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?
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?
The shooting at the army base at Fort Hood that resulted in 13 lives lost and 30 people wounded was a tragedy that saddened the nation. But in the last year, the leaders at the base have been experimenting with new ways--including yoga--to help soldiers deal with the stress and pressure that comes with their jobs. In the aftermath of the shooting, they hope the "resiliency campus," which in a huge facility that offers programs like yoga, aromatherapy, and video games with traditional counseling, will help troops recover from the tragedy, reported the Wall Street Journal.
"The campus ... is designed to impart a new army philosophy
focused on nurturing soldiers' body, mind and spirit," Brigadier General William Grimsley told the Wall Street Journal. "It marks a
radical shift from the philosophy under which the army operated for
years."
As a yoga student, I feel like any shift toward nurturing "body, mind and spirit" is a good one. What do you think?
Opening a new yoga studio (or any business for that matter) in this economy is risky. So when landlords approached a Memphis studio owner about expanding to a new location in their apartment building, the studio owner had reservations. The landlords didn't want the commercial space in their apartment building to sit empty, and they saw a need for a studio in Memphis's Downtown district.
So how did they convince the owner, Sarah Nichols who already owned Midtown Yoga, to take the risk? According to an article in The Commercial Appeal, they offered her a sweet deal. In exchange for a share of profits: No lease, no guaranteed rent. After the studio's been up and running for a few months, they will re-visit the arrangement and possibly negotiate a lease.
It sounds like a creative solution that benefits everyone--especially the people who live in the apartment building or work in the neighborhood! I wish more landlords would do this. What do you think?
A recent study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that teens with eating disorders benefited from establishing a yoga practice, reports Time magazine. In the study, teens (mostly girls ages 11-16) with eating disorders showed longer-lasting improvement when they added a yoga practice to their treatment program. "Food preoccupation may be reduced by focusing attention on yoga poses," wrote researchers.
Has yoga helped you or someone you know deal with an eating disorder?
Is yoga a fitness regime or a spiritual endeavor? This is the question at the root of a debate brewing in Missouri, which recently became the first state to collect sales tax on yoga classes, according to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Here's an excerpt from the article:
"At issue is a Missouri statute that mandates a 4 percent tax on fees
charged for athletic events like Cardinals games, fitness club
memberships and other entertainment, amusement or recreation
businesses.
Yoga teachers say the service they provide is not recreation, but a
form of physical preparation for meditation, based on ancient Hindu
texts, with the ultimate goal of spiritual enlightenment.
But even yogis concede the American interpretation of yoga that has
blossomed, especially in the last 30 years or so, has become popular
for its stress-reducing properties and physical health benefits."
It's a debate we've been having in the yoga community for ages, and both sides have compelling arguments. Do you think yoga classes should be subject to state sales taxes?
A yoga instructor who teaches at Yoga Workshop, a Boulder, Colorado yoga studio founded by Ashtanga Yoga teacher Richard Freeman, has been named in a lawsuit brought on by a former student who claims he was injured during an "unwanted adjustment."
According to the lawsuit, the instructor's "unsolicited physical manipulation" (which occurred in December of 2008) caused injuries that resulted in a permanent disability, reported the The Daily Camera. The lawsuit asserts that the studio should be held responsible for
promoting teachers who alter clients' yoga positions without permission
-- thus creating hazardous conditions.
Good Morning America recently featured yoga as an effective therapy for kids dealing with with both cancer and ADHD. Though no one knows exactly why yoga is an effective treatment, says the report, but it might have something to do with how yoga helps the brain regulate the stress hormone cortisol.
Watch the video here, and please share your healing yoga stories by commenting below.
When it comes to the fashion industry as a whole, it's no secret that designers tailor their clothing to thinner, smaller bodies. Considering the inclusive nature of yoga, however, you might expect things are different in the yoga fashion industry. But a recent article in the Vancouver Sun suggests that yoga-inspired clothing company Lululemon isn't doing all that it can to keep its stores stocked with larger-sized clothing (12 and 14? Isn't that average for American women?). Lululemon does carry sizes 12 and 14 in their core items, a spokesperson told The Sun.
