Yoga Chains Here to Stay

May 22, 2013

pure yogaAs yoga climbs steadily in popularity, yoga studio chains continue to pop up and flourish across the country and beyond. Some folks scorn the yoga chain the same way some scorn the supermarket chain, opting instead for the intimate, more personal vibe of the independently run studio as they would the local health-food store. But others love going to a yoga studio that offers lots of different class options and has a consistent brand so that no matter where you are, you know what to expect. Plus membership at one can often allow you to take classes at another location.

Whether you’re traveling or just curious about these big players in the yoga market, here’s the lowdown on some popular yoga chains:

CorePower Yoga
Where: More than 20 locations throughout California, including Los Angeles, Berkeley, and San Diego. East Coast studios in Washington, DC, and Boston are on the way.
Flavor: CorePower focuses on body transformation, and offers intense, strength-building vinyasa classes set to music that will make you sweat.
Styles: You’ll find a lot of power yoga at these studios, plus hot yoga, and even a Yin-inspired class or two.  There are also a variety of hybrid classes that combine yoga with Pilates, Barre method, bike work, and more.

YogaWorks
Where: More than 20 locations throughout California and New York.
Mission: YogaWorks puts emphasis on smart, skillful practice, and employs mainly seasoned teachers with several years of experience.
Styles: Though it is a predominantly Vinyasa-based studio chain, YogaWorks also offers everything from Iyengar to AntiGravity yoga, Kundalini, Spulptoworks TRX, and yoga for seniors. There are also YogaWorks signature classes, which emphasize alignment and precision.

Yoga at Equinox
Where: Dozens of locations on both coasts, including California, Boston, Connecticut, New York, and Florida.
Flavor: Equinox, a high-end gym,  raised its yoga profile last year with two sexy videos featuring yoga teacher Briohny Smyth doing beautifully executed asana in very little clothing. Located mainly in urban centers, Equinox caters to a busy, professional clientele who want quality classes in a state-of-the-art fitness environment.
Styles: Equinox  offers flow yoga, but there are some variations on the theme, including Deep Flow Soul Yoga and Stiff Guy Yoga. You’ll also see mellower classes like Yin on the schedule.

YYoga
Where: Eight locations throughout British Columbia, including Vancouver, Whistler, and Burnaby.
Flavor: YYoga (created by music mogul and yogin Terry McBride and partner Lara Kozan) offers an all-inclusive environment with multitple classes plus wellness services such as massage, acupuncture, and chiropractic. Studios are fairly upscale, and include showers, tea, and towel service. Some locations have a sauna, too.
Styles: A wide array of classes are offered here, including the usual Flow and hatha classes, as well as signature “Yhot” and “Ywarm” classes and yoga classes that include hiking and indoor cycling.

Yoga to the People
Where: New York, San Francisco, Berkeley, Arizona State University (ASU)
Flavor: Yoga to the People was created as a response to the high-priced studios all over the country, both chains and independently owned. All classes are donation-based (except at ASU), and the yoga is open to everyone.
Styles: Mostly strong vinyasa classes, so be prepared to get warm and sweat. The focus is more on awareness and community in these classes than it is on precision and alignment in poses.

Jivamukti Yoga
Where: New York, Charleston, London, Munich, Berlin, Sydney
Flavor:  More spiritual in nature than most of the other yoga studio chains, Jivamukti Yoga, founded by David Life and Sharon Gannon, emphasizes that the practice of asana is a path to enlightenment. This core philosophy is expressed through five tenets of ahimsa (non harming, and adherence to veganism), bhatki (service), dhyana (meditation), nada (listening), shastra (study). The practice has a devoted following of known figures such as Russell Simmons and Kris Carr, and the studios host popular kirtan and other musical events.
Style: Open classes are self-paced and include asana, meditation, and spiritual teachings; Basics, which go through yoga asana fundamentals for four-weeks; Beginner Vinyasa; Spiritual Warrior, an hourlong fast-paced vinyasa class; and meditation.

