or ignores research that doesn't support his point of view. For example, while yoga has been shown to lower the metabolic rate, we don't hear the evidence that suggests it does facilitate weight loss, likely via such mechanisms as encouraging mindful eating and better food choices, and reducing the level of the hunger-inducing, fat-depositing stress hormone cortisol.... That cortisol -- implicated in everything from depression to diabetes to immune dysfunction -- is barely mentioned in the book is one of a number of curious omissions.

Though the book's injury chapter is more balanced than the Times excerpt, I still have problems with it. Strokes, the most devastating risk, do happen, but the means used to calculate how common they are (Broad estimates 300 per year) are dubious at best. Further, he fails to mention that with some teachers and some styles of yoga, and in therapeutic yoga tailored to the individual, serious injuries are exceedingly rare. And while Broad takes obvious pride in debunking myths, he's not beyond propagating a few of his own, probably nowhere more than in the chapter on sex. Yes, yoga improves sexual function and satisfaction. And, yes, some Tantric yogis employed sexual rituals. As for his assertion that "the entire discipline itself began as a sex cult"? Oh, please! He doesn't know what he's talking about.

Whatever its limitations, this provocative book has much to offer and I highly recommend yoga teachers and serious students read it, even though many will find themselves disagreeing with some of the author's conclusions.

Timothy McCall, MD, Yoga Journal's Medical Editor, teaches Yoga As Medicine (therapeutic yoga) seminars worldwide.
This review was originally published in Yoga International. You can also finds critiques of some of William Broad's more recent NY Times articles on my web site. Read more ›

175 of 203 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great review of the science of breathing and movement - from the late 1800's to present February 8, 2012

By John A Fossella

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

1. Firstly, the book focuses mainly on pranayama and asana ... obviously a narrow slice of "yoga" as practiced everyday by millions of Devotees, Babas, Sannyasis and Yogis who are a vital part of cultural and spiritual life in India. It's a tad Western-centric to use "Yoga" in the title when the focus of the book is a narrow slice of an otherwise rich and multifaceted spiritual practice.

2. Broad describes how the modern form of Western yoga is a "cleaned up" version of a centuries-old Tantric practice. The modern postures were developed in Mysore in the early 1900's as part of India's press for independence from the British. This clean, gymnastic & more regimented form of asana and pranayama practice developed by Krishnamacharya is what eventually caught on in America. In India, yoga remains a source of great National pride in both its modern scientific foundations as well as its relationship to ancient Indian culture and religion.

3. Broad provides a, ahem, broad, overview of the way in which scientists have tried to understand how and why pranayama and asana practice lead to wellness and longevity. He digs up research findings in India from as far back as the late 1800's and follows them up to the present day. This was my favorite part of the book ... his trips to the original schools in India to dig up and introduce us to the earliest research on yogis ... usually on yogis who could stay buried inside of airtight chambers. Back then, yogis were believed to have supernatural powers! Even today however, modern scientists study the physiology of hibernation among mammals and wonder if humans might be able to enter similar dormant states. Who knows how long humans can really extend the natural age limit?... Maybe astronauts will practice yogic breathing someday as part of long-range space travel? Broad wonders.

He covers a great range of physiological systems such as oxygen/carbon-dioxide exchange (more oxygen stays in your brain when you breathe slowly), metabolism (yoga slows it), musculo-skeletal therapies (training new muscle groups to compensate for injured ones), symapthetic-parasympathetic nervous system (a good practice is when you cycle through poses that differentially activate these 2 branches of the autonomic nervous system), mood & cognition (yoga makes you feel great but you're kind of a space cadet afterwards), hormonal (poses to stimulate various glands), cellular (longer telomeres and healthier DNA), immunity (the vagus nerve stimulates the immune system) and many more.

As covered in the book, there are MANY ways in which pranayama and asana can be harnessed to heal the body and Broad reviews A LOT of relevant scientific evidence ... which, it turns out, often conflicts with popular hype in yoga media. There is a lot of healing power in these practices, but only if you do them in an informed and intelligent manner ... is a recurring theme throughout the book ... which is full of pointers to his favorite teachers (while reading this book, I bought, like, 4 new books on Amazon). Throughout the book, Broad seems to revere Iyengar teachers the most (Iyengar was a student of Krishnamacharya).

