8 Million Stories: Yoga To (Most Of) The People

When you’re a bartender in the city and even your wildest friends start lifting their eyebrows at your behavior, you know it’s time for a priority shift.



My friend Pinky and I stopped drinking around the same time, after an epic weekend that spanned Valentine’s Day (which was spent with a bottle of Jameson’s in a closed-down bar) and Mardi Gras (a party that lasted beyond the morning hours). I don’t know how Pinky spent her Valentine’s Day, but the upshot was the same. We had to cut it out. At least for a bit. Not that we wanted to.

“Imagine how much money we’re going to save!” said Pinky, which led to a discussion about clothes, shoes and handbags. “Just think how much sleep we’re going to get,” I rhapsodized, and we talked about the beautifying benefits of sleeping, especially in one’s own bed and pajamas, after having removed both makeup and contact lenses. All seven nights a week. “Getting up early!” she mused. “Going to museums!” I squealed. We were excited about our fresh take on life.

At brunch we tried to dismiss the cocktail menu. “You know what’s good? Bloody Marias, with nice tequila,” I couldn’t help noting right after I ordered a grapefruit juice. Pinky pulled me out of waxing sentimental by ticking off the celebrities at her last AA meeting. She told me with relish which ones are attention whores. Being sober is fun and easy, I lied to myself. Though I could never go to an AA meeting again; it’s too much like being at a dive bar with no alcohol, no jukebox and no darts, and believe me that’s no place you want to be—with or without celebrities.

Though it goes against everything else in my life, I decided to try yoga. I smoke a lot of cigarettes. I like beer, Kraft macaroni and cheese and donuts. Yoga seemed to me something young white people adopted and just look ridiculous doing—something culturally and spiritually meaningful which, when taken out of context, just looks terrible. Like wearing rosaries around one’s neck, or riding a Vespa anywhere but in Italy. Or camouflage fashion.

Yoga To The People is located in the middle of the block on St. Marks Place between Second and Third avenues. I snuck in though the residential door three minutes before class. There are three floors of classes, and if you’re running as late as I was, maniacally smiling, ridiculously goodlooking people in sweats shoo you up to the third floor. There you can place your shoes on a rack and toss a few bucks into the Kleenex box by the door.
I could never go to an AA meeting again; it’s too much like being at a dive bar with no alcohol, no jukebox and no darts.

The instructor, who looked like the reincarnation of a French movie star or maybe a snow leopard, gently prowled the room in bare, manicured feet and cast his dark eyes on our efforts as he guided us through a 60-minute set of stretching, twisting, balancing and groaning.

I started the set by kicking the guy in back of me in the head as I tried for what is called a forward warrior. I kept my eyes on the girl ahead and to my right, who seemed to be something of a master. She flowed through every instruction with grace while I stumbled after her, looking forward to going back to what’s called the child’s pose—just sort of curled up on the ground. I’d be fine just staying like that for an hour, so I could laugh silently to myself when the instructor said, “Lead with your heart.” If I let my heart lead, I thought, we would be in a bar right now. The guy in back of me groaned as if he was giving birth to twins.

My grade school giggles were quickly silenced as we were guided through a complicated pose that had me holding hands with myself through bent legs. The girl in front of me managed to do this and look like an off-duty ballerina. I looked like a mental patient. This was supposed to make me feel better? It did not. I’d have preferred a Heineken. C

http://www.nypress.com/article-21171-8-million-stories-yoga-to-%28most-of%29-the-people.html

Now Shilpa Shetty's 'Yoga' DVD in Tamil

After the success of Shilpa Shetty's "Yoga" DVD in Hindi, English and Malayalam, it will now be released in Tamil.

"We want these DVDs to reach out to the masses so that people can actually understand the value of yoga in their life and lead a healthier life," Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment, said in a press release.

Fitness freak Shilpa had taken intensive training from Yoga trainers Shiv Kumar Mishra and Vinayak Dixit.

"Yoga is a management system for our body, mind and soul. It is the most holistic approach to life that I have ever come across. It strengthens, tones and cures your body. Yoga has had a spectacular impact on my life," she said.



http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?Section=Movies&ID=ENTEN20100139572&subcatg=MOVIESINDIA&keyword=bollywood

Poses and postures

Our family lived in Mysore for generations, but my father Krishnamacharya came to Madras in the early 1960s at the request of some of his yoga students. I came to Madras to see my father and ended up never leaving, attracted by his work. I began to learn yoga from my father, and started teaching as well at a time when the practice of yoga didn't have the respect it enjoys today.

Teaching yoga was not seen as a serious profession. A turning point in the popularity of yoga was when I started teaching J. Krishnamurti, the famous philosopher. A Frenchman who had taken lessons and whose health had improved suggested that Krishnamurti learn yoga from us. So, on January 1, 1966, I began teaching him asanas.

Krishnamurti's foundation was in Vasant Vihar, a huge building on Greenways Road. It was very calm and quiet there, even with thousands of people coming to listen to his lectures every day. I would teach him in the morning for 20 minutes before he gave his talk, and then again in the evening. Sometimes, I would stay behind and listen to his lecture as well. I remember, every time I arrived for a class, he would be waiting with a rose in his hand to receive me in the portico!

He was so pleased with the improvement in his health that he began to advise those who came to him to practice yoga as well, and yoga became more and more popular in the city. I began to accompany Krishnamurti when he travelled in Europe, and several of his followers there, Indians and foreigners alike, became my students.

More people started coming from abroad to learn yoga. One of his followers, Gerard Blitz, the founder of Club Mediterranee, brought an entire group from Europe who stayed here and studied yoga in 1967.

Suddenly, I had a lot more students and became very busy. Through Krishnamurti, Rukmini Devi Arundale also became my student — she had been unwell and was having difficulty walking. I would go to Kalakshetra at 7 a.m. and teach her. Her health improved as well, and she decided that everyone at Kalakshetra should have yoga lessons. That practise continues to this day.

Initially, we lived in a small apartment in Gopalapuram. In Mysore, we had a huge house with large grounds filled with mango and papaya trees, so it was quite a change! Later, however, we purchased a large property (close to where Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram is located today).

At that time, the area was full of flies, which was a source of annoyance to everyone. You see, people used to tie up their cows in small huts, milk them and sell the milk there. But after we started construction, the flies went away; the people in surrounding areas were very glad!

I taught yoga from a room in that house for quite some time. The Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram trust was founded in 1976 with a mere Rs. 1,000, and we later moved to new premises. But I continued to study with my father, whom I had absolute belief in, until the day he died in 1989.


http://beta.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article406116.ece?homepage=true

Sadhguru's 7-day yoga programme from May 12

JAIPUR: Sadhguru's Coimbatore-based ISHA Foundation will organise a seven-day programme on ISHA Yoga the peak of well-being' for the first time in Hindi between May 12 and 18. The programme will have two sessions of three-hours each at Shri Rajput Sabha Bhavan, C-22-AB Bhagwan Das Road, C-Scheme.

Swami Rijuda, trained yoga teacher and volunteer with the foundation, highlighted the importance of the Inner Engineering (yoga)' in life. He said yoga can cure seasonal diseases and bring relief to people. Yoga has a solution to all mental and physical problems especially the ancient Shambhavi Mahamudra which incorporates different breathing patterns and recitation of verses. This refreshes the body and soul, he said.

"The participants develop a stress-free life and a good relationship at work, home, community and with one's self. Along with enhanced productivity, creativity and efficiency, yoga can cure chronic diseases like asthma, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, back pain, obesity etc," added Swami.

A newly-elected sarpanch, Chavi Rajawat, in a press conference, shared her experience with ISHA Foundation. Rajawat said, "In Rajasthan, women, specially in the rural areas, have to do a lot of physical labour. This, coupled with harsh weather conditions, make them vulnerable. They fall prey to various diseases."

Attending a workshop on Inner Engineering' has drastically changed my life and I am sure it can do so to all those rural women who work very hard to make both ends meet. The workshop can change one's negativity into positive energies.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Sadhgurus-7-day-yoga-programme-from-May-12/articleshow/5789927.cms

Lose Weight by Practicing Yoga?

