No matter your age or physical condition, you can practice Yoga.
Fragment of an interview with José Antonio Cao, certified Yoga teacher - Iyengar Method.
Jordys González (JG) - Who can practice yoga and who cannot practice yoga?
José Antonio Cao - Yoga can be practiced by almost all of humanity, there is a very small part that would be excluded from the practice of yoga and basically it would be those people who have major brain dysfunctions, mental problems more than physical ones, because yoga is you can practice even sitting or lying down.
A person does not necessarily need to have a figure, a physical form, or previous preparation to enter a yoga class. It is true that the way in which it is taught also depends a lot, but basically, if a teacher is able to really apply yoga to the person, and make it tailored to him, there are very few people who cannot practice it.
It is very important to differentiate between the person who comes with a problem and the healthy person who comes to practice yoga. In the first group, which is the group, let's say... more delicate, it is always advised that the person has seen a specialist who has diagnosed their ailment before, that they come safely, endorsed by a doctor, so that they can locate this person, this student, in an accurate practice, who practices what he really has to practice and not what seems to be, that will come in handy.
JG - Not the symptom, but the problem?
José Antonio Cao - The origin of the symptom you have and the symptom, which is sometimes the same and sometimes different. If we already know what the person has and if the person is already sure of that, their practice will be accurate, what can never happen is that yoga is applied badly, and of course it generates negative results, there would be no reason.
If the practice is always carried out, followed by the word of a specialist, followed by the correct information from the doctor, then there should be no problems. I have a lot of experience, over many years of teaching, and I have seen improvement in practically general bodily discomfort, even psychic, when it is treated correctly.
But if it is no longer a person who has a disease, but a person who is totally healthy, even in that case, the order of practice has to be the one that the teacher dictates, because yoga is an ocean of information, we have yoga for everywhere.
JG - Is it perfectly possible to lose a student?
José Antonio Cao-Yes, in fact a large part of the problem is that the student gets lost, and that he receives so much information that he has none. That he receives so much information, sometimes contradictory, that he feels insecure. So, the easiest thing is to trust the teacher, follow the rhythm, and follow the order that the course dictates.
If the course is well designed and if the teacher is a true yoga teacher, there will be no chance that this person will not improve, there will always be a positive result.
