Yoga Buzz

Vegan diet and yoga fight cancer

2008-07-02T19:08:40Z

If you are a vegan yogis, you are already well on your way to fighting prostate cancer. Researchers found that this combination "seems to switch on genes that fight disease, while effectively turning off others that can promote cancer," reports the U.K.'s Telegraph. The findings were reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Dr. Dean Ornish, working with Dr. Christopher Haqq and Prof. Peter Carroll. How has a vegan diet and yoga affected your health?

It's official: September is National Yoga Month

2008-06-30T20:52:51Z

You may have read Friday's entry about Yoga Month with some interest. But now, according to The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, September is officially National Yoga Month (just like October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month). Visit http://www.healthfinder.gov/library/nho/nho.asp?year=2008#527 for more info. How, if at all, do you think this will affect the yoga community?

Join the yoga health revolution

2008-06-27T15:00:41Z

Well, if you are reading this, you probably already have joined the yoga health revolution. But if you sign up at yogamonth.org, you can receive an eNews bulletin. What's yoga month? "Yoga Month is a year-round campaign and will peak Sept. 2008 with the 10 City Yoga Health Festival Tour and with millions of health & social conscious individuals practicing yoga at thousands of yoga studios and homes around the world." Many yoga studios and teachers have already promised to participate. To find an event near you, visit http://yogamonth.org/event/index.php. Tickets are as little as $25. Does this interest you?

This mat is automatic, it's systematic, it's hydromatic, why, it's YogaMatic!

2008-06-25T21:16:52Z

Did you get my Grease reference? Anyway, have you ever wanted to design your own yoga mat? Then check out www.yogamatic.com. You can create an eco-friendly yoga mat using your own photo or artwork. Put a photo of your baby/boyfriend/wife on a mat, so you can give them a kiss every time you move into Chaturanga Dandasana. Snuggle up with your pet during Savasana. The possibilities are endless . . .

Do you dream of teaching yoga on a yacht?

2008-06-23T20:52:10Z

If so, you'll want to visit Hands Om Crew ( www.handsomcrew.com), a crew placement agency that connects yoga and massage therapist practitioners with yacht owners. Hands OM Crew was founded by Denise Dobbs after she had retired from ten years of service in the yachting industry as a massage therapist. Has anyone ever worked on a yacht?

Dude, where's my yoga mat?

2008-06-20T20:41:20Z

Yoga and surfing: two great tastes that taste great together? Totally dude, according to Liquid Yoga + Surf. And now is the perfect time to check out their New York-based classes, clinics, workshops, and camps. For more information, visit www.liquidyogaandsurf.com. On the West Coast, try www.yogaforsurfers.com or www.surfingyoga.com. Can the surfers out there recommend other classes or workshops?

Olympic Yoga?

2008-06-18T15:55:53Z

Should yoga become an Olympic event? According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, members of the competitive yoga movement (many are Bikram yogis) hope to win over the International Olympic Commission in time for the 2020 summer games. What do you think?

Yoga action figures!

2008-06-16T16:08:37Z

Not just for kids, yoga action figures were created by yoga teacher Raymond D. Fogleman to help new students with their home practice. The "3-D Yogis and Yoginis Box of Poses" set is made with recycled plastic, paper, and cardboard, costs $29.99 and is available on Fogleman's website, www.rayzodyssey.com. Would you use these to help your practice, or maybe just to pass the time while on a long conference call?

Talk radio with a yogic spin

2008-06-13T15:10:40Z

I admit it, talk radio makes me cringe. But, aha!, here is something yogis might find interesting. It's a new radio program called Beat the Health Out of You (www.beatthehealthoutofyou.com). You can listen in on Sundays, from 1-2 pm central time, at www.710kcmo.com. The show is hosted by yoga teacher Sumya Anani. For more on Anani, visit www.sumya.com. And let me know if you listen in this weekend.

Do yogis look younger?