While some forms of exercise have an excellent reputation for producing positive results, when it comes to weight loss the most obvious physical benefits of yoga include loosening of muscles that have been tightened by inactivity, tension, and stress. Although some forms of yoga may not raise your heart rate enough to burn the necessary calories to lose weight, it also depends on the type of yoga you select and how frequently you practice it.

In 2005, medical researcher set out to do a medical study on the weight-loss effects of yoga. With funding from the National Cancer Institute, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle led a trial involving 15,500 healthy, middle-aged men and women. All completed a survey recalling their physical activity (including yoga) and their weight between the ages of 45 and 55. Researchers then analyzed the data, teasing out other factors that could influence weight change. The end result found that yoga could indeed help people lose weight.

Several forms of yoga that incorporate muscular strength and cardiovascular flexibility are; Bikram yoga, Power yoga, Ashtanga yoga, and Vinyasa yoga. Power Yoga is the American interpretation of Ashtanga yoga, a discipline that combines stretching, strength training, and meditative breathing. But power yoga takes Ashtanga one step further. Many of the poses (also called postures or their Sanskrit name, asanas) resemble basic calisthenics – push-ups and handstands, toe touches and side bends – but the key to power yoga’s sweat-producing, muscle-building power is the pace. Instead of pausing between poses as you would in traditional yoga, each move flows into the next, making it an intense aerobic workout.

If you are too intimidated to go to a yoga class an alternative is to rent or buy a yoga video. Once you feel more confident practicing the poses, try finding a yoga studio close to where you live. An excellent way to experience the different forms of yoga is Passport to Prana. This is your ticket to some of the best yoga classes in your city. The passport entitles you to one yoga class at each of the participating yoga studios. As the New Year approaches why not give yoga a try and feel the benefits – both physical and mental – that this ancient practice provides.


http://www.fitnessgoop.com/2009/12/lose-weight-by-practicing-yoga/

Yoga to cure asthma

An attack of asthma can be a fearful and exhausting experience. People who suffer from the disease

have a chronic inflammation and a narrowing of the airways in their lungs. We can survive for days

without water, food or sleep, but our breath is the sustaining force of life. The following yogasanas

will help you to keep a check on asthma. Usually all asthmatic patients breathe incorrectly. We will

start by learning some breathing exercises. Lie down on your back and relax your body.

Put one hand on the chest and the other on the abdomen. Close your eyes.

Inhale deeply and as you inhale make sure that your abdomen rises up and not your chest. Most

people breathe from their chest but here you must breathe from your abdomen. When you exhale

and feel your abdomen going down. Repeat 10 - 15 times.

The same exercise can also be done while sitting. Chronic asthma patients might feel some difficulty

in doing the exercise lying down.

Stand up straight and interlock your fingers and stretch your arms over your head.

Inhale and stretch and as you exhale bend to your side. Be very gentle make sure you don't twist

your spine. Repeat it on the other side as well.

Sit in Vajrasana but with knees apart. Put your hands on the ground with your palms facing inwards.

Tilt your body to the front so that you feel the pressure on your arms.

Lift your head up, arch your back, open your eyes and inhale.

As you exhale open your mouth and stick your tongue out and make a roaring sound but without

applying too much pressure on the vocal chords.


Sit in Vajrasana and lie down with the support of your hands. Stretch the arms over your head and

relax and breathe deeply. Please make sure you do not do these asanas when your symptoms are

acute. You must consult a doctor before doing these exercises.


http://goodtimes.ndtv.com/PhotoDetail.aspx?ID=1466&Title=Yoga+to+cure+asthma&AlbumType=PG

Bending yoga to fit their worship needs

Many Christian and Jewish yogis are incorporating prayer and religious teachings into the practice. 'It allows us to blur the line between the physical and the spiritual,' one leader says.Christian pop music played quietly in the background as instructor Bryan Brock led a recent yoga class at the nondenominational Church at Rocky Peak in Chatsworth.

Incorporating prayer and readings from the Bible, Brock urged his class of about 20 students to find strength in their connection to their creator through yoga's deep, controlled breathing. "The goal of Christian yoga is to open ourselves up to God," he said. "It allows us to blur the line between the physical and the spiritual."

The instructor then recited the Lord's Prayer while his students moved slowly through a series of postures known as the sun salutation.

Such hybrid classes, which combine yoga practice with elements of Christianity or Judaism, appear to be growing in popularity across Southern California and elsewhere.

Some Christians call their versions of the discipline holy yoga or Yahweh yoga and some teachers urge participants to "breathe down Jesus." Jewish yogis, in turn, have developed -- and in some cases, even trademarked -- Torah yoga, Kabbalah yoga and aleph bet yoga, applying Eastern meditative movements to Jewish prayer and study.

Meanwhile, Californian Muslims who practice yoga have yet to merge it with the teachings of the Koran or worship of Allah, a local leader says. And there are skeptics within all three Abrahamic religions who question whether it is proper to integrate the Hindu-based spiritual practice into Western monotheistic traditions.

Rayna Mike said she was skeptical of yoga before she started going to Brock's class at the Church at Rocky Peak, an evangelical congregation. "I never did it before because I considered it Eastern philosophy and I didn't want any part of it," said Mike, a Bel-Air businesswoman.

Mike changed her mind when her trainer at the Church on the Way in Van Nuys recommended the yoga class, and she said the practice has improved her health while feeding her soul.

"You can go and sweat anywhere, but that's not the point," she said. "This is a beautiful thing. It's an answer to my prayers."

Brock completed a 200-hour accredited course in Phoenix designed by Brooke Boon, author of the book "Holy Yoga." Boon has trained nearly 200 Christian yogis, about a dozen of whom are teaching in Southern California.

"Christ is my guru. Yoga is a spiritual discipline much like prayer, meditation and fasting," Boon said in a telephone interview. "No one religion can claim ownership."

Some fundamentalist Christians distance themselves from yoga, saying it is inseparable from Hinduism or Buddhism and therefore dangerous, even blasphemous. Some Orthodox Jewish authorities warn that if practiced with all its Eastern components, including Sanskrit chanting and small statues of deities, it amounts to avodah zarah, or the worship of false gods.

For many religious Jews, Christians and Muslims, viewing yoga as a physical rather than spiritual practice solves the dilemma.

But Rabbi Avivah Winocur Erlick, a chaplain at Providence Tarzana Medical Center, says it is impossible to separate yoga from her Jewish spiritualism. About six years ago, Erlick began having intense spiritual experiences while doing yoga. She sought advice from a rabbi.

"He said, 'God has been trying to reach you all these years and he is reaching you through yoga," Erlick recalled. The rabbi challenged her to reconcile yoga with Judaism, which led to five years of study to become a rabbi. "For me, yoga is prayer," Erlick said.

Erlick, who is writing a book on the subject, says Jews have vigorously debated the issue for two decades. She counts 83 active teachers, mainly in the U.S. and Israel, who combine yoga and Judaism.

One is Californian Ida Unger, who draws on Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, to interpret yoga postures as Hebrew letters. Unger recently demonstrated her aleph bet yoga to seniors at Los Angeles' Milken Community High School.

"I was in a triangle pose and I had an epiphany. I was an aleph," Unger told the class, posing in the shape of the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

"In Kabbalah, letters are the building blocks with which the holy creator is channeled to Earth."

Unger chants shalom (peace) instead of om, and recites the daily Jewish prayer for awakening when she does the sun salutation.


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-beliefs-yoga5-2010apr05,0,7708032.story

Yoga Draws Criticism

Yoga, an ancient meditative practice that posses its philosophical and spiritual roots in Hinduism in India, is widely adopted as an exercise for those suffering from depression or painful knee joints and even obesity.

Ever since it is tagged as the “wellness practice-of-choice” for aging baby-boomers and work-stressed yuppies, critics have not left it untouched with their rebuke citing the large numbers of injuries suffered by yoga students.