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Yoga Teachers Tapped to Sell Natural Skincare Line

May 20, 2013

pangea promotion

Pangea Organics, a natural skincare company based in Boulder, Colorado, and sold in stores like Whole Foods, has changed its business model to include direct selling—and is banking on the yoga teaching community to climb aboard.

“I’m a yogi, and I’ve been in the yoga world for a decade,” Pangea’s founder and CEO Joshua Onysko told Buzz. “A lot of friends, even those who are successful yoga teachers, aren’t making a lot of money. This can help them, and it’s something they can believe in from the bottom to the top.”

Direct selling, also called social selling or multilevel marketing, is the model used by companies like Pampered Chef. Salespeople host parties to let their friends try out and buy new products, and offer those friends the opportunity to sell the products themselves.

In the Pangea model, “Beauty Ecologists” make an initial investment of $199 and receive a 25-30 percent commission on all product sales. If they get their friends to enroll as salespeople, they also receive a small percentage of their sales.

Pangea Organics, which launched in 2000, has earned accolades for its commitment to sustainably harvested natural products for its skincare line and biodegradable (even plantable) packaging. The company, which has annual sales of more than $12 million, is sold in 400 natural products retailers nationwide, though Onysko says that by summer’s end, the products will only be sold in about 250 retail outlets. And as the direct selling takes off, the company will eliminate product sales to the public through its website.

The main benefit of this business change, Onysko says, is that it will allow the company to expand its reach beyond the natural products market—even if its customer base is the same demographic of people who shop for organic produce. “Two out of 10 or 12 people who go to places like Whole Foods go into the body care department,” he explains.

The change also supports the company’s mission to give back, Onysko says, in this case to the brand’s loyal consumers who choose to sell the products. “It’s enabling people to live their passion, live the way they want to live, and sell a product that they really believe in.”

Some prominent yoga teachers have already signed on, including Tommy Rosen and Elena Brower. Brower’s image, in particular, has been widely used in Pangea’s recent promotions.

Onysko told Buzz that he doesn’t believe in hiring a celebrity spokesperson, as many larger cosmetic and skincare companies do, but having high-profile yoga teachers is different because they are “compensated based on what they decide to do, not what we pay them to do.”

As for her decision to get involved, Brower, founder of Virayoga in New York City and a frequent Yoga Journal contributor and Conference presenter, cites less travel and more family time as top priorities that the additional revenue allows her to enjoy. As an early joiner and with some 250 people signed on with her, she is one of Pangea’s top salespeople. But she also says she’s passionate about reducing toxins in our waste stream and promoting more ecological alternatives. Helping other yoga teachers find additional channels to support themselves is a bonus. “Often I see how hard it is for yoga teachers to believe they should earn a real income for their work,” she says.

“For me, the measures of whether I’ll choose a source of income are intention and integrity,” she says.

 

 

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Does Your Cat Do Yoga?

May 17, 2013

The newest yoga video to go viral isn’t of someone practicing amazing handstands or even a silly spoof that makes fun of yogis–it’s a sweet video that demonstrates how to practice with your feline friends.

Screen shot 2013-05-17 at 10.40.15 AM

Toronto power yoga teacher Rob Moore’s YouTube channel, ShoKo, isn’t about promoting his yoga brand. Instead it’s all about sharing his adorable cats, Shorty and Kodi, with the world. His video, “Yoga and Cats,” which he posted to YouTube last week already has more than 135,000 views, and we keep seeing it pop up in our Facebook feed! (Thanks to YogaDork for sharing it.)

“Cats are natural yogis so I thought it would be fun to incorporate them into a flow, seeing as how chill they are,” Moore says. For the video, he gave each of the poses cat names. We especially love Cuddlecatasana, Crescent Purrior, and Utcatasana.

While he doesn’t always intend to practice yoga with his cats when he unrolls his mat at home, Moore says they join in whether he likes it or not–something every yogi who has cats can relate to.

There are classes that incorporate dogs and yoga, does this mean will Cat Yoga be the next yoga trend? “I don’t think I’d teach a class for people and their cats,” he says. “Judging from the comments on my video, I’d need to have good first aid services available!”

Guess we’ll just have to settle for practicing Cuddcatasana at home.

