Bobbi Burkey can get away without even leaving home.
Burkey has devoted parts of her New Franklin split level to her inner self, turning her living room into a yoga space, outfitting a small room on the lower level for meditation and creating a meditation garden in her yard. Even her foyer hints at her spirituality: It's decorated with a statue of Ganesha, the Hindu god of wisdom, and a symbol for om, the sacred sound often chanted during meditation.
Burkey is among the introspective people who are creating sacred spaces in their homes, places where they can seek spiritual renewal.
A sacred space can take many forms, a portion of a garden, perhaps; an altar in a hallway; a quiet corner for devotional reading or relaxation. Such places often have religious significance, but not necessarily, said Cynthia J. Hoffman, an Akron interior designer who makes a priority of helping clients create a sense of sanctuary in their homes.
'It's kind of a place to spend time out of mind,' Hoffman said. It's designed to help you release tension in a healthy way and connect with something greater than yourself, 'whether it's your higher self, or it could just be nature.'
Burkey's sacred spaces grew from a desire to practice meditation and yoga as well as a need for a place to teach yoga to others.
By Mary Beth Breckenridge
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
A YOGA CLUB
Gautham Jeppu and Asaad Mohomed take part in last Friday's yoga class. The Art of Living meets Friday nights at the AU Chapel.Gautham Jeppu and Asaad Mohomed take part in last Friday's yoga class. The Art of Living meets Friday nights at the AU Chapel.Breathe in, breathe out.
Many college students are constantly stressed. Some are so stressed they can't eat, sleep or study.
Yoga exercises are known to relax the body, but what about relaxing the mind?
The Art of Living is a six day course designed to teach people breathing patterns which allow them to relax their mind, body and spirit.
'The Art of Living helps to bring the mind into its present state,' said Gautham Jeppu, president of the yoga club. 'People become stressed when their mind wanders to the past or future instead of living in the present.'
Youth empowerment seminars, YES!+, illustrate and teach participants how to control the connection between their body, breath and mind.
There are three stages to controlled breathing, and each of the stages opens every part of the lungs to release stress toxins.
In addition to relieving stress, controlled breathing trains the mind to focus on the moment.
'The aim is to bring the mind to a child like state,' Jeppu said. 'We want to be happy, natural and carefree.'
Breathing patterns are associated with different emotions. For example, people take short, fast breaths when they are tense or angry, and long, slow breaths when they are happy.
BY BRIDGETTE BONNER
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Many college students are constantly stressed. Some are so stressed they can't eat, sleep or study.
Yoga exercises are known to relax the body, but what about relaxing the mind?
The Art of Living is a six day course designed to teach people breathing patterns which allow them to relax their mind, body and spirit.
'The Art of Living helps to bring the mind into its present state,' said Gautham Jeppu, president of the yoga club. 'People become stressed when their mind wanders to the past or future instead of living in the present.'
Youth empowerment seminars, YES!+, illustrate and teach participants how to control the connection between their body, breath and mind.
There are three stages to controlled breathing, and each of the stages opens every part of the lungs to release stress toxins.
In addition to relieving stress, controlled breathing trains the mind to focus on the moment.
'The aim is to bring the mind to a child like state,' Jeppu said. 'We want to be happy, natural and carefree.'
Breathing patterns are associated with different emotions. For example, people take short, fast breaths when they are tense or angry, and long, slow breaths when they are happy.
BY BRIDGETTE BONNER
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Monday, 26 January 2009
WHO CAN PRACTICE YOGA?
When clerics in Malaysia banned Muslims from practising yoga, they started a heated debate in the Islamic world. But Islamic scholars in India, including those at the Darul Uloom Deoband, say they do not find anything objectionable in Muslims practising yoga. Chanting mantras like Om that have religious connotation, they add, is not necessary for yoga and Muslims can replace them with verses from the Quran or references to Allah.
'Yoga is a good form of exercise. If some words, which are supposed to be chanted while performing it, have religious connotations, then Muslims need not utter those. They can instead recite verses from the Quran or praise Allah or remain silent,' Maulana Abdul Khaliq Madrasi, deputy vice chancellor of the Darul Uloom, told The Indian Express.
He said he discussed the issue with yoga experts and they told him that reciting 'Om' or any other mantra was not compulsory for practising yoga.