Recent years have witnessed surging number of charges revealing that self-styled yoga organizations and their elite teachers are preying on their students, making an attempt of substituting spiritual enlightenment with psychological manipulation, New Age “hucksterism,” and even cultic worship.

Famous yoga celebrities like Rodney Yee - who was charged in 2004 of having serial affairs with students- have triggered public authorities to call to impose stringent business regulations on the nation's estimated 5,000 yoga training centers.

The thriving industry attributes an estimated $6 billion annually. In fact, at least 18 million Americans practice is revealed to practice yoga on regular basis, reveals recent surveys, and another 25 million claims that they plan to in the coming year.


http://topnews.us/content/215102-yoga-draws-criticism

Yoga becoming lifestyle trend in urban Nepal

Yoga has almost become a lifestyle trend among the urban middle class in this country, courtesy the Indian television channels which telecast holistic health and lifestyle programmes. Yoga CDs, VCDs and Indian health manuals are also easily available and sold at streetside book vends and leading bookstores.

The power of Indian yoga also has government endorsement in the country, which grapples with a high drug addiction rate and work-related stress.

Ratan Kumar Misra, an auditor at a firm in Kathmandu, practises an hour of Indian yoga and pranayam or breathing exercises every morning. Misra is among around 100,000 people in this country who have benefited from yoga and ayurveda as an alternative lifestyle and healing trend.

"I feel comfortable after my morning ritual of yoga. Though I can't do it every day, over the last few days, I have not compromised on my fitness regimen. Indian yoga is very popular in Nepal," Misra said.

For Misra, the simple routine of half-an-hour of breathing exercises or pranayam followed by asanas or yogic postures has kept his 'high blood pressure in check'.

Babu Raja, a shopkeeper in Kathmandu, is enthusiastic about yoga too. "Yoga will help Nepal consolidate its social fabric - especially among the urban professionals. Thousands of residents of Kathmandu switch on their television early in the morning to watch Indian channels like Aastha beam yoga capsules," Raja said.

The shopkeeper, who is attending yoga guru Ramdev's six-day yoga and health service (ayurveda) camp at Tundikhiel in the capital, 'goes to Swayambhunath Temple atop a hill in the capital' to meditate and practice yoga.

Raja says traditional Indian yoga will help foster 'peace in the Nepali society'. "I believe in the power of ayurveda," the shopkeeper said.

Indian yoga has forayed into the Nepalese common psyche in different ways. For 73-year journalist Ramashish, who has spent 46 years in Kathmandu, 'yoga has given him a second chance in life'.

"In 2004, I was diagnosed with 95 per cent arterial blockade and a valve had collapsed. The hospitals in India said I required surgery. But I took to pranayama and yoga and now I am fit," the veteran newsman said in Kathmandu. The newsman claimed that 'yoga has even helped him grow new hair on his bald pate'.

The power of Indian yoga has received a big shot in the arm with guru Ramdev, the co-founder of Patanjali Yogpeeth, opening his five-day yoga camp - the second in three years - at Tundikhiel in the capital.

The guru, with the help of the Nepal government, is commissioning four new yoga projects at Dhulikhel, Syangsa, Mandikathar and Tundikhiel in the capital.

"We have invested Rs 40 crore (INR) in promoting yoga in the country," Shaligram Singh, a trustee for the Haridwar-based Patanjali Yogpeeth, said.

Not only Patanjali yog, the Bangalore-based Art of Living Foundation led by seer Ravi Shankar, has also made inroads in Nepal. "I have been practicing sudarshan kriya for the last four years and am into advanced level meditation now," Prakash Shah, a resident of the Tarai region in Nepal, said.

Shah, a member of Nepal's Madhesi Party, said the Art of Living was popular in the Terai region and had a large centre at Birgunj on the Bihar-Nepal border.

Books on yoga have also been a catalyst in carrying the message of holistic lifestyle across the country. Manuals available at roadside kiosks and leading bookstores are priced reasonably to reach out to the working class.

For the youth, yoga is a potent tool to battle addiction. "Yoga is drawing back the youth to the holistic lifestyle fold. It is permanent de-addiction," Bhuwan KC, a Kathmandu-based teacher in his 20s, said.

Vijaya Laxmi, a pharmacist in the capital, says "yoga has become the talk in the drawing rooms of urban Nepal." "For working women like us, it is a great stress-buster," the pharmacist said.

Sweating it out with Bikram yoga

When bartender Paul O’Halloran was told that Bikram yoga was about to change his life, he scoffed.

“I just thought, ‘Oh, God,’ like it was so new age-y,” says O’Halloran. “I’m an Irish Catholic gay guy from the Bronx, so really, no one is more cynical than me.”

But O’Halloran began to notice a change in himself as he continued the practice for a few months. After a steady habit of drinking heavily five nights a week, O’Halloran made the decision to get sober. He credits Bikram as being integral to his recovery.

“As far as getting over alcohol, I don’t know if I could’ve done it without [Bikram],” he says. “I know that I wouldn’t have done it as soon as I’ve done it.”

Bikram yoga consists of 24 poses done in a hot room, with the temperature set around 95 to 105 degrees. Though this form of yoga does have its share of critics who believe it is too extreme and potentially dangerous, it has an equal number of fervent fans.

Because the practice forces the body to sweat profusely, a healthy lifestyle becomes a necessity in order to take the classes —coming to a session with a hangover just isn’t an option. Those who truly devote themselves to Bikram can often count on the desire for vices diminishing over time.

“Your stomach just doesn’t want to eat bad stuff. You just don’t feel like it,” says Donna Rubin, co-owner of Bikram Yoga NYC, about the long-term effects of Bikram yoga practice. “People who have tried to quit smoking, they’ve said that they just didn’t feel like it anymore. It sort of assists any program that they’re already on. You’re more tuned in, and your body just starts to tell you what’s good and what’s bad.”



http://www.metro.us/us/article/2010/03/30/01/0744-82/index.xml

5 Worst Foods to Eat Right Before Doing Bikram Yoga

We've recently taken up the ancient practice of Bikram Yoga to supplement our neo-hippie health kick. For those of you who aren't familiar with this type of yoga, it's the torturous one that is done for exactly 90 minutes in a 105 degree humid room. So it's basically like doing regular yoga for a long time outdoors in August. Anyway, due to the extreme heat and intense workout, a list of dos and don'ts is provided when you enter the studio. One of the biggest don'ts is eating beforehand, presumably because doing so would make you hurl all over your neighbor while trying to perfect your Eagle pose. So being sick and twisted, we decided to come up with the five worst foods you could eat before engaging in this extreme exercise ritual. Please let us know your thoughts as well.

5. Pancakes - This one was actually inspired by a friend of ours who indulged in a big plate of IHOP about an hour before the class started. Was it the heaviness of the floury cake, the sugary sweetness of the maple syrup, or the richness of the tablespoons of butter that caused her to lie in Dead Body pose for the majority of the class? We're not sure, but regardless we're going to stay away from all these things.

4. Chicken Vindaloo - Indian food plus Indian workout = not much fun. Yes, this one is counterintuitive at first, but when you think about it, heating up your internal temperature with thousands of Scoville units of hot chilies really isn't the best thing to do before going into a virtual steam room to work out. Breakthrough discovery, we know.

3. Ice cream sundae - Mounds and mounds of rich, sugary dairy piled high into a bowl and topped with even more sugar. This creation could make you sick all by itself, sans heat. Add a bunch of abdominal stretching and turning, and that's one sweet recipe for embarrassment.

2. Porterhouse steak - Eating big hunks of meat shortly before working out is generally not a great idea. When it comes to a steak this big, though, you're really in trouble. We cannot even fathom how many hours would be required to sufficiently process this big of a chunk of cow before attempting Triangle pose, which is said to be like putting your body through a very mild heart attack. Hmmm... you think they cancel each other out, then? Probably not.

1. Monster burrito - Where to start? The huge, bready tortilla that will sit in your belly like a rock for hours? The big chunks of fajita meat that need mucho digestion time? Or what about the large quantity of beans that are likely to induce noxious gas fumes in a hot, crowded quiet room? Oh, the possibilities are endless with this one.