Watch the video here. Do you practice yoga with your pets?

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Yoga Alliance Expands Reach

May 13, 2013

Yoga classYoga Alliance, the nonprofit organization that registers yoga teachers and teacher training programs, is expanding its reach. A new focus on helping teachers with the business side of their work and an initiative to strengthen the credentialing program for schools puts the organization front and center in helping to guide yoga as a profession.

The organization now offers liability insurance for full-time and part-time yoga teachers and studios, has begun hosting online workshops on the business of yoga, and has made the 2013 Yoga Alliance Conference taking place in Washington D.C. in August, all about business.

The organization is also encouraging teachers and studio owners to learn from each other through a new Local Communities Initiative. “There are so many yoga teachers and studio owners who are passionate about yoga but lack experience in business matters like marketing, customer relations, finance, managing employees and independent contractors, etc., and they’re not getting much help,” Laura Burch, the communications director for Yoga Alliance, told Buzz.

These efforts are part of a bigger shift that is happening with Yoga Alliance since a new CEO, Richard Karpel, came on board last July. The organization has faced a lot of scrutiny since YA-registered yoga studios seemed to have been targeted by tax officials in New York. “We are growing and changing, and we’re doing so collaboratively with our members to make sure we’re living up to their expectations,” Burch said.

According to the Yoga Alliance website, there are more than 37,000 yoga teachers and 2,500 yoga teacher training programs registered with the organization.

What might have the biggest impact on Yoga Alliance (and how its perceived by the public) is an initiative to strengthen the credentialing program for yoga schools. Since yoga is such a diverse practice, it might be difficult to agree on exactly what a yoga teacher should know in order to be qualified to teach. More than 100 volunteers have joined a standards committee  to offer their feedback on the credentialing process, according to a YA press release.

For more information and to learn more about the new benefits offered by Yoga Alliance, visit yogaalliance.org.

 

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New Website Teaches Kirtan

May 10, 2013

woman singingIf you have found yourself downloading music by Krishna Das and Jai Uttal, chances are you’ve found your way to kirtan, the call-and-response devotional music that comes from bhakti yoga.

Many yoga teachers use live or recorded kirtan in their classes because it induces a meditative state and inspires a feeling of community. And the experience of attending a kirtan event, with a live performer leading the call and response of devotional lyrics from the room, is an amazing, energizing, and deeply heart-felt experience.

But if you’ve ever thought you’d like to learn more than the words to a few simple chants, you might notice that harmonium and kirtan teachers are not exactly as easy to find as piano teachers. Unless you’re lucky enough to live in an areas where there are a lot of kirtan artists nearby, it can be challenging to get quality instruction.

That’s why harmonium teacher and founder of Kirtan Central Daniel Tucker created Bhakti Breakfast Club, a new website that offers streaming video of harmonium and kirtan instruction, home practice exercises, and downloads for $25 a month. “I really feel that many thousands of people around the world are sitting there with their harmonium and their Krishna Das CDs, frustrated because they can’t figure it out,” he told Buzz. “And they just need a halfway decent music teacher.” Tucker, a well-known kirtan teacher and performer,  teaches workshops at places like Kripalu, and has collaborated with Krishna Das and Jai Uttal, among others.

Learning a new skill is only part of the mission of the Bhakti Breakfast Club, Tucker says. A big part of the kirtan movement is the sense of community, and he hopes that Bhakti Breakfast Club will help to bring together those who are interested in the practice. “People are falling in love with kirtan for many reasons. It awakens the heart. It awakens the voice. And it opens us up and makes us available to bond in sacred community, as we all sing, dance, and pray together,” he says. “That kind of community we crave, even if we didn’t know we craved it.”

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Rape Accusations Against Bikram Choudury

May 9, 2013

BIKRAM_MA00_D-150x150Bikram Choudhury, the controversial founder of Bikram Yoga, has been named in two new lawsuits filed by two women accusing him of rape, according to a report from Courthousenews.com. The lawsuits, which were filed in California, also allege that people close to Choudhury recruit women for him knowing abuse is a possibility.

These lawsuits come after Bikram Yoga teacher Sarah Baughn filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Choudhury in March.