By Manoj C G
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
'Yoga is a good form of exercise. If some words, which are supposed to be chanted while performing it, have religious connotations, then Muslims need not utter those. They can instead recite verses from the Quran or praise Allah or remain silent,' Maulana Abdul Khaliq Madrasi, deputy vice chancellor of the Darul Uloom, told The Indian Express.
He said he discussed the issue with yoga experts and they told him that reciting 'Om' or any other mantra was not compulsory for practising yoga.
By Manoj C G
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Sunday, 25 January 2009
GENTLE APPLICATION OF YOGAS
Experts in the field of yoga and medicine here are unanimous in their opinion that introduction of yoga as compulsory learning, as part of physical education for the students in the state, will do more harm than good.
Sukumar Shastri, a yoga expert, asserts that there are some basic fundamentals which are to be followed while doing yoga. 'It should not be forcibly introduced as it may lead to mental stress,' Shastri says adding that girls should not perform yoga during menstruation.
The idea to introduce yoga in schools by the state government from the next academic year may have percolated from strong the endorsement by Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss that yoga should be made compulsory for school students. Ramadoss oft repeated this view from October last year at various foras.
This has not gone down well with citizens and yoga experts, who question the rationale behind the decision especially in the light that the state has made no attempt to conduct a large, multi centric, randomized, controlled, blinded, long term prospective study about the benefits and adverse effects of yoga in growing children.
Ramadoss first made this statement in October last year, after attending a camp organized by yoga Guru Ramdev. Ramadoss said the health ministry was talking to the human resource department (HRD) to encourage school students to adopt a healthy life style.
Shastri says yoga should not be performed by children below the age of eight as they cannot do it systematically. 'Yoga is not physical training. While practising yoga, satvika (easily digestible) food is a must, which means non veg is restricted. Yoga should be performed two hours after having light food and four hours after having a heavy meal. Can this be followed by children,' asks Shastri.
Dr B S Kakkilaya, physician, says with the average age at menarche being 12 to 13 years in India, this may pose other problems for girl students and anxiety for their parents if yoga is made compulsory in schools. Quoting studies in the field, he adds there may be other serious physical complications to growing children if it is forced upon them.
Kakkilaya along with Narendra Nayak, president, Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, and Dr K S Madhava Rao, psychiatrist, have written to Ramadoss to drop the proposal of compulsory yoga education for school children. They pointed out that it should not be taken up in view of the absence of unambiguous evidence about the benefits as well as safety of yoga in children, the difficulties for girl students in performing yoga and the absolute necessity to have well trained teachers rather than physical education trainers to impart safe and meaningful yoga training.
Yoga expert Gopalakrishna Delampady, who has been practising yoga for 30 years, says it should be optional and should not be made mandatory. 'It should be introduced only for those who are interested, that too from fifth standard onwards,' he says.
He maintains that yoga should be taught only by experts and not physical education instructors, who are imparted `quick fix training'. He fears that the large scale funds flowing into this may bring in untrained people causing harm to children.
By Stanley G Pinto
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Sukumar Shastri, a yoga expert, asserts that there are some basic fundamentals which are to be followed while doing yoga. 'It should not be forcibly introduced as it may lead to mental stress,' Shastri says adding that girls should not perform yoga during menstruation.
The idea to introduce yoga in schools by the state government from the next academic year may have percolated from strong the endorsement by Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss that yoga should be made compulsory for school students. Ramadoss oft repeated this view from October last year at various foras.
This has not gone down well with citizens and yoga experts, who question the rationale behind the decision especially in the light that the state has made no attempt to conduct a large, multi centric, randomized, controlled, blinded, long term prospective study about the benefits and adverse effects of yoga in growing children.
Ramadoss first made this statement in October last year, after attending a camp organized by yoga Guru Ramdev. Ramadoss said the health ministry was talking to the human resource department (HRD) to encourage school students to adopt a healthy life style.
Shastri says yoga should not be performed by children below the age of eight as they cannot do it systematically. 'Yoga is not physical training. While practising yoga, satvika (easily digestible) food is a must, which means non veg is restricted. Yoga should be performed two hours after having light food and four hours after having a heavy meal. Can this be followed by children,' asks Shastri.
Dr B S Kakkilaya, physician, says with the average age at menarche being 12 to 13 years in India, this may pose other problems for girl students and anxiety for their parents if yoga is made compulsory in schools. Quoting studies in the field, he adds there may be other serious physical complications to growing children if it is forced upon them.