Yoga session tonight will benefit CV Sierra Club

Catherine Reid invites you to come to a yoga session tonight [Tuesday, March 23rd] to get in touch with your inner yogi and to at the same time support the protection of the Courtenay River Estuary through Sierra Club Comox Valley.

Catherine discovered yoga in 1974 and the gifts of this ancient practice have been weaving their way into her life ever since. She completed her Astanga teacher training in 2004 through Trinity Yoga. She currently teaches various levels and styles of Hatha yoga in several locations throughout the Valley.

The first class starts at 5:30 p.m. and runs to 6:45 p.m. This class will be for those who are new to yoga, or with less than a year of yoga experience. It will also be appropriate for more experienced students who simply want a gentle class that night. There will be clear explanations and options given so you can choose what works best for your body.

The second class from 7:15 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. is for people who have had a regular yoga practice for at least a year. Please come if you're familiar with Sun Salutations, if you understand basic alignment principles, and if Downward-Facing Dog feels wonderful for you. Expect to sweat (blood and tears optional).

All Classes are at the K'ómoks First Nation Band Hall, at 3320 Comox Road in Comox.

Please bring your own yoga mat if possible. A limited amount will be mats will be available at the Hall.

Light refreshments of herb tea, water and fresh fruit will be served. Admission is by donation to Sierra Club Comox Valley.

Contact Catherine at 250-898-8414 for further information.



http://www.canada.com/Yoga+session+tonight+will+benefit+Sierra+Club/2718057/story.html

Is meditation a wonder cure for heart disease?

Meditation can lower the risk of heart attack in subjects with existing disease, comparable to that of powerful new drugs. In a 5-year study, meditating cardiac patients were almost 50% less likely to be affected.

The effect that meditation techniques have on blood pressure, stress and cognition are well known. However, until recently, there was little scientific research on how the practice can affect the health and clinical condition of patients.

A study of the subject was done by preventive medicine specialist Robert Schneider of the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, and endocrinologist Theodore Kotchen of the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, reports Science magazine.

Read more

The researchers enlisted 201 patients with narrowed coronary arteries – a risk factor for heart attack and stroke. The subjects were all African American, a high-risk group for heart disease.

The volunteers were assigned into two groups. Both were taking standard medicine for high blood pressure and atherosclerosis and were taught good practices for patients with cardiac conditions. One group was also taught transcendental meditation and asked to practice for 15 to 20 minutes a day. Transcendental meditation is a technique developed by Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, which became internationally known after the Beatles practiced it.

Over 5 years, the meditation practitioners showed 47% lower rates of heart attacks, strokes, and death compared to the control group. Meditation has proved as powerful as any new class of heart disease medications entering the market, says Schneider. The mechanism for this is not obvious, but is probably linked with lower blood pressures associated with meditation, researchers believe.

It’s early to call transcendental mediation a wonder cure for the heart, however. The effect may not translate well to other ethnic groups with lower risks of cardiac diseases. On the other hand, other techniques reducing blood pressure and stress levels could prove effective too. Those may include yoga or even prayer, commented cardiologist Sabahat Bokhari of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City.

Special Report: Childrens' Yoga

Children these days are busier than ever, overstimulated and overloaded with information and technology.

Some people swear by the calming effect of yoga on children.

Yoga studios for kids, such as Butterfly Yoga in Verdun, are becoming increasingly popular.

Teachers like Angie Continisio are convinced that today's children need to calm down.

"We're always in a rush to do things," she told CTV's Tarah Schwartz. "We're always running from one place to another. So I teach the children to breathe, to be grounded, to be present in the moment."

Children like D'arcy McCready love it.

"It makes me feel in harmony and in a peaceful place," she said.

Only eight years old and already McCready sees life as being full to the brim. She says that she has a busy life.

"I have to take care of my sisters cat a little, I have to watch over my baby brother to make sure he doesn't do anything wrong, I have to do my homework, I have to do lots of stuff.

Stress

Psychologist Steffan Syd Apel psychologist says the number one mental health problem with children these days is anxiety that can come from being overbooked and overstimulated.

"I think that there's this mindset of parents that they're going to be the best parents they can be and keep up with the Jones' and fulfill dreams that they weren't able to fulfill as children," said Apel who works at the Maisonneuve Therapy group in Westmount.

He says life is busier, parents work more and time is harder to come by in our changing world.

"In order not to be faced with our own guilt of how our kids are having to live through in this very busy world, we program them, and give them stuff that we think is going to make them happy," he says.

"I think on one level it's well intentioned."

Schools

Some Montreal elementary schools have also embraced yoga to help children quiet their minds.

Audrey Ottier, Learning Centre Coordinator at Riverview elementary school in Verdun, says staff surveyed students and their families and they said yoga would be a great lunchtime and afterschool activity.

Yoga classes are now offered each week, with children as young as five learning to focus and concentrate.

"A lot of the kids get distracted very easily in class," said Ottier.

"These are (yoga) techniques that are going to help them in class if they're starting to get distracted of they have too much nervous energy."

Results

There are no statistics or reports on the effects that practices such as yoga have on children, but the young ones who spoke with CTV, including eight-year-old Claudia, offered their thoughts.

"It makes you feel calm, relaxed and ahhh all the stress comes out, yeah."

Daniel, who is also eight, offered a sales pitch.

"I think that all the people in Montreal and Canada and all the other worlds should do yoga."

D'arcy says she's already seen the results.

"it's really helping my life because I've always had busy days and sometimes I just need to relax," she says.

"It really calms me down, it's like that busy day didn't even happen."


http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100318/mtl_kids_yoga100318/20100318/?hub=MontrealHome

Vidya's secret behind weight loss

“I have always been into fitness, but all along I had been doing the wrong things. I would starve myself as I thought it was cool to ‘forget to eat’. There would often be a gap of 12-14 hours between my meals and inadvertently I’d end up gaining weight,” explains Vidya with a twinkle in her eyes. She said that she tried everything from astanga yoga to spinning and even hot yoga to reduce her weight, but to no avail. It’s only when she met her trainer Vinayak Hussain a year ago that she realised she needed an attitude change. “I was setting unrealistic goals for myself of losing weight within a month’s timeframe and then when I wouldn’t be able to do it, I would just give up. Vinayak taught me to see exercise as a method of keeping fit, rather then weight loss. I started a strength training routine for an hour a day for six days a week and before I knew it I was dropping the kilos drastically,” states the actress who adds that it has to do a lot with the mind. She soon started on a routine of hourly small meals and started sleeping for 6-8 hours each night as opposed to the 4-5 hours that she used to survive on. “I feel much healthier now. I’ve started drinking lots of water and eating fibre-rich foods. Adding eggs to my diet has helped, though I am a staunch vegetarian otherwise. I also love juices especially the wheatgrass and amla concoctions. Also dry fruits are a great alternative to gorging on sweets,” says Vidya beaming with pride.

Celebrity fitness expert, Shabana Sabherwal adds, “While I was monitoring Vidya during the shooting of Parineeta, I realised that she was a very disciplined and co-operative person. She’d lost a lot of weight at that time and I was told that since the focus would be mostly on her face, my job was to get the glow back on it. Since Vidya is vegetarian, she would enjoy the fruits and vegetables I’d give her and she achieved her glow within a month.”

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Vidyas-secret-behind-weight-loss/articleshow/5651323.cms

This labour court lawyer argues for yoga, too

For 58-year-old labour court lawyer Balkrishna Midge, yoga is as much of a passion as labour law.

So much so that he was recently awarded a Doctor of Science (D.Sc) degree for his research on yoga by the Open International University of Complementary Medicine (OIUCM) that has its adminis-trative headquarters in Sri Lanka.

“I have been practicing yoga... meditation, pranayam and physical aasanas for the past 30 years. I thought of conducting a research on the benefits of yoga and finalised the topic ‘Researcher and yoga’ two years ago,” Midge said. It took him nearly two-and-a-half-years to complete his research under the guidance of Dr RN Shukla, who was formerly with the National Chemical Laboratory.