Regardless of Lululemon's practices, the article brings up some important questions: Have plus-size yogia students been excluded from the trendy world of yoga fashion? If you're an average- or plus-size yogini with curves, do you have a hard time finding comfortable, stylish yoga clothes?
Which companies do you think do the best job of creating clothes for all different shapes and sizes?
By now most of us have heard about the tragic Spiritual Warrior retreat and sweat lodge in Arizona that resulted in three deaths and dozens more hospitalizations. The retreat, led by James Author Ray, was meant to facilitate the "spiritual cleansing" of the 60 participants. It seems the participants pushed themselves too far in an attempt to reach their spiritual goals.
It's something we can all relate to as yoga students. Bay Area yoga teacher Katchie Ananda wrote a column in the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday that I think draws an important parallel.
"As a spiritual seeker, I'm very aware of the "edge," the place where we
push ourselves past our comfort zone, to let go of old patterns and
explore a bigger potential. In a culture that is focused on comfort,
that's often an important exercise," writes Ananda. "But how far should we push
ourselves or encourage our students to push?"
Have you ever pushed yourself too far in yoga class--physically, mentally, or spiritually? And how can you tell that it's time to back off?
In case you didn't notice the masses of pink ribbons everywhere recently, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. It seems like a good time for a reminder that earlier this year studies have shown that yoga can improve the outlook and energy of breast cancer patients. (See "Restorative Yoga Helps Cancer Patients".)
I also know there are many people in the yoga community who are working to raise both awareness and money for the breast cancer cause everyday. I'd love to hear your stories. What are you, your studio, and/or your community doing for Breast Cancer Awareness Month? How has your yoga practice influenced your work?
As yoga for dogs has become popular in recent months, I've read article after article about the novelty of classes that claim to share the benefits of a yoga practice with your furry four-legged companions. I've read the stories, but I've never quite wrapped my mind around how exactly a dog yoga class (AKA Doga) might work.
Today I ran across this video, which put an end to my curiosity.
I don't know about you, but my precious puppy (Full-disclosure: I just adopted her on Saturday, and she's a baby!) would NEVER be still long enough for me to lift her over my head like that.
In a recent interview with the NY Times, Law and Order actress Tamara Tunie shared a little insight into what her yoga practice is like:
"At 1 I'm at the Bikram yoga studio in the neighborhood. There we sweat and stretch and focus for 90
minutes. Bikram, for those who don't know yoga, is also called the hot
yoga--because the room temperature is over 100 degrees. If you could
do it naked, you would, but with 30 people in the class, it wouldn't be
pretty. It's somewhat torturous, particularly if I've had a couple of
drinks at the clubs the night before. But of the 30 people, most of
them probably have hangovers."
I want to hear from you Bikram (and heated vinyasa or Power Yoga) practitioners out there. If you could do it naked, would you? And how often do you go to yoga class hungover?
A recent government study in the U.K. found that fewer school children are participating in school sports and are signing up for more "fun" non-competitive alternatives like circus skills (think juggling) and yoga, reported the Telegraph.co.uk.
According to the article: "The study found that 58 per cent of secondary schools - and almost a third of
all schools - offered cheerleading as a sport, more than a fifth
trampolining, 21 per cent yoga and 18 per cent 'circus skills'. This compares to the number offering rugby falling from almost three quarters
of schools in 2006 to two thirds now."
Could this be a new trend in the United States, too? Do you think it could be a good thing?
There's no denying Lululemon's rise in popularity or its wildly popular marketing campaigns designed to inspire (and sometimes shock) us all to get healthy and look good doing it. As a New York Times writer put it in a recent article: "Everything [aboout Lululemon's stores] is relentlessly cheery, as if someone were constantly tapping me on the shoulder and saying 'Yay!'"
But the writer gets at something more profound than the bottom line of the yoga-inspired clothing franchise. What does Lululemon's success say about the yoga community when the company's positive, goal-oriented approach to marketing has been so successful? Isn't yoga really about accepting and loving yourself no matter what you look like in your pants? (Let's face it, people, it's not always a happy, sunny picture.)
Is this really our secret yoga mantra?: "I am willing to bow to an
elephant-headed god, but I refuse to look skanky when I walk to my car
after class because there might be a hot guy around." Are we losing something by adapting an ancient practice to fit into our modern lifestyles or just making it more accessible?
