Yoga Magazine Comes Under Fire For Promoting Bulimic Purging Technique

The May issue of Yoga Magazine has come under fire after printing guidelines on how to perform Tiger – a purging technique favoured by many bulimics. The article features a list of tips and instructions on how to perform the actions, using cold water and a bucket. Responding to a reader’s question, the magazine then state that the actions referred to as ‘exercise’ can detoxify the body, “transform your abs and hips, strengthen your sexual organs, and improve your posture and stamina.” The article has received serious backlash, but editor yogi Dr. Malik, who is a certified yoga instructor but has no medical qualification, posted a response defending the magazine’s stance. In a post published to their website, the piece read: ‘Firstly, we haven't, and will never promote any eating disorders in YOGA Magazine. We were not promoting bulimia, but answering a genuine reader question who had asked whether this exercise that he had found in a textbook dating back to the 1950s was true or not. We decided to answer this question as we felt this was rather interesting, and different to the usual standard questions we receive each month, such as 'What exercises are good for a bad back?' 'The journalist who contacted us for a quote made reference to the fact that ‘we provided a caution to pregnant women and children’ – as obviously this technique is not safe for these people to perform. Would it not be extremely insensitive if we added ‘not suitable for anyone suffering from eating disorders?’'