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?

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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?

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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?

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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?
 

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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.

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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?

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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.

Do you agree or disagree?

UPDATE: For more coverage check out ElephantJournal.com.

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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.

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