Vishen LakhianiFounder of Mindvalley | NYT Bestselling Author | Transforming Lives Globally

Yoga is Not As Good As You Might Think! Here's Why

20 Jun 2023 · 1 min

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A conversational segment from Vishen Lakhiani's June 20, 2023 YouTube video "Yoga is Not As Good As You Might Think! Here's Why" debating yoga's benefits and the role of stretching. Speakers note that recent studies often fail to show yoga outperforming other sports and raise concerns about long-duration static stretches (30–60s) possibly harming fascia that should rebound quickly. A bodyworker recommendation is cited to avoid holding stretches longer than 15 seconds. The speakers also argue stretching effects may be neural rather than structural (anesthesia and infant flexibility used as examples) while still valuing flexibility as a core element of functional fitness.

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So I'm going to say something incredibly controversial. And I've done yoga for 30 years, and I think yoga is foundational for peak performance aging, and I will come out and advocate for it. But there are a lot of studies now that are looking at the benefits of yoga, and they're not finding them in comparison to a bunch of other sports. And they're finding some dangers around, like the slow stretching of muscles. A healthy body has fascia that rebounds quickly, Right? Right. And if you're doing 30 second to a minute long stretches, you're sort of stretching out the fascia. A good bodyworker who works with fascia will say, never hold a stretch for longer than 15 seconds.
That's interesting because in the book Body by signs by Doug McGuff, he basically says stretching is useless.
Other people say that as well. There's a whole movement because they figured out that stretching is not about the muscles, it's actually about the nervous system. So when I anesthetize you, I can bend your leg behind your head. Yeah. You're totally flexible when anesthetized. Same thing with babies, have that flexibility. So something about stretching has to do with the nervous system more than the musculature. So there's this big controversy around stretching in the physical therapy world. That said, in my experience, I think it really matters. And certainly maintaining flexibility is one of those five core aspects of functional fitness. SA.