2008-06-11T15:35:50Z

A Prevention article "Use Yoga to Stop the Clock," is getting renewed media coverage. It claims that yoga minimizes wrinkles, slows weight gain, eases pain, helps you sleep and keeps you sharp. Do you find this to be true? Do you look younger than people your age who don't do yoga?

Revenge of Yoga ...

2008-06-09T20:24:18Z

No, it's not a movie about a bunch of nerdy yogis. It's the "long-awaited sequel to last year's SB Dance's 'Yoga the Musical,'" writes Scott Iwasaki of the Deseret News. (See my post on June 29, 2007 re: "Yoga the Muscial.") "Revenge of Yoga" opened on June 5 and can be seen at Salt Lake City's Rose Wagner Center on June 13, 14 and 15. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, 'Revenge' is a new-and-expanded version of the last year's satirical that follows Jackti, a good yogi who tries to stop Danny a bad yogi who hatches an evil plan to monopolize yoga. Anyone out there seen this year or last year's show?

How powerful is yoga? Can it change a (skeptic's) life?

2008-06-06T19:47:04Z

A new film, EnlightenUp, takes a look at the world of yoga through the eyes of novice practitioner and skeptic, New York City journalist Nick Rosen. The film follows Rosen through mainland United States, Hawaii, and India as Boston-based filmmaker and yoga enthusiast Kate Churchill documents his increasing immersion in the world of yoga. Her goal is to prove that yoga can transform anyone, even Rosen.

The film was inspired by and has a substantial section filmed with Norman Allen, a renowned yoga guru on Hawaii's Big Island. Other teachers that make an appearance in the film include Pattabhi Jois, B.K.S. Iyengar, Sharon Gannon and David Life, Dharma Mitra, Rodney Yee, Cyndi Lee, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Alan Finger, Baron Baptiste, and Beryl Bender Birch.

EnlightenUp premiers at the Maui International Film Festival's Castle Theater June 12, and the trailer is available at www.enlightenupthefilm.com. Let me know what you think.

"The Love Guru": a study guide

2008-06-04T17:02:41Z

According to Hollywood Today, Hindu leaders are more upset than ever about the upcoming release of the Mike Myers comedy "The Love Guru." (See my posts on 3/10 and 4/30.) They are urging Paramount Pictures to "immediately issue a study guide about Hinduism and the sacred tradition of the Guru confirming to Hindu scriptures, post it on the official websites of Paramount, Viacom and 'The Love Guru' and make it available free of costs in printed form at the movie theatres worldwide." Good idea or overkill? (You can view the movie's trailer on YouTube.)

Hey, yogi runners...

2008-06-02T19:03:47Z

"Yoga for Runners" download is now available on iTunes. Created by Kimberly Fowler, "Yoga for Runners" is a 15-minute post-run workout, designed to improve a runner’s body alignment, open up tight hips and guard against hamstring injuries. It costs $5.99. Let me know if you try it or if you already have a post-run routine that works for you.

Sharon Stone's karmic musings

2008-05-30T01:32:01Z

Sharon Stone is taking some major heat for a comment she made at the Cannes Film Festival about the earthquake in China and karma. Her comment is below. Does she deserve the current backlash? And was her use of the word "karma" correct? Dhammadassin, a teacher at the London Buddhist Centre, told the BBC, "To invoke karma is more to do with our desire to nail things down and find someone to blame. But that's not ours to do."

Sharon Stone: "I’m not happy with the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans, because I don’t think anyone should be unkind to anyone else, and so I have been very concerned about how to think and what to do about that, because I don’t like that. And then I’ve been just concerned, oh, how should we deal with the Olympics, because they’re not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who’s a good friend of mine. And then all this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, ‘Is that karma?’ when you’re not nice the bad things happen to you? And then I got a letter from the Tibetan Foundation that they wanted to go and be helpful, and that made me cry. And they asked me if I would write a quote about that and I said I would, that it was a big lesson to me. That sometimes you have to learn to put your head down and be of service even for people who are not nice to you."