The newest professional athlete to give yoga a try is basketball star Shaquille O'Neal. The Cleveland Cavaliers center tried a class in suburban Cleveland, according to the Associated Press. He needed two mats to accommodate his 7-foot-1, 325-pound frame. (The studio will be special ordering a 100-inch-long mat for his next class.)
"I'm the worst yoga student in the history of yoga," O'Neal said.
But if he was out of his element, imagine how his teacher must have felt trying to come up with appropriate modifications for the basketball player.
"He's got some tight hamstrings," his teacher Tami Schneider, owner of Cleveland Yoga in Beachwood told the AP. "He's obviously a
big, strong man. He told me he doesn't stretch very often and that was
pretty apparent. I'm looking forward to working with him to get him
into some deeper stretches."
When it comes to comedy movies, yoga is often portrayed as either a weird, New Age activity or a prime opportunity for wildly inappropriate sexual innuendo. Based on the press surrounding Couples Retreat, a movie about couples who go on a retreat to save their troubled marriages, I'm guessing it falls into the second category.
Vince Vaughn, who stars in the film, told Parade.com that the yoga class scene came from an experience he had in real life. "I had a girlfriend in L.A. who took me to a yoga
class," he said. "While it was going on I was saying to myself, 'Is this really happening?' It was like the
instructor was making all these moves and he was basically dry humping the girls. Nobody batted an
eye. I felt like I was in The Twilight Zone. So we had our class in the movie with a
creepy yoga guy."
Here's the trailer for the movie (the yoga class is at the very end!)
Couples Retreat opens today! The reviews aren't great, but it looks like it will be good for a few healthy laughs. Will you go see it?
Anyone who's tried yoga can attest to its soothing, stress-relieving benefits. Of course, business people (and, really anyone who has a job) have been flocking to yoga for some time to seek relief from their stressful jobs. This was the topic of a story that ran recently in the Jacksonville Business Journal featuring lawyers, executives, and business people of all kinds.
"Among the 16 million Americans practicing yoga, they represent a new
class of yogis," writes the Jacksonville Business Journal reporter. "They are neither the obnoxious yoga yuppie breed
sporting $98 Lululemon yogawear, nor the incense-burning,
Maharishi-loving hippie in search of enlightenment. These overworked
corporate types are finding a practical application for yoga in their
work life: balance."
I love stories that highlight the growing population of people who practice yoga, but it seems unfair to divide the yoga community into these neat, stereotypical groups. What do you think? Do you identify yourself as a yuppie, hippie, or corporate yogi?
If you're like me it just dawned on you that the time to start planning for the holiday season is NOW. Earlier this week my husband started the frantic search for affordable plane tickets. And, because I love handmade gifts (and perhaps am a bit of a glutton for punishment), I began taking inventory of all my crafting supplies and started a new knitting project. Unfortunately, preparation for the holiday season is one of those times that my yoga practice suffers and my mind spins with infinite to-do lists.
So this is perfect timing for a reminder of the many ways yoga can help ease the pain and stress of crafting on a deadline. I loved the feature Crafting a Green World did on yoga for crafters. They covered a wide variety of crafts--everything from jewelry to scrapbooking--and even specific body parts that crafters tend to sacrifice for their art.
Be sure to check the blog, then let us know what projects you plan to work on this season. Does yoga help you with your crafting hobbies? Do you use it to combat holiday stress?
If you're looking for a new project for a yogi friend, consider a mat bag or eye pillow.
Swami Ramdev, the Indian guru who claimed yoga could cure homosexuality, now suggests that the practice of pranayama (conscious breathing) can heal diseases such as Swine Flu, cancer, and AIDS, reported the Press Trust of India.
Ramdev shared his ideas with thousands of yoga fans, who
gathered in Toronto, and insisted that his teachings
were based on science."Yoga is the universal and scientific
philosophy of self-realisation and healing. Our personal life
should also be full of austerity and self-control and a
complete sense of denunciation."
We know that yoga and pranayama have amazing healing benefits, but do you think that it can really heal or prevent H1N1, cancer, and/or AIDS?
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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. 
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