“It was Shukla who helped me register with OIUCM for the research,” Midge added.

The research has been published in three volumes, totalling 1,250 pages. "I did case studies of 102 researchers - including those who practice yoga and those who did not.


http://www.indianexpress.com/news/this-labour-court-lawyer-argues-for-yoga-too/590895/

Yoga for a younger you

There's a saying that yogis always look half their age. It's a fact that people who practice yoga regularly look much younger than their actual age. Yoga can help you to look younger in a very natural way. So forget all the botox sessions here are a few easy asanas for a younger you!

Spine plays a very important role when it comes to looking younger. Ageing can get reversed directly in proportionate to how flexible your spine is. Therefore, all these asanas help to make your spine flexible.

Uttana Hastasana: Stand up straight and bring our hands straight up over your head.
Very gently start arching your upper back and then your lower back and make a smooth curve. Keep breathing slowly to retain the energy in your body.

Hold the posture for 30 seconds. This asana stretches the legs, relaxes the heart and calms the mind.Stand straight, take your hands up, stretch and inhale.

As you exhale come down and try touching your feet. With this asana the spine becomes more flexible. Also, the moment you bend forward all the blood rushes towards your head. This makes your face glow.

Sarvangasana: This asana instantly increases the blood flow towards your head. Lie down on your back.Raise your legs slowly to 90 degrees. Then with the support of your hands on your lower back raise you waist up. Keep your legs as straight as you can. Don't hold the posture for more than 30-45 seconds.


Merudandasana: Lie down on your back.Take your left foot and place it over your right knee. With your right hand hold your left knee and twist it down. Turn your head towards the opposite direction. This asana really improves the flexibility of the spine and it also massages the organs inside the body.


There's a saying that yogis always look half their age. It's a fact that people who practice yoga regularly look much younger than their actual age. Yoga can help you to look younger in a very natural way. So forget all the botox sessions here are a few easy asanas for a younger you!

Spine plays a very important role when it comes to looking younger. Ageing can get reversed directly in proportionate to how flexible your spine is. Therefore, all these asanas help to make your spine flexible.

Sweating

The high temperatures of summer may seem a distant hope, but each week the students like Yue contact Lena temperatures above 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yue is one of many students participate in a new trend in the year: hot yoga. While traditional yoga is known for its slow and conscious relaxation, hot yoga is an increase in popularity with the added benefits of working in the heat: burn fat more efficiently, sweat toxins and improve flexibility.

"Yoga has [be] a popular way back in the course of the past two years," said Yue. "I work out not too slow, hot yoga replacement if the power was very good for fitness training.

Set a 80 degree Fahrenheit temperatures of 105 rooms, hot yoga allows people to participate in the mind, body and sweat glands heated for an hour or more.

Tory Jenis, owner of Blackbird Studio in Ithaca, said the reason he uses in his heat during power yoga because it gives participants an intense stretch.

"The heat gives you a deeper stretch in the muscles and the muscles relax much faster than if not in the heat," he said. "It is also a more demanding workout sweat better. You get your heart rate is faster than in yoga without heat."

Hot Yoga is different from its counterpart Bikram Yoga style. Bikram Yoga is a series of 26 specific sequences of postures in a heated room, while hot yoga is a form of hatha yoga has done in the heat.

Jenis advice for those starting out with hot yoga is to come to class hungry and bring enough water to drink in class.

"Some people are a little dizzy when you can start doing hot yoga," he said. "But the key is to use changes or take a break and leave to cool."

With the increased sweating is the potential for dehydration, and with flexibility comes the ability to overload, causing pulled muscles or sprains. When stretching, ligaments can be difficult to return to its original shape and size, resulting in loose joints. Some common side effects short-term dizziness, nausea, muscle weakness and cramps, Jenis said.

Jenis also said that yoga is a very dynamic and challenging exercise, but it is accessible to any professional level.

"We talk all the time to honor your body," said Jenis. "You must pay attention to the difficult balance between yourself, but be careful, especially if you've never done before."

Mighty Yoga is another study in Ithaca, including heat in their classrooms. Yue said he has been attending classes there is a maximum of four times a week. Owner and trainer Heather Healey, who has done yoga for five years, said the heat allows the muscles to stretch more.

"By doing yoga in a room nonheated, I felt that not much of it," Healey said. "The heat makes it much safer for the practice of yoga."

Mighty Yoga offers classes for all levels. Healey said his philosophy is to have an open door policy to try yoga.

"Many people who dare to try yoga because they believe it should be super flexible or super thin or really athletic," he said. "Our classes are difficult, but you do not have to bend yourself into a pretzel to come and get a good workout."

On campus, the university currently offers two classes for beginners and power of yoga to students. Kathy Farley, Fitness Center administrative assistant, said it would be difficult to have a hot yoga class in the fitness center, due to temperature requirements.

"We have no control over the heat here," he said. "If we are warmer than we have put in an application. Under the university's energy policy of conservation, the set point temperature should be between 69 and 71 degrees Fahrenheit anyway. We had to beg and plead to get you just elevate to 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

A class on campus would be less costly and more accessible for many students, taking account of spending a semester in college costs $ 45 and one month Unlimited Yoga Mighty pass costs $ 105. But Sarah Hawkins, Fitness Center program coordinator, said it would be difficult for the Fitness Center to offer hot yoga classes.

"During the day, it would be difficult to be warm enough in [the aerobics room] in the short period of time, and then cool for other classes to take place," she said.

There are over 10 yoga studios in Ithaca, but only a number of offers to choose the classes that include hot yoga.

For Sophomore Julia Catalano, heat is one reason why he chose to follow a course off campus instead of just the normal power yoga.

"I always feel so clean and relaxed after sweating so much class," he said. "I certainly have never sweat more in my life. At first I found it disgusting, but now I think he feels good and detoxification.

Senior Katie Venetsky, which is the power of yoga university, said he believes the popularity of hot yoga will last.

Hot yoga is a fad, "he said." Yoga has always existed, and it is right that some types of yoga are more popular at different times now as hot yoga. "

But Healey said that the popularity of hot yoga will continue to grow, especially if students are constantly seeking new challenges to add to their training programs.

"Yoga in general has skyrocketed in the last 10 years," he said. "There are many more people willing to try."

Guru of postures

A practising kalaripayattu artist for the last 11 years, Kochi-based Charu Narayanan is the second lady to become a national yoga judge.

She dons the new mantle from being a participant and a winner of several championships.

“I will start judging initially at the state level championships organised by the Kerala Yoga Association and then will be invited to judge at the national level,” says Charu. She recently attended the judges competition organised by the Indian Yoga Federation in Kolkata.

A student of K P Bhaskara Menon at the Life Yoga Centre, Edappally, Charu has been learning and practising yoga for five years. She says that practising yoga has been an advantage as she is trained in a martial art form that requires her to be physically fit. The only woman practitioner of kalari in the state, Charu says it is a continuous process like yoga. “You have to keep at it. Any lackadaisical attitude would mean a physical injury for sure in kalari and yoga.” These days she has been concentrating on the treatment part of kalari education.

“Uzhichil is important in kalari education and our gurus teach it only after we have proved our dedication to the martial art form.” But she has combined this therapy with yoga to help people who are paralysed due to illness. “I have designed several exercises that can be done by people who are paralysed.

This, along with the kalari medicine, has helped some of them recover to a large extent,” she says.

The medicine is prepared by a kalari practitioner depending on the kind of injury.

“Each medicine is a special combination and I often take the advice of Vinildas Gurukkal at the Shiva Shakti Kalari Kshetram. He was the one who encouraged me to learn yoga along with kalari.” Apart from this, she is doing a two-year junior fellowship in performing arts under the Department of Culture, Government of India. Her work is on documenting and analysing the northern and southern system of kalaripayattu and their influence on different performing arts of Kerala.

A physical education trainer and part of Prof Chadradasan’s Lokadharmi theatre group, she choreographs the physical movements of artists on stage. “I study women characters and use kalari movements for them,” she explains.

But yoga and yoga therapy are something she is looking to further improvise because there are a lot of sick people who would benefit from it.

