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.

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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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Seniors Challenge Yoga Stereotype

April 19, 2013

Sherry and Laura

Sherry Campbell Bechtold and Laura Peters
Photo by Sonya Myers

Tao Porchon-Lynch. Dharma Mittra. Lilias Folan. Some of our most knowledgeable and inspiring yoga teachers aren’t pushing their bodies to the edge with endless vinyasas or ever-more-acrobatic practices. Their yoga keeps them healthy and fit and they get to enjoy well-deserved senior discounts.

Of course, these yogi elders were part of the wave that has made yoga the widely popular practice it is today. But not everyone over age 60 has been at it for decades. More and more seniors and late-middle-aged folks are turning to yoga to help them stay healthy and active for longer into their golden years. Take, for example, the teacher training class at The Yoga Sanctuary in Punta Gorda, Florida, where all but three students are in their 50s and 60s.

“We think the world should know that one does not have to be 20, gorgeous, and a super athlete to do or teach yoga,” said Sherry Campbell Bechtold, 67. “We want to spread the word to other seniors to get to the mat!”

Yoga helped Campbell Bechtold cope with scoliosis so severe that even walking was a challenge. She was inspired to become a yoga teacher to be an example for others who might think that yoga isn’t for them. “I felt that, if they saw me, a senior, with significant physical challenges, doing yoga, and feeling well, then perhaps they might give it a try.”

Laura Peters, 64, also started yoga to help her with a medical condition: a tick bite that caused her to lose her balance and forced her into retirement when she was in her 50s. “I had no intentions to teach when I began the program, but now, with my new-found understanding, I want to help those who need a push to feel better physically and to feel better inside as well,” she told Buzz.

Does having more life experience make you a better yoga teacher? Not necessarily, says Bechtold. “Knowing how to help students approach yoga from wherever they are in their lives, ensuring their safety and with the goal of improving students’ quality of life, that is what makes a good teacher whether 20 or 80—it’s not an age thing.”

We couldn’t agree more.

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Never Stop Learning

April 17, 2013

teachingIn the last couple of years yoga injuries have come to the forefront of conversation. Many articles and blog posts have been written about how to stay safe. Perhaps the best piece of advice is to make sure you’re studying with a teacher who is experienced and has enough training to safely guide you. A single 200-hour teacher training might not be enough, so continuing education is important for both teachers and the students they teach.

Yoga Alliance, the nonprofit governing body of yoga that regulates the training programs and specifications in the U.S., requires that teachers take at least 30 continuing education units (CEUs) every three years, from the date they first registered as yoga teacher (in addition to teaching at least 45 hours during that time, as well). While in-person trainings are the best, through workshops at your studio or at yoga conferences, teachers can also get CEU credits through non-contact hours. One CEU hour is credited to teachers for every five hours of non-contact study, which could be studying through yoga books, magazines, DVDs, participating in webinars or online courses, publishing your own work on yoga, or even creating class materials.

Of course, even if you’re not a teacher, these resources can help you dig deeper into your practice. Here are a few convenient options for continuing education.

Yoga U Online
Yoga U is what its name says: a university for yoga. You can find online courses, webinars, articles, and downloads on all things yoga (from yoga therapy to yoga nidra) at this great, thorough website.

Teachasana
This is an online educational resource by yoga teachers for yoga teachers. Teachasana is home to weekly articles written by yoga teachers from all over the world, reviews of products for yoga teachers, free online workshops, and even suggested playlists to use in your classes.

My Yoga Online
Developed in 2004, this first online yoga school offers one of the largest and most diverse Mind-Body video and article libraries in the world. Teachers include Shiva Rea, Cyndi Lee, and Mark Whitwell. This site also has a page dedicated to teacher education.

YogaGlo
This online yoga school allows you to search specifically for videos and workshops by style, duration, specific use or body part, and experience level. YogaGlo features trainings being taught by teachers such as Jason Crandell, Kathryn Budig, and Seane Corn. The YogaGlo blog also has regular blog posts with teaching tips from Jason Crandell.

Yoga Journal
Yoga Journal’s website has an entire section devoted specifically to teachers. You can find everything here from live downloads of courses and articles on yoga therapeutics and philosophy, to how to conduct your yoga business.

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