Last year, I had to go to the doctor’s. I made an online appointment at a local medical centre in Amsterdam, and I was allocated one of the doctors on duty, who happened to be a sympathetic, well-mannered woman in her 40’s who listened to my health concern, possibly related to the onset of the menopause.

She had a room full of people waiting for her, so she just booked me for some tests. I noticed that she did not take the time to check my blood pressure (even though I was 56 at the time, with a family history of high blood pressure and stressful responsibilities as an entrepreneur), nor carried out any physical examination. 

And yet, she was happy to prescribe me a very special sugar pill: 

Yoga. 

“Have you ever considered doing yoga?”, she asked as she walked me out.

“Hmmmm… I think my problem ‘might’ be related to yoga”, I answered with a pinch of fun, “as I run a large international Yoga Therapy school”.

“Oh”, she smiled. “Then you know how good yoga is for you!”.

I was curious . “You do yoga yourself?” I asked.

“No, I would love to, but I just don’t have the time” 

Right. 

My concerns with this situation, which is becoming disconcertingly common in medical environments around the world, are: 

1. Most doctors don’t know anything about yoga
   
   
2. There are maybe hundreds of yoga styles, hundreds of thousands of yoga studios and millions of yoga teachers, teaching anything from safe practices to “pseudo healing” and down right dangerous exercises. All in your local neighbourhood.

3. There isn’t sufficient scientific evidence to prove that yoga is better for your health than any other form of exercise. In that sense, there is no difference between a doctor recommending you to try yoga, than to try online skating. 

4. If the doctor had any idea about what some yoga practices involve, they would freak out! Pressure in the head during inversions that would be completely contraindicated for their patients with high blood pressure, hyperventilating breathing techniques for their poor asthma patients, or ‘out of body’ meditations that could trigger psychosis in mental health patients.
   
   
5. And, as if this was not enough, my last concern: yoga teachers get the blame for teaching classes to students with health issues, in situations which they are not trained for. For most yoga teachers, it is hard to say “no” when the world keeps on telling you that you can save everyone!. That’s a lot to carry on our shoulders. 

Six summers ago I was quite impressed with George Washington Hospital, when they saved my life in an emergency treatment for heat stroke.

Sure, they charged me 20,000 dollars (which was more traumatic than the near-death experience). However, what was really impressive was that they sent me home with two sheets of paper with clear written instructions, pictures and guidelines on how to deal with the effects of heat stroke, precautions, what “not to do” and how to prevent future events. 

I still have those papers, as a reminder of the power of simple, clear communication that was obviously designed to give me self-agency and to keep me safe. Yes, I could go and play in the sun, but here are the “do’s” and “don’ts” , and the precautions I need to take for my current situation. 

The following is the scenario of how I see the future of ‘yoga prescrIption’, based on an example of a patient who has been diagnosed with Diabetes Type II: 

Based on your health condition, your doctor has recommended you to do gentle yoga twice per week.

Please make sure your yoga teacher/therapist is trained to teach yoga with individuals with Diabetes Type II. 

During the class, please avoid the following:

• Inversions (head lower than the heart)
• Compression of the head, neck, chest, and abdomen
• Compression of the feet and legs
• Belts and any props that impede circulation.
• Balancing practices that may casue a fall (for symptoms of neuropathy)
• Avoid practices where you become short of breath
• Avoid deep relaxation practices that take longer than 15 minutes

Precautions: 

• Wear a glucose monitor during the yoga session
• Eat a balanced meal and take your medication one hour before your yoga practice
• If you lie down, make sure to keep the upper part of the body slightly elevated
• Have water and sugar available in case of hypoglacemia
• If you feel unwell, inform your instructor, sit down in a comfortable position an check your glucose monitor. Ask your instructor to call the emergency services if necessary. 

Remember: Yoga can help your manage Diabetes Type II, but you can get injured and experience unwanted side-effects just like any other form of exercise if you don’t follow the above precautions and contraindications. 

There’s still a lot of work to do to get to this ideal situation, but if we continue to prescribe yoga to patients for their health issues, the implementation of safety guidelines should be unavoidable. 

At The Yoga Therapy Institute, this is the nuance of our main purpose and mission:

To include Yoga Therapy as a widely recognised complementary therapy to conventional medical treatment, yes, but within a clear framework and with established safety guidelines. Yoga is not and should never be, a sugar pill.