4. There is, a now (in)famous, chapter on injuries ... which he concedes are rare in yoga ... perhaps even less common than participation in other physical activities? ... especially among office-bound weekend warriors who push themselves too hard, too fast. He interviews several teachers who share first hand experience with injuries, and who feel that many yoga practitioners have a false sense of security when it comes to poses like, for example, shoulder stand ... where they should take more care to protect their neck and the delicate arteries that pass though the bones in the spinal column there. This being the case, Broad suggests that American yoga teachers need more rigorous training in protecting students against possible harm.

5. All of this medico-scientific study of yoga forms a very strong foundation for what Broad sees is a modern American medical system that is increasingly embracing asana & pranayama therapies. According to Kaitlin Quistgaard, editor in chief of Yoga Journal, "Yoga as medicine represents the next great yoga wave. In the next few years, we will be seeing a lot more yoga in health care settings and more yoga recommended by the medical community as new research shows that yoga is a valuable therapeutic tool for many health conditions."

So, I guess, someday, we'll pay for our yoga classes using health insurance? That would be nice. Broad suggests that the forms and certifications for such "medical" uses will need to be standardized and that yoga therapists will require far more training. OK ... it seems that the driver here will be the public/private insurance companies. Perhaps they might someday pay M.D.'s with yoga certifications? or for specific forms of yoga and breathing? I dunno ... it's their $$ and they will embrace yoga in ways they see fit. (from "The New Medicine" - Deborah Schwab, RN, NP, MSN of Blue Shield of California noted how a study of guided imagery was associated with shorter hospital stays, and lower medication costs to the tune of $2,000 per patient.)

6. There are final chapters on better sex and creativity through yoga. Skip them. Reading the physiology, brain and hormonal science - or worse - doing the specific poses, will NOT help you get laid or be a better lover. And as far as creativity and left/right brain activation goes, it's kind of a myth. "Evidence provides little support for correlating the structural differences between the sides with functional differences."

7. Which kind of brings me to the way the book really made me feel at the very end ... like I just emerged from a window-less, sterile doctor's examination room ... healthier, I suppose, but feeling sort of uninspired. I mean, is this what I'm really looking for ... to feel more relaxed and limber?

READ THIS BOOK if you want to be a yoga therapist in the United States! READ THIS BOOK if you work for a health insurance company and set up reimbursements for members to begin asana and pranayama classes ... the book is invaluable in separating the hype from the real data. READ THIS BOOK and be a more educated yoga consumer ... there is so much bewildering kooky hype out there in the U.S. yoga "free marketplace". I will definitely use a supporting blanket in shoulder stand!

----

But, on a purely personal, non-judgemental, for me only, personal level ... I'm practicing and studying yoga so that I can have a truly transformative, emotional, spiritual experience ... where I feel more connected to nature ... more connected to the people around me ... where my ego can be lost in a sea of love that wells up inside of me.

Yes, of course, I'll practice pranayama and asana ... to help strengthen my body. The strength and breathing will help me with meditation ... so that I can sit quietly for hours ... and still my mind. The stillness will help me listen and feel ... the earth and other people around me. The physical and breathing practices form a foundation for meditation ... which helps me become more empathetic, attentive, attuned, aware and open-minded. I care more about others ... and THAT is what feels so transformative.

I guess "Yoga" for me ... is when I seek to experience my "true self" as simply being dissolved and inter-woven in everything and everyone around me. An ego-less union with everything ... that's sort of where the magic happens for me.

I dunno if Broad would agree that THIS type of social-emotional experience is where a somewhat deeper joy and fulfillment of Yoga can be found ... not in pranayama and asana per se, as ends in themselves, but in all the wonderful things that can happen after you've been practicing ... like when you go out into the world and LISTEN and CONNECT? I dunno.

Perhaps though, he would agree that there is a ton of social, evolutionary and cognitive science to this experience too. The science of Yoga (part II) ... perhaps? Read more ›