In one of lawsuits filed this week a Jane Doe alleges sexual battery, false imprisonment, discrimination, harassment, and other counts in addition to the rape allegation. It describes a cult-like atmosphere where Bikram’s followers help him find young women to assault. “Other persons in defendant Bikram Choudhury’s inner circle, were aware of defendant Bikram Choudhury’s pattern and practice of causing, inducing or persuading young women to enroll in teacher training classes to become yoga instructors only so he can sexually assault and/or rape them,” the lawsuit claims.

It describes the details of the rape that allegedly occurred during a teacher training in November of 2010. “I need to spiritually enlighten you. In order to do that, we need to become one,” the lawsuit claims Choudhury said before the alleged rape.

While less information about the second lawsuit has been reported, the Jane Doe in that case reported being raped by Choudhury twice.

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Early Yoga Studios Thrive

May 8, 2013

yoga classPeople have been practicing yoga for thousands of years, but in the United States it’s a relatively new pursuit. Even newer are yoga studios. Most were created within the last 20 years; some of the more well-known chains, less than a decade. But some pioneering studios, dating back to the 1970s, not only still stand, but are thriving in a very different business landscape than when they began.

Back then, the founders often opened shop without business plans or longterm goals—or, really, any thought that teaching yoga could be a lifetime, even profitable, career. (Nevermind any inkling that yoga would become the multi-billion dollar lifestyle industry it is today.) They did so out of their devotion to the practice and the desire to share it with like-minded seekers.

Thirty-plus years later, we honor these early houses of yoga and their founders for having paved the way for all of the studios that have followed, and for bestowing the practice upon all of us.

The Yoga Studio
In 1979, Carolyn Heines opened the doors of this Grand Rapids, Michigan, studio.  She recently told Mlive.com that back then, people thought she was saying “yogurt” when she told them her profession.  The studio has changed locations several times in order to expand, but it never left its hometown. Iyengar-focused, the studio also includes an all-women staff of seasoned instructors. Heines is still at the helm, along with her business partner and fellow teacher, Kat McKinney.

The Yoga Institute
This Texas studio started in Houston in 1974. At the time, it housed one of the largest supplies of books, props, and tapes (yes, tapes!) around. Founded by Lex Gillian, it’s now run by one of Gillian’s early students, Rae Lynn Rath. It was an Anusara studio for some years and has gone through other permutations, but now classes in a variety of yoga traditions are taught. A second location opened in Clear Lake, and has hosted guest teachers including Ram Dass, Lilias Folan, Judith Lasater, and Deepak Chopra.

Unity Woods
John Schumacher, one of only 13 Americans to hold the title of certified advanced Iyengar Yoga teacher, founded Unity Woods in 1979 in a temporary location in Washington, DC. By 1985, he’d found a more permanent home in Maryland, making it the Beltway’s first full-time yoga studio. Today there are three Unity Woods locations, in Bethesda, Woodley Park (DC), and Arlington (Virginia), making it the largest Iyengar studio in the country.

Yoga Phoenix
This Kundalini Yoga studio has been around since 1970 and is actually one of the oldest Kundalini Yoga centers in the world. Located in Phoenix, it has expanded over the years and now exists in a yoga complex that includes an art gallery. The studio is part of 3HO, or “Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization,” a not-for-profit initiative created to spread the teachings of Yogi Bhajan, the founder of Kundalini Yoga, to anyone who wants to learn the practice, regardless of their financial situation.

Ashtanga Yoga Center

Encinitas, California, has long been considered the American home of Ashtanga yoga; it’s where Sri Pattabhi Jois, Guruji to his followers, first came to teach with this son Manju, and where he returned many times before his death in 2009. This yoga center, originally called the Ashtanga Yoga Nilayam, was founded by Brad Ramsey and Gary Lopedota in 1978, and taken over by Tim Miller in 1981. Renamed the Ashtanga Yoga Center, it has changed locations throughout the Encintas area, but remains one of the most respected and influential Ashtanga Yoga studios in the country.