But it is only after seeing the patient and looking for an appropriate medicine in kalari that she decides on the treatment.

Charu Narayanan can be contacted at 9895647867.

How Hot is Heat Yoga?

Yoga

Ever since its inception 2500 years ago by sage Patanjali, the very amazing ancient Indian form of exercises or asanas replete with breathing techniques, and also meditation, has caught the fancy of people all around the globe. Yoga in its various avatars viz Hatha Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Tantra Yoga can be practised indoors or outdoors and is widely agreed to as a form of exercise for the mind, body and spirit.

What is Heat Yoga or Hot Yoga?

While it is well-known that all kinds of physical activities require a brief spell of warming up, experts time and again noticed that the best results were obtained when the body is fully warmed and the degree of sweating was much higher when the muscles become most flexible. Thus was born the concept of Heat or Hot Yoga wherein the temperature of the room is controlled to set the humidity level just right to achieve the best results. The brainchild behind this system of yoga is Bikram Choudhury. Sessions of Hot Yoga as conceived by Bikram run to 90 minutes and consist of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises that enable flow of fresh and oxygenated blood to all organs and fibres of the body thereby making the body functions perfect.Benefits of Heat Yoga:

1. Induces more fat burning as a result of which individuals tend to shed more in terms of inches.

2. Higher flexibility in joints, muscles, and ligaments which in turn makes a person less prone to injury.

3. Greater percentage of loss of toxins in the body because the heat causes capillaries to dilate which in turn increases the rate of oxygenation of tissues, the muscles, glands and other organs.

4. Greater blood circulation.

5. A more efficient body metabolism that expedites breakdown of glucose and fatty acids.

6. Works like magic for the mind thereby increasing the degree of well-being in an individual.

7. Heat yoga is a complete workout for the cardiovascular system.

8. Increased sweating results in higher detoxification through the surface of the skin.

9. Results reveal that Heat Yoga improves T-cell function and improves the efficiency of the immune system.

10. A boost for the nervous and digestive systems.Precautions

While the benefits of Heat Yoga cannot be disputed, immense care should also be taken to avoid heat stress-related sicknesses. Although, Heat Yoga is gaining in popularity, experts like Leslie L Funk, Yogacharya Vishwas Mandlik and Dr Sujit Chandratreya have raised concern on Hot Yoga and the matter of temperature regulation.

1. Thermoregulation: The normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 37 degrees Celsius, a result of the equilibrium between the amount of heat production in the body and the amount of heat lost to the environment. In cases where the temperature of the air is lower than that of the body, the increased heat in the body caused by exercise is dissipated by radiation, conduction, convection and evaporation. During sessions of Heat Yoga, the temperature of air (usually set to 105 degrees Fahrenheit) is higher than that of the body and the only way heat can be dissipated from the body is by evaporation. This means greater body temperature. Body temperatures of 106 degrees Fahrenheit or 41 degrees Celsius could prove fatal.

2. The need for proper evaporation: During exercise, evaporation of sweat or excess heat is vital for the body. In cases where the humidity is too high, the degree of evaporation is lessened, sweating is more and more water is lost resulting in de-hydration. The increase in humidity could be the source of heat, more individuals exercising in the room, or improper ventilation. Wiping off sweat should not be encouraged as that stops the heat from getting evaporated.3. Dehydration: Sweating during exercise results in water loss in the body and it is important that the loss is made up for by replacement fluids. It is advisable that a session of Heat Yoga is preceded by adequate hydration of the body in the form of 8-10 glasses of water. And when exercising it is advisable to sip water at regular intervals.

4. Heat-related maladies: In Heat Yoga, there is every chance of an individual getting exhausted. In such cases, it is important the person affected is moved away from the heated environs and attended to with fluids like 0.1% NaCl electrolyte solution. Other hazards include heat stroke and cramps.

5. Proper Acclimatisation: Before one decides to get on with Heat Yoga, bouts of acclimatisation are recommended. In fact, to begin with a few sessions without exercise would help.

Yoga class helps war veterans heal unseen scars

In a black T-shirt and black jeans, John Armendarez takes his place on a mat on the floor.

The 47-year-old veteran who was assigned to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea has never taken a yoga class before, but has been trying new things lately and figures the experience couldn’t hurt.

Before class starts, Armendarez raises his left shirt sleeve to reveal a foot-long scar on the inside his arm, an indelible reminder of his service. Hesitant about going into it further, he added, “I’ve seen some action.”

Just like Armendarez, Tim Withee also served his country.

Withee, 60, is a Vietnam War veteran and had a rough time recovering from the effects of war until he discovered Kundalini yoga.

Since 2005, yoga has helped Withee cope and now he teaches yoga classes locally in the hope more veterans also can benefit. It’s not outward scars, but veterans’ inner struggles, where Withee feels he can help.

“A lot of men and women coming back from the war zone have a lot of injuries that you can’t see,” Withee explained. “When you get home and take that uniform off, everybody expects you to be the same person you were when you went off, but you’re never going to be that way. You see terrible things, maybe you even pulled the trigger. Kundalini yoga can help a person recover from a lot of things.”

Kundalini yoga, a series of techniques meant to promote flexibility and increase awareness, was introduced to the West in the 1960s by Yogi Bhajan.

The practice incorporates breathing exercises, meditation and reciting mantras that are meant to relieve stress and prompt serenity. Typically, instructors use a gong at the end of classes that releases a crescendo of reverberations and, as Withee is fond of saying, “scrubs your self-consciousness clean.”

Withee wants to invite more veterans into his practice as a way to deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The disorder is labeled an emotional illness that develops as the result of experiencing a frightening or life-threatening situation, a condition not uncommon among war veterans.

Those with the disorder may experience high levels of anxiety and may tend to avoid certain situations that could jog a traumatic memory.

For years, Withee battled his inner demons by trying to drown them in drugs and alcohol, he said.

In 1988, he got sober and has been so ever since, he said.

In 2005, Withee tried Kundalini yoga as he was looking for a way to regain flexibility. Almost immediately the yoga affected him more deeply than providing physical gains. It helped him deal with emotional baggage, he said.

“It raised me to a level that I didn’t even know existed,” Withee said. “Any age you start is OK. My mom is starting at 83. Obviously, you’re not going to get into poses that someone at 22 can get in.”

Several forms of yoga have gained momentum in recent years as a treatment options for veterans dealing with the mental and physical implications of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Since 2006, Walter Reed Army Medical Center has used yoga as a treatment.

Yoga also is used at the Grand Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center to help veterans recover from physical ailments, spokesman Paul Sweeney said.

Withee can understand that there may be a perception of yoga that could keep veterans from trying it. Participants need not wear spandex, but comfortable, loose-fitting clothes are recommended. Participants do not need to be in good physical condition to practice yoga.

“If you can breathe, you can do this,” Withee said.

Because Kundalini yoga is practiced largely with eyes closed, an atmosphere of being watched or judged is minimized.

Most classes focus on beginning poses because most participants are beginners, Withee said.

He thinks veterans aren’t the only ones who could benefit. Those who have been in jail or prison and those battling substance abuse could be helped.

“It will get you in shape. It changes you and spirituality you’re uplifted,” he said.

After a yoga class on a recent Monday, Armendarez reflected on the experience.

He was able to do many of the poses and exercises and enjoyed the gong Withee rang at the end of class.

“It’s just like he said, it’s good for the mind,” Armendarez said. “I need this.”

Yoga: Strength, flexibility combined

In recent years, yoga has become one of the most popular fitness trends, synonymous with calm and relaxation. But, if you enter a yoga studio thinking that you'll just be sitting around stretching, you're in for a surprise. There is a lot more to it.

While relaxation and a sense of well-being are benefits of yoga, there are others. Strength and endurance are big parts of all yoga styles, and the styles are numerous.

"The word that most Westerners associate with yoga practice is 'hatha yoga' which, when translated from the Sanskrit, means 'forceful' or 'strong,'" said Connie Windon, a yoga instructor at St. Simons Health and Fitness Club, on St. Simons Island.

