One of the things I've learned from my yoga practice is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Sure yoga can help you rehabilitate an overstretched muscle, but it can also teach you had to move your body mindfully so that you never hurt that muscle in the first place. Personally, I prefer the latter scenario.

This is a lesson I take off the mat and extend to other areas of my life, too. It has helped me come to the conclusion that I should always practice yoga, manage stress, eat healthy foods, floss daily, get regular check ups at the doctor, etc. I'm a firm believer that the sooner you catch a potential health problem--whether it's a pulled muscle, a cavity, or something more serious--the easier it is to address. I'd rather spend some time in yoga strengthening the muscles around my hyperextended knee now than to have surgery to fix a knee problem later on. I'd also rather have an unpleasant little tooth filling now, than a root canal later.

Coming from that perspective, it's hard to understand why anyone would suggest fewer screenings that could catch something as serious as breast cancer, which a government task force did earlier this week. The task force changed the recommendation that women begin getting mammograms at age 40, and now suggest they get one every other year starting at age 50.

But I want to know what you think. Has yoga changed the way you approach your own health care? If you're a woman, will the new recommendation change when or how often you get a mammogram?

Posted by Erica Rodefer on November 19, 2009 10:54 AM Permalink Comments (3)

Yoga for Kids is one of the fastest growing yoga niches out there today. It's taught in hundreds of studios across the country. A recent report from CNN featured kids that use yoga to cope with everything from ADHD to divorcing parents. But can a 4-year-old really appreciate the depth of the practice?

Who cares!? As long as it's helping them manage their stress and feel better, they're getting the benefit of the practice.

"I think the younger kids may not know exactly what they get out of it. It's kind of like when you put zucchini in their muffins and don't tell them," yoga instructor Cheryl Crawford told CNN. "They don't really know. They just know they they feel good." (See video below.)



Do you have kids who practice yoga? Have you noticed any benefits?

Posted by Erica Rodefer on November 16, 2009 1:28 PM Permalink Comments (6)

Friends often ask me if it's possible to make a living as a full-time yoga teacher. I always say absolutely! But at times it can be a hard road to venture down.

As a newer teacher (under the five year mark), I feel much more secure maintaining a full-time job outside the yoga studio and teaching on the side. (I'm also lucky enough to work for Yoga Journal where I can continue feeding my yoga passion every day in a different format.)

I have other teacher friends who I can barely drag out of the studio. They teach ten to twenty classes a week and sometimes more, if the opportunity arises. They work hard and make enough to make ends meet through sheer number of classes. And they love what they do. But I'm not so sure this excess outpour of teaching energy is sustainable. I've seen it lead to burn out more than once.

And then there's the Uber-Teachers. You know the ones -- they teach four classes a week and pull in enough people to fill a stadium. They're doing well and so they should. They're great teachers, well loved, and they are getting compensated for what they do.

So my question is -- how do teachers make the jump from teaching as many classes as they CAN to make ends meet to teaching as many classes as they WANT instead? At what point and in what way does yoga teaching transform into a job that is just as monetarily sustainable as being a banker or a web designer or a school teacher for that matter?

Posted by Hannah O'Reilly on November 17, 2009 3:19 PM Permalink Comments (5)

There appears to be an unspoken debate about using music in yoga class. Sometimes classes are accompanied by soothing melodies, devotional chanting, or even all out of rock. Other classes lean towards no music at all. It's gotten me to wondering -- is there a version that's best? Or, like most things in yoga, does it simply come down to what feels right for you?

In my own teaching I have covered all sides of the spectrum. When I started teaching, music always accompanied my words. I found that music helped to calm my new-to-teaching-nerves. It created an anchor that I could draw inspiration from to structure a class and inspire my students. Plus, some of my favorite teachers use music woven masterfully into their classes so I thought it seemed like a great idea to follow suit.

