Hip health for all humans

I’ve been practicing and teaching yoga for over 20 years and as the founder of Breathing Space yoga studios, which has 5 affiliate studios and Yoga in Schools, which has certified thousands of teachers to instruct yoga to our children, I feel a responsibility to share my story with you in the hopes of saving someone else from my current situation. And you young, strong athletes out there need to hear this too, so listen up!

As you know, Yoga has become a hugely popular form of exercise spanning the generations from babies to the elderly. And while I’m thrilled that more and more people are seeking the body/mind/spirit connection that yoga provides, many newcomers and experienced practitioners are at risk of injury.

Let’s start with the term that is commonly discussed throughout a yoga class, called your growing edge. This encourages us to honor our abilities in the moment by entering a posture or flow in a way that’s sensitive to our body’s limitations. Despite the fact that we continue to teach this concept and hear it spoken about during class, there is a force within most of us that is far more powerful than any teacher’s calm instructions to gently listen to our bodies. This force inside of us is the desire, or for some a deep drive, to be loved, accepted and valued. The yoga tradition would describe this as maya, or the illusory belief that we are separate from the Creator and that we must prove ourselves worthy in order to be loved. Other psycho spiritual traditions might call this the ego mind, that is driven by competition for the best (often at any cost), comparisons and protection from the perceived humiliation of failure. 

For some of us, our emotional needs were adequately fulfilled as children and we have grown up feeling reasonably content with ourselves (I say reasonably because I’ve realized that very few people have a high esteem for themselves). When we are self-accepting and feel okay within the skin we’re in, we can balance striving and hard work with ease and downtime. For others, who didn’t have our basic love needs met, we may grow up believing that we are somehow flawed, inadequate, unworthy and therefore different from others. Because it is so painful to live in this state of feeling unworthy and isolated from the human collective, we will go to great lengths, to excel, shine, and be ‘special’. This typically involves excessive behavior such as long hours of work, obsessive practice of a craft or skill, restriction of food or water, physical augmentations etc. This love wound can also cause us to withdraw from life and underachieve but for the sake of this discussion, we’ll focus on the former.

If that tendency is brought into a yoga class, or any other form of exercise, and the instructor demonstrates a posture that is Instagram worthy, we’ll do whatever it takes to push and contort ourselves into that shape, whether our tissues are prepared for it or not.

Personally, this was my story, so if you can relate to this habit of self-harm, know you’re not alone. I grew up learning that my level of worthiness was below others. We lived in Rothesay, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Canada and while we weren’t poor, we survived on a single income for part of my childhood so mom could be home. Although we had a rich community of friends and were highly respected as a family, with both my parents’ teachers and leaders in various youth groups, we still assumed that the wealthy families were more important. I now realize that financial wealth has no correlation with our self-worth, but it took a long time to understand that. I was also a quick study on the cultural patriarchy that taught me I was less significant than the males in society.

As a result of this feeling of inadequacy, which I abhorred, I did what I could to even the playing field. I played to my strengths, which was athletics and became a top athlete in the province. By grade 12 I was the most sought after recruit by University coaches. But the risk of failure consumed my mind, turning my self-discipline into a pathological addiction, which took the shape of anorexia and orthorexia (exercise addiction). I spent the bulk of my late teens/early adult years exercising 5-7 hours a day and eating morsels of food here and there. No fun!

It wasn’t until I discovered yoga that I was able to move through recovery. While I largely credit yoga to the healing of my heart and my mental imbalance, my overachieving pattern sneakily persisted on my mat.

During my training in India, I received yoga instruction as it was taught in ancient times, a very strict, daily practice. There were no modifications offered, you just did the postures as they were presented. But the lifestyles in ancient India were very different from those of modern North American life and my body in particular had suffered through years of abuse and over-use. I was overly strong and dominant in some areas, and tight and weak in others. But what was most dangerous was my determination to get it right and be the best. What started out as an innocent effort to feel okay about myself as a child evolved into a destructive, self-sabotaging game that came with a high cost. Now in my mid-forties, I can happily report that I’ve reached a beautiful place of self-love, but my previous treatment of my body is circling around to bite me in the …hip. More specifically, the labrum, which is the connective tissue surrounding the hip socket.

How I wish I could blame my current state on incompetent teachers, but I can’t because I made sure I studied with the most proficient teachers on the planet. My labral tear in my right hip occurred because I pushed myself far beyond my edge, day in, day out for many years. I am now preparing for surgery to repair the tear and have a bone spur shaved off of the head of the leg bone, with the hopes of preventing a full hip replacement down the road. I’m sharing this with you because I wish I had known what I know now back when I was young and reckless.

In an effort to help you avoid my plight, here are some suggestions for taking care on the mat:

For practitioners:

• Although yoga is suitable for all bodies, and an outstanding practice for enhancing strength, flexibility and promoting overall health, yoga is NOT a cure all panacea for all conditions. If you have an illness or injury, seek medical care and do your homework before stepping on the mat to identify any postures you should avoid. Also, be aware that many medical doctors do not have a clear understanding of yoga and may advise you avoid it altogether.
• Be your own advocate, stop when you need to, even if the instructor encourages you to keep on, you’re the boss of your own body!
• Ultimately, yoga is a mindfulness practice that teaches us to sense our body and return home to our physicality. It doesn’t matter how you express the postures, there’s no trophy at the end of class for the best students, so pace yourself, this is the only body you get!

To all instructors:

• Avoid pushing your clients to the end range in postures. The Taoist 70% rule has served me well in my healing, give 70% to your practice and retain 30% just for you.
• Avoid strongly assisting hip opening postures such as Warrior 11, Side Angle, Triangle Pose and all seated opening postures. Instead encourage your clients to sense the hip and back away from sharp painful sensations
• If a client presents a physical condition that you’re not sure how to accommodate, recommend they see a physical therapist of sorts first to get proper screening for issues of the hip and other joints.
• If you’re teaching vigorous vinyasa or ashtanga, request that all pregnant women attend a prenatal yoga class, as labral tears commonly occur during pregnancy

Let’s all remember that no number of hip openers will guarantee enlightenment, especially if your endgame is a fitness goal or worse, admiration from others.

Through my colorful journey through life, I’ve learned that yoga is our best companion for helping us foster a mindful life, well-being and to find our sense of calm through all circumstances.

Our youth today are fortunate to have a much greater breadth of support for mental imbalances. That said, social media platforms have in many respects, magnified our competitive drive for perfection. struggles enable me to connect with others suffering in a real and relatable way.