"A hatha yoga practice was designed primarily as a preparatory stage of physical exertion or purification to prepare the body for meditation. While meditative in nature, yoga is much more."

Other types of yoga, such as "bikram" and "ashtanga," are more intense. In bikram, the room or studio is heated to 90 to 105 degrees. Windon says the idea is to warm the muscles for a deeper stretching.

"There are 26 postures in a bikram practice and all postures are done twice during the course of the practice. Practices are 90 minutes in length," she said.

Astanga is no walk in the park, either. For this, practitioners engage in an energetic, dynamic flow that is physically demanding.

"This practice provides cardiovascular benefits as well as agility and muscle strength to move through the challenging series of postures, matching the flow of movement with the flow of inhalations and exhalations," Windon said.

"When moving through an active flow practice, heart rates increase and the body releases toxins through perspiration, increased respiration and the release of toxins through compression. Muscles strengthen and respond to the isometric aspects of a yoga practice, as well," she said.

Two other forms of yoga are "iyengar" and "yin." Iyengar yoga focuses more on detail and appropriate body alignment while holding postures. It's often used to heal injuries or to stretch inflexible parts of the body. Yin yoga is about holding postures for a long period of time, often from three to five minutes or more.

"It strengthens and opens the deep connective tissues of the body as well as the joints. While years of regular yoga asana, or posture practice, will make anyone healthier, stronger and more flexible, at some point the muscles will have reached their limit of flexibility," she said.

"New depths in postures, deeper ranges of motion and increased energy flow may only be achievable by focusing on the deeper tissues and joints of the body."

While there are many styles and forms, many instructors say that you can get an effective, physical workout from practices.

Lawanda Mann, a yoga instructor at Bailey's Gym, in Brunswick, says that she gets a phenomenal workout from her astanga practices.

"The people who come in and take my classes are wanting a workout, and that's what they're getting. I actually get more sore from yoga than anything else that I teach," she said.

Mann says that the beauty of a yoga class is that everyone can benefit, regardless of experience.

"The person doing yoga for the first time and those who've been doing it for years both benefit. They are learning more about how to use body in the poses. You're keeping the body heat and building heat through the class. That allows your muscles to get greater flexibility and there's lots of strength," Mann said.

Many yoga centers combine the different styles.

Sabine Vera, owner of Elysian Fields Yoga in Redfern Village, on St. Simons Island, says that most instructors there teach a composite of styles.

"Everybody in American is mixing yoga. Most everybody is teaching a synthesis of the various styles. That's our personality in America. We're a country of go-getters," she said. "We like to make yoga a challenging thing. We gravitate toward that."

One new challenge that has intrigued Vera is known as shadow yoga. Based upon ancient hatha yogic texts, it advocates the practice of freestyle. The positions and movements have been adapted from the range of human activities, including martial arts, dance and crafts.

"Shadow yoga has no presence on the East Coast. It's a blend of martial art forms woven into the asanas," she said. "It's wonderful and challenging. It's about refining all the training movements. Yoga refines the sense of how we live in the body and operate the body. That's a strong, active and fun process."

She includes elements of shadow yoga in her Fire of Life class at Elysian Fields. But the 90-minute experience includes the whole yoga matrix. Vera has studied with the founder of astanga yoga and has practiced iyengar for years. She brings both of these elements into her practices.

Vera also incorporates a lot of integral strength training.

"I add a lot of strengthening gestures in my classes. You can't create deep flexibility without strength. Your flexibility is supported by your strength. Flexibility without strength leaves you vulnerable," she said.

Bride and beautiful

With pre-marriage preparations — it is easy to overstrain the body, overuse stimulants such as coffee and tea, miss breakfast, get inadequate sleep and go through emotional pressures. All this takes a toll on the body and mind.

Instead, take charge and plan these few months ahead so that you look your best on your wedding day. The human body is an absolutely amazing machine. If you put in effort in the right direction you can truly start looking and feeling fantastic.

Taking charge

Make the beginning now by exercising regularly, finding ways to relax and looking after your skin.

Head to toe, body and mind — here are four ways to help you take charge!

1. Fitting in exercise

Exercise will rev up your mood, improve blood circulation and keep you in shape.

The key to staying consistent with exercise is to select an exercise programme that is enjoyable — one that fits in with your personality, lifestyle and fitness goals.

First, establish your goals. What is it that you would like to gain from your exercise routine? Whether your aim is to tone up or lose a few excess pounds — you'll figure that exercise is not just for the body — it does wonders for the mind!

Forms of exercise

Cardiovascular exercise: Cardiovascular exercise burns calories, promotes blood circulation and strengthens the heart.

Good choices include walking, swimming and cycling.

Strength training: Weight-bearing exercise plays an important role in maintaining bone density and keeping the body strong and well-toned. An effective routine would include exercises that target the major muscle groups of the upper, mid and lower body.

Good choices include weight bearing exercises like push-ups, sit-ups or working out on machines or exercising using dumbbells or resistance bands.

Flexibility training: Flexibility exercises help maintain good posture, keep the body supple and free from muscular stress.

Good choices include yoga, pilates, stretching exercises and tai chi.

2. Find ways to relax

When you are de-stressed and happy it shows … decide to do something that relaxes you and leaves you feeling refreshed.

* Get yourself a relaxing body or foot massage.

* Breathing exercises and pranayama improve lung capacity and calm the body and mind.

* An apple a day, a brisk walk a day, and a good laugh a day… don't forget to create a positive outlook to life.

3. Eat wholesome food

Eat nutritious foods. Choose wholesome foods instead of packaged, refined foods. Be creative in your choices so that the food you eat is tasty as well as healthy.

A healthy well-balanced diet should include carbohydrates, proteins, fats and plenty of water. Carbohydrates (grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes) must form 55-60 per cent of your diet; proteins (milk, eggs, fish, sprouts) 15 per cent; and fats (oils, butter) 25 per cent. Carbohydrates provide energy, proteins help in repairing tissues; and fat is essential in the absorption of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.

Avoid fad diets

Prolonged, unbalanced diets that include only one or two foods, or that eliminate the entire food groups can lead to severe nutritional deficiencies. What mainly lost is water and important muscle tissue, and unfortunately, health and energy is also lost as the metabolism slows down.

4. Take care of your skin

Regular exercise, relaxation techniques, adequate water and a positive state of mind are important ingredients to keep the skin looking beautiful and glowing.

Hydration is essential

Water keeps the skin looking fresh and alive. It is one of the most essential nutrients of the human body. The adult body is 60 to 75 per cent water. Drink at least eight to ten glasses of water a day. Also, eat high-water content foods that will keep you well-hydrated. Examples are watermelon, oranges, pineapples, tomatoes, and cucumber.

Beware of pollution, sun burns and other irritants.

Stay away from smog, dust and harsh sunlight.

Know your skin type

Consult an expert. Based on your skin type you will be recommended products which are right for your skin.

Cleanse, tone and moisturise your skin regularly.

This is a daily three-step process in looking after your skin.

Consider applying face-packs or taking facials.

Make every effort to follow the advice of an expert and take time-out to pamper your skin.

The writer is a certified Clinical Exercise Specialist, Lifestyle and Weight Management Specialist.

Baba Ramdev's Yoga and Pranayama Movement

When most people think of yoga, they think of people contorting their bodies in various poses. There is, however, another aspect of yoga that is generally ignored in the US, pranayama.

"Pranayama" is made of two words: Prana is a life force, the inner energy of a person, of which the breath is the external manifestation, and Yama means to control, to discipline. Being able to control one's breath is the key to good health and mental clarity. Sri Swami Sivananda, a turn of the century Indian guru, said of pranayama: "The Prana may be defined as the finest vital force in everything which becomes visible on the physical plane as motion and action and on the mental plane as thought. The word Pranayama, therefore, means the restraint of vital energies. It is the control of vital energy which tingles through the nerves of persons. It moves his muscles and causes him to sense the external world and think his internal thought."

