Yoga lover reveals how she tore her neck artery with a difficult move

A yoga fanatic has revealed how she suffered a severe stroke by practicing a difficult handstand.

On the morning of October 8, 2017, Rebecca Leigh, 40, from Gambrills, Maryland had been filming a tutorial video for her 26,000 followers on social media while the incident happened. Roughly after two hours passed, she suffered a stroke live on camera. Rebecca, who ran a mobile sunless tanning company, tore her carotid artery in a ‘hollowback’ handstand.

Today she cannot speak for more than a few minutes, suffers headaches daily and has acute memory loss.

“I was on my front porch practicing a pretty intense type of yoga handstand called a ‘hollowback’ handstand. This pose requires you to extend your neck, drop your hips back and arch your lower spine all while in a headstand. I felt that I had really nailed it but as I walked inside my house, my peripheral vision went out and the rest of my vision became blurry.” she said, relating to the incident.

She is now telling her story to raise awareness of yoga-induced strokes and encourage other people to seek medical help immediately.