And yet, after a few years of teaching and, frankly, listening to my small selection of mixes over and over and over, I decided I needed a bit of a musical break. I'd like to say I was inspired by the desire to move towards stillness but, really, I was just tired of all my songs. I'm not a DJ and I didn't want to be one. So I turned the iPod off and just taught.

And then an interesting thing happened.

I found that, for me, turning off the music helped me to focus on the energy of the room and the rhythm of my students' breath. It allowed me to feel more in sync with my students and it felt like they were able to reach a depth of stillness that I hadn't seen before. And so it stuck.

Has this experience caused me to swear off all music in yoga? Definitely not. Sometimes it feels like the room (or maybe me) could use a bit of a musical lift and so I pull my iPod out. I also love live chanting so I weave that into the beginning and end of class as often as I can. I love going to yoga classes with music and without. So I guess I would say I am firmly planted somewhere... in the middle.

For those days that you lean more towards the musical side, visit our monthly playlists for inspiration or check out this Jivamukti sequence set to a downloadable musical track.

Posted by Hannah O'Reilly on November 10, 2009 12:28 PM Permalink Comments (14)

If you are anything like me then when you practice yoga you focus on the asana -- poses that stretch the body (and often the mind). You know that meditation is an important part of the practice and you might sneak in a minute or two of stillness at the beginning or end of your asana fiesta.

Or maybe you sit and meditate for five, ten, twenty minutes a day.

Or maybe you think you should. And you don't.

At one time or another I have fallen into all of these categories. When I began yoga it was hard for me to sit for ten seconds. I was so used to moving and doing and multi-tasking that I'd completely forgotten how to get still. As I became more involved with my asana practice I gradually started to unravel and could proudly hit the ten second mark without even a flinch. From there my endurance grew so that now, ten years later, I can sit for ten minutes straight and not run screaming from my zafu.

Doesn't sound like much, does it? Well, for me, ten minutes feels like a huge victory. (Even then, I go in and out of my meditation practice more often than I would like to admit.) But I know that every time I meditate I feel like I want (need) to do it more.

Where do you sit on meditation? Or do you sit at all?

Looking to learn more about meditation? Check out our collection of meditation articles.

Posted by Hannah O'Reilly on October 23, 2009 9:31 AM Permalink Comments (14)

I was recently watching Yoga Journal's latest DVD: Yoga For Strength and Toning with Flow teacher Stephanie Snyder. (Full disclosure: Stephanie is my main teacher so I am thrilled that she just released this brand new DVD.) Strength and toning seems like a great reason to do yoga but it got me thinking: I wonder how many different reasons there are that people practice yoga?

Some super-busy students of mine do yoga to de-stress; others to stay in shape. Some sporty students do yoga to stretch out after their workout.  I do yoga for different reasons on different days but mostly because it makes me feel good: mind, body, and soul. (And sometimes I joke that I do yoga because it makes me a little bit less crazy.)

I know my students do yoga for some many reasons. What are those reasons for you? What brings you to the mat?

Posted by Hannah O'Reilly on October 21, 2009 10:46 AM Permalink Comments (19)

Recently I came across An Offering of Leaves by Jivamukti yoga teacher Ruth Lauer-Manenti. This new book is a collection of "'dharma talks' -- stories from her life that accompany her classes and represent the yogic commitments to ahimsa (non-violence), compassion, and service."

Usually when I pick up books based on yoga philosophy, all full of enthusiasm to absorb some yogic wisdom, I get lost after three pages and end up abandoning ship. Thankfully, this book was a very welcome exception.

Ruth writes with such simplicity, humor and authenticity that I was immediately drawn into each story. It was easy to see the connection to the Sanskrit verse with which the story began. By the end I felt like I had delved into the ancient texts of The Yoga Sutras and The Bhagavad Gita in a way I never had before and in a way that made sense to me. I'm hoping I can bring this new-found knowledge into my days and to my students.

What other books have helped you deepen your understanding of yoga philosophy in an easy and accessible way?

Posted by Hannah O'Reilly on October 13, 2009 1:00 PM Permalink Comments (3)