For centuries, the focus of most yoga traditions had been on teaching asanas, or yoga postures. Pranayama was considered too advanced a technique to teach to the general public. This changed when Baba Ramdev Ji popularized a method of teaching pranayama that was both simple and effective. Since then millions have been able to experience the difference that pranayama makes in their lives. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of Art of Living, the world's largest volunteer-based NGO, has said: "Yoga can cure even fatal diseases and Swami Ramdev has definitely proved it time and again. Swami Ramdev has spread yoga to such an extent that sooner or later, one has to embrace it."

"Pranayam is a life force," says Shila Sanghani at the beginning of her yoga and pranayama classes at the Essence of Life in Shorewood. "Without prana one cannot survive, and being able to control one's breath is the key to good health."

In 1995, Swami Baba Ramdev founded the Divya Yog Mandir Trust, Haridwar to spread yoga and pranayama practices worldwide. As part of this mission, Patanjali Yogpeeth is holding its first Chicago Yoga and Pranayama Training Workshop. The workshop will cover yoga philosophy and anatomy, naturopathy, ayurveda, balanced living, asanas, with a focus on pranayama. It will be conducted by Mr. Shekhar Agrawal and Dr. Dilip Sarkar.

Mr. Shekhar Agrawal has been teaching Yoga and Pranayama for over a decade. He is the Trustee and President for Patanjali Yogpeeth USA. Dr. Dilip Sarkar was a Vascular Surgeon for 25 years, Chairman and Chief of Staff at Portsmouth General Hospital, when he suffered a heart attack and underwent by-pass surgery. This led to his study of Ayurvedic medicine and Yoga Therapy, and he is currently the Executive Director of the School of Integrative Medicine, Taksha University, in Virginia.

The Chicago Yoga & Pranayama Training Workshop will begin on Friday evening, March 26th, and last until Sunday evening, March 28th, at the Bharat Sevashram Sangha temple in Aurora, a southwest suburb of Chicago. Further information can be found on the website: http://pyptusa.org/chicagocamp/index.html

Source: http://www.prlog.org

Passion for Yoga

Talk for even a few minutes with Ruth Fisk, owner and founder of Center for Yoga, or Hilaire Lockwood, owner and founder of Hilltop Yoga, and it is clear that yoga for them is more than a profession. Their study and practice of yoga informs every aspect of their lives—mind, body and spirit.

And they want to share that passion with others.

Through their yoga centers, they bring the healing, energizing and life-affirming power of this ancient art to a new generation.

The word "yoga" means "union" in Sanskrit, the language of ancient India where the practice of yoga began. Yoga can be defined as the union of mind, body and spirit. What is commonly known as yoga is perhaps more accurately described using the word "asana" which refers to the poses or postures used in yoga.

Fully understood, yoga also includes mental and spiritual well-being and should not be characterized as simply exercise, stretching or any such purely physical definition. To Fisk and Lockwood, yoga is both practiced and taught as an art, science and philosophy that touches lives and hearts on every level.

Ruth Fisk describes her studio as a "collective or cooperative." Individual teachers, instructors, therapists and practitioners rent space from her. These members of the collective all bring their expertise to the studio, and all work together to deliver the highest quality instruction to their clients.

Besides the practice and teaching of yoga in many styles and at many levels, the center also offers specialty classes like meditation, journaling, Pilates and others. Massage therapy, energy kinesiology, esoteric healing and special classes and events are also available. More information about these and other offerings is available on the Center for Yoga website (www.center4yoga.com) and through their free electronic newsletter.

Fisk says, "I started studying yoga in the early '80s in California. I served a three-year apprenticeship and have continued to learn and study since then. I have been to India many times for training and study.We have been here now for 12 years and just recently expanded our building for the fifth time, giving us both more physical space and specialized spaces for what we do.

"Everyone who works here is committed to continuing education, both for themselves and their students. We are all seeking mental, spiritual, physical and emotional growth and health; and we bring that growth to those we serve."
Fisk says she relies on the business acumen of Julie O'Day, longtime colleague and massage therapist at the center. Says Fisk, "She has been with me since the beginning, and we have succeeded in this enterprise together."

Fisk's teacher in India, Jehangir Palkhivala, comes to teach at Center for Yoga every year, and Fisk continues to travel to India to study with him. This year, she took a group from the center to India for three weeks to experience the country, culture and practice of yoga in the place of its birth.

Fisk emphasizes, "We make yoga accessible by bringing the practice to the individual in a safe and comfortable way. We explore its therapeutic potential, both physically and emotionally and aid growth of the mind, body and spirit through the practice of yoga."

Hilltop Yoga

Hilaire Lockwood, founder/owner of Hilltop Yoga, began her study and practice of yoga when she was only 18 and living in a strange city where she knew no one. She says, "It was my birthday, and I stopped in a small bookstore to buy myself a present. I picked up a book about yoga, The Yoga Sutras, and I was captured by the philosophy expressed in the book. I concentrated on that philosophy for three years before I even began any physical expression of yoga. Eventually, I moved to Los Angeles to study with teachers there."
Lockwood is trained in Iyenger and Ashtanga yoga and also practices and teaches Vinyasa yoga, a multidisciplinary form of yoga focusing on alignment and breath awareness.

"After I was married and after the birth of my two sons, we moved to Lansing so that I could open a studio here," says Lockwood. "In June of 2004, I was diagnosed with metastatic resistant thyroid cancer, and in August, I opened Hilltop Yoga. Through five surgeries, I have continued to practice and teach. My business has grown, and I now have not only the original studio in Haslett, but I have also opened another in Old Town."

There are 21 instructors who teach through Hilltop Yoga, each of them an independent contractor. Steady growth has led to the studio's expansion into Old Town, a space about twice as large as the Haslett facility. Hilltop Yoga also offers yoga for kids, tai chi and other classes, special events and workshops.

In addition, Lockwood trains yoga teachers. She says, "Hilltop Yoga is a Registered Yoga School (RYS) with Yoga Alliance®. Their training is a difficult, 200-hour process with the option to continue for another 100 hours. Once they have completed that, if I feel they are ready, I will certify them to teach."

She continues, "My goal is to make yoga accessible to everyone. At whatever level of physical or emotional health, yoga helps us respect and care for ourselves. By taking care of ourselves, we are better able to care for others as well."

Both Fisk and Lockwood speak with a passion, enthusiasm and confidence that underlie their own practice of yoga as well as their commitment to bringing yoga to others.

5* Product Review: Gaiam ALL-Grip Yoga Brick (Feb 2010)

The ALL-Grip Yoga Brick from Gaiam is a rectangular object made of a durable hard sponge material. The rugged construction is made to last forever. The utility of the mechanical brick is seen in firmly setting the posture of the hand for very specific movements in yoga or even the martial arts. The brick is perfect for both disciplines.

Instructors and students can utilize the brick to guide in performing the yoga forms correctly. In addition, the brick may be utilized to verify the proper alignment of the hand for specific forms or exercises. The brick will assist in learning torque or twisting movements precisely. Students of yoga and the martial arts require a reference point in order to focus movements precisely. Serious students perform specific movements numerous times to reach a state of perfection in the execution of the various yoga forms. In addition, the yoga brick may help to prevent strain or injury in performing these exercises. Novice yoga enthusiasts usually perform the art under the supervision of an experienced practitioner.

The middle of the brick has an infinity shape which fits the contour of the hand perfectly. In addition, there is plenty of room to focus the exercises by aligning the eyes with the infinity shape in the middle of the brick. The ALL-Grip Yoga Brick is recommended for the discriminating yoga or martial arts practitioner. The price is reasonable and the brick is easy to use during the conduct of daily or periodic exercise sessions.

In addition, the practice of yoga is facilitated by focusing on a specific object to aid in concentration. 5 Stars

This product was provided by Gaiam to the reviewer. AMAZON

Joseph S. Maresca Ph.D., CPA, CISA, MBA: His significant writings include over 10 copyrights in the name of the author (Joseph S. Maresca) and a patent in the earthquake sciences. He holds membership in the prestigious Delta Mu Delta National Honor Society and Sigma Beta Delta International Honor Society. In addition, he reviews many books for Basil & Spice.