You don’t have to be an expert to know the most important rule of fitness: be an advocate for your own well-being. Doing so means listening to your body to learn its limitations and strengths, and educating yourself about proper nutrition, safety, exercise, and other healthy choices.
This principle is particularly appropriate to debates in and around the “yogaverse.” Sparked recently by the New York Times article “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body,” conversations about yoga-related injuries have generated a tremendous range of reactions and advice.
William Broad’s article has angered yoga practitioners and teachers; it strongly suggests that the “vast majority of people” should not do yoga because the risk for serious injury is “all but inevitable,” but the article and ensuing backlash above all illustrate the importance of taking responsibility for your own health and safety.
First, most experts point out that listening to your body is one of the most important ways of preventing injury, and not just in yoga. “If yoga hurts, it is not yoga… many causes may lead to injury while doing yoga, but yoga itself cannot be blamed,” writes Chris Beach, president of the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States (IYNAUS). Listening to your body (especially to any pain) is sound advice for triathlon training, weight training, diet choices or anything in between.
Second, the article highlights the necessity of self-education to making informed and healthy choices. Many people did not seem to notice that Broad’s article is an adaptation of the soon-to-be-published book, The Science of Yoga: The Risks and 
Rewards. It is intentionally controversial as a marketing tactic. And, if the prologue is any indication, the article’s slant is not true to the book’s ultimate message:
“To me, the benefits unquestionably outweigh the risks. The discipline on balance does more good than harm. Still, yoga makes sense only if done intelligently so as to limit the degree of personal danger. I’m convinced that even modest precautions will avert waves of pain, remorse, grief, and disability.” (William J. Broad, prologue to The Science of Yoga)
Self-education, then, can encompass critical thinking about media messages. But it also applies to proper practice: knowing how to perform yoga postures correctly, for example. You wouldn’t go into a gym and start lifting 50-pound weights if you’ve never done weight training before, nor should you start a yoga practice without proper instruction. It may be time-consuming to find the right teacher, but you will be safer and reap greater benefits in the end.
I’m not a fitness expert or health professional, so common sense is my first rule of fitness: advocate for your own well-being by listening to your body and making informed decisions. What principles guide your active lifestyle?