Man Bites Downward Facing Dog Dr Timothy McCall Takes On William Broad of The New York Times

by Nina

Mugsy, the Yoga Dog by Nina Zolotow

Could yoga make you fat (especially if you're a woman)? Does it cause hundreds of strokes per year? Sex you up so much you'll engage in unethical behavior? Did the entire discipline start out as a sex cult? If you read The New York Times you might think so. As much as I've often disagreed with him, up until now I've been diplomatic in my responses to William Broad's writings about yoga in Times and in his book The Science of Yoga. But after his recent article in which he asserted that "yoga is remarkably dangerous — for men," I felt it was time to speak up. —Dr. Timothy McCall

In his new paper “Man Bites Downward-Facing Dog,” Yoga for Healthy Aging blogger and Medical Editor for Yoga Journal Magazine, Dr. Timothy McCall responds to William Broad’s ongoing sensationalistic claims about yoga. In his post on our blog Is Yoga Really Dangerous for Men?, Timothy addressed Broad’s most recent claim that yoga is “remarkably dangerous” for men. In this new paper, he goes further and responds to other over the top claims that Broad has made previously, such as that yoga can make you fat or that the entire discipline started out as a sex cult. He also makes it clear that he is not denying that yoga injuries are a problem; and he acknowledges that he is not in disagreement with all of William Broad's assertions.

Timothy's article is on his web site, in  PDF format rather than on a web page. So if you want to read it, you’ll need to download it and view it with Adobe Acrobat. To get your copy of the paper, you can either use the link in the previous paragraph or go to Timothy's web site www.drmccall.com. I highly recommend that you go ahead and download the paper. Then feel free to pass it on to your friends. We really want to get the word out!

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The Power of Fact Checking Timothy McCall on Elephant Journal

by Nina

Buddha Waiting for Spring 
by Michele Macartney-Filgate

Just a quick announcement today to let you know that Timothy has a very interesting post up now on Elephant Journal Does Yoga Kill?

Recently Timothy wrote about yoga and strokes on our blog (see Will Yoga Cause a Stroke? Could It Prevent One?), covering the topic in general and how to practice yoga safely. In his Elephant Journal post, however, Timothy directly takes on New York Times science writer William Broad’s claims about the relationship between yoga and strokes, responding point by point to Broad’s claims and looking more deeply into the research that Broad used to back them up. All I can say is, wow, that fact checking thing is really amazing—wonder why Broad's editors didn’t avail themselves.

My favorite fact is this one:

“To bolster his case, he listed several people whose deaths might have been caused by yoga including this one: “In Los Angeles in 2004, Sita White, 43, a British heiress and a favorite of gossip columnists, collapsed and died in a yoga class. The question is why.”

What Broad neglected to mention is that she wasn’t doing yoga at the time. According to eyewitnesses and media reports, White collapsed and died while students were filing in and putting down their mats.”

I also love Timothy’s conclusion:

“The truth, on the other hand, is often complicated, nuanced, and doesn’t always make a great story. And it is precisely that satya—subtle, interpenetrating, endlessly unfolding—that yogis are after.”

But you should go ahead and check out this article! And let us know what you think.

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