With International Yoga Day likely to inspire many, several experts and yoga enthusiasts point out that the sector needs standardisation as there is no accreditation or regulation that is mandatory for yoga trainers or institutes.
This, experts say is a matter of concern as they see several cases of injuries such as ligament tear and slip disc reported by enthusiasts.
J. Dhanajeyan, general secretary, Bangalore Physiotherapists Network, says he sees at least 10 such cases per month. “Injuries are mainly because of wrong posture, overdoing of asanas or an unskilled trainer,” he says.
Dr. Dhanajeyan emphasises that there is a need for a fresher to understand their flexibility and fitness levels before they practice yoga.
However, Vijay Kumar Gogi, Director of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) in the Karnataka Health Department, said currently yoga in the country was in the “abstract” form. “You have trained practitioners who have undergone structured teaching programmes. At the same time, you have people who have been learning yoga from traditional practitioners. So scrutiny would be challenge. We are, however, in the process of standardising it,” he said.
He added that the department, so far, has not received complaints of yoga being detrimental. He also clarified that while anyone could teach yoga, those who claimed to treat patients through yoga need to be clarified.