Honorable Mention:

Last year Yoga Buzz featured one of the “youngins’” of these early studios, Piedmont Yoga in Oakland, California, when it celebrated its 25th anniversary.

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Baby Boomers and Yoga

May 6, 2013

Cancer_214_1One of the best things about yoga is how easily it can be adapted to meet the needs of practically anyone willing to give it a try. But there’s no one-size-fits-all yoga class, which is why it’s so important to find experienced teachers who are well versed in modifying the practice to different conditions and body types.  Perhaps one of the fastest growing groups of yogis is the Baby Boomer generation, which is why some teachers are beginning to offer classes tailored specifically to their needs. Last week, the New York Times Well blog interviewed well known yoga teachers who are increasingly catering to this growing demographic of yoga practitioners.

“People want to be pushed, but not in the same way they did in their 30s,” said Desiree Rumbaugh, who, at 54, leads a class aimed at fellow yogis 50 and older called Wisdom Warriors in Del Mar, California and in workshops around the country. The class, according to her website, focuses on making practice “intelligent and wise.”

The above 50 crowd can definitely benefit from yoga, and their life experience can be an advantage on the mat, experts such as Loren Fishmen, MD., reported. (See Yoga Buzz for a recent report about the demand for yoga instruction for people over age 60.) But a vigorous vinyasa class might not be the best place for them to optimize those benefits. More time to warm up and an emphasis on weight bearing poses and balance postures may be particularly helpful to this age group.

If you’re interested in adapting your current home or studio class practice to meet your needs, the Yoga for Healthy Aging blog has loads of information. Its contributors are seasoned teachers such YJ.com’s Doctor’s Orders blogger Baxter Bell, YJ’s contributing medical editor Timothy McCall, and author and teacher Nina Zolotow. They offer advice for modifying for common medical conditions, answer questions, and offer suggestions to help keep yogis practicing well into their later years.

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Forbes Names Top Yoga Cities

April 29, 2013

yoga classForbes recently released a list of the top 10 yoga cities in the United States. It rated the cities based on how likely city dwellers said they are to practice.

“To determine the top U.S. cities for yoga, we turned to data from the marketing firm GfK MRI, which conducted surveys in 205 markets last year, asking participants whether they practiced yoga, and if so, how frequently and for how long,” Forbes said.

It’s not a big surprise that the San Francisco Bay Area, home to Yoga Journal and the first airport yoga room, came in first. The surveys found that Bay Area residents are 59 percent more likely to unroll their yoga mats than the general population. Seattle came in next, and Philadelphia was third.

Perhaps the only surprise on the list was Boise, Idaho, which tied for 9th place with San Diego (residents in both cities were 21 percent more likely to practice than the general population). Though Boise might seem like an unlikely yoga city, it made two other Forbes lists recently (Fastest-Growing Cities and Best Places for Business and Careers) and it has a vibrant art scene so “perhaps it’s not so surprising after all,” wrote Forbes contributor Alice G. Walton, hinting that a progressive workforce might be more likely to practice yoga.

For the full list, visit Forbes.com. Did your city make the list? What qualities do you think makes a “top yoga city”?

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Yogis Celebrate Earth Day

April 22, 2013

SF yogis celebrate earth day

Earth Day is an opportunity to spread awareness about important environmental issues and to show appreciation for the natural world around us, but for many yoga students it’s also a time to celebrate the yogic principle of ahimsa, or non-harming. So each year yogis across the country gather to pick up trash in their communities, attend festivals, and take their mats out into nature to reconnect to their commitment to tread lightly on the earth.

This year, yogis in cities across the globe will gather to meditate, practice yoga, and dance in flash mob at local Earth Day festivals. Unify, the group that helps organize meditation flash mobs led the celebration to “catalyze an awareness and excitement for our connection to the earth. It’s a reminder that we’re all a part of one living, breathing being,” said a promo video.

Flash mob participants learned choreography to go along with the Michael Franti songs “Hey World “and “Say Hey (I Love You)” after group meditation and yoga sessions.

To view a map of all the Earth Day flash mob events visit Unify.org (while most events happened over the weekend, some are scheduled to take place today.)

Do you celebrate Earth Day?

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