It's "no-duh" that yoga can hurt you. But what makes the exercise particularly dangerous is that people go into it because it is seen as a recuperative, healing exercise. And the nature of it makes it easy to get into and possibly go too far.

Compare it to swimming, which is also seen as a recuperative exercise. But in swimming, it is very difficult to accidentally over-exert yourself...you'll get too tired. So the danger of someone who is completely out of shape going too far is minimal. However, in yoga, it is very easy to go too far because just entering or holding (what seemed easy to get into) the poses may overstrain a muscle or joint.

And let's not discount the mindset of many yoga practitioners, novice and expert. Swimming may be a healing sport, but it has the connotation of being a sport. Yoga is seen as not just a physical activity, but as a way to connect spiritually, be at inner peace, and not worry about competition (even if it implicitly happens, as demonstrated in the article). So there is additional danger is in the naive mindset of yoga practitioners...comparatively few people go into long-distance running with the belief that it won't have impact on their knees or back.

* Another way to look at it...speaking from personal experience...there is a high correlation between people who are really into yoga and people who are really into doing periodical "cleanses"...that is, diets in which they spend $200 (no exaggeration) for three days of juice-only servings. This may also be a peculiarity of living in Manhattan...yet I know of other athletes in the city who would never consider doing a juice-diet, or who believe in the "science" of cleanses.

The point is is that yoga attracts people who want a less rigorous way of being healthy, and these people may not realize that yoga can be as damaging as standard weightlifting.