Kakkilaya along with Narendra Nayak, president, Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, and Dr K S Madhava Rao, psychiatrist, have written to Ramadoss to drop the proposal of compulsory yoga education for school children. They pointed out that it should not be taken up in view of the absence of unambiguous evidence about the benefits as well as safety of yoga in children, the difficulties for girl students in performing yoga and the absolute necessity to have well trained teachers rather than physical education trainers to impart safe and meaningful yoga training.
Yoga expert Gopalakrishna Delampady, who has been practising yoga for 30 years, says it should be optional and should not be made mandatory. 'It should be introduced only for those who are interested, that too from fifth standard onwards,' he says.
He maintains that yoga should be taught only by experts and not physical education instructors, who are imparted `quick fix training'. He fears that the large scale funds flowing into this may bring in untrained people causing harm to children.
By Stanley G Pinto
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Thursday, 22 January 2009
THE YOGA COMMUNITY GROWS
Yoga teacher Beth Lambert has joined the faculty of Yoga Community as of January 6. She will be teaching a new multi level class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. on an ongoing basis.
Lambert is a certified Yoga instructor through the Yoga Alliance. She completed her 200 hour certification through Yandara in Baha, Mexico where she learned Hatha yoga with Iyengar precision allignment and an emphasis on heartfelt awareness. She is also certified in Prana Flow through Shiva Rea where she incorporates the five elements into her practice in order to balance the body, mind, and spirit. While Iyengar is fundamental to her practice she also brings awareness to the chakras helping to bring vitality to the physical and subtle body. Her classes are a colorful weave of asana, pranayama, mudras, and meditation with a focus on awakening your true inner self by being a neutral witness of your practice and by learning to listen and trust your own inner guru. The Yoga Community is located at 577 Fifth Street West, Sonoma. For more information phone 95 8600 go to www.yogacommunity.net.
By www.sonomanews.com
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Lambert is a certified Yoga instructor through the Yoga Alliance. She completed her 200 hour certification through Yandara in Baha, Mexico where she learned Hatha yoga with Iyengar precision allignment and an emphasis on heartfelt awareness. She is also certified in Prana Flow through Shiva Rea where she incorporates the five elements into her practice in order to balance the body, mind, and spirit. While Iyengar is fundamental to her practice she also brings awareness to the chakras helping to bring vitality to the physical and subtle body. Her classes are a colorful weave of asana, pranayama, mudras, and meditation with a focus on awakening your true inner self by being a neutral witness of your practice and by learning to listen and trust your own inner guru. The Yoga Community is located at 577 Fifth Street West, Sonoma. For more information phone 95 8600 go to www.yogacommunity.net.
By www.sonomanews.com
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
YOGA ON THE PLANE
Uma Thurman stunned passengers by doing a yoga routine on a recent flight.
The Hollywood star was travelling from New York's JFK Airport to Utah's Salt Lake City when she left her seat and began bending and stretching in front of shocked onlookers.
A source told the New York Post newspaper: 'Uma started doing yoga in the aisles. She used the flight attendant station as a ballet barre, where she stretched for 20 minutes.'
Most travellers politely looked in another direction and put Uma's antics down to a stringent fitness regime.
However, they were surprised to see the health conscious 38 year old star race off the plane when it landed and immediately light up a cigarette.
The source explained: 'After we left the plane, she ran for an exit and then chain smoked like crazy.'
Uma has previously revealed that if she isn't exercising she finds shopping helps her forget about the pressures of acting.
She said: 'I shop all the time and I buy more or less anything! Clothes express the way I feel and I go through very different stages over the year, the month, the week or even the day.'
By www.stuff.co.nz
THE LATEST AIRBOURNE YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
The Hollywood star was travelling from New York's JFK Airport to Utah's Salt Lake City when she left her seat and began bending and stretching in front of shocked onlookers.
A source told the New York Post newspaper: 'Uma started doing yoga in the aisles. She used the flight attendant station as a ballet barre, where she stretched for 20 minutes.'
Most travellers politely looked in another direction and put Uma's antics down to a stringent fitness regime.
However, they were surprised to see the health conscious 38 year old star race off the plane when it landed and immediately light up a cigarette.
The source explained: 'After we left the plane, she ran for an exit and then chain smoked like crazy.'
Uma has previously revealed that if she isn't exercising she finds shopping helps her forget about the pressures of acting.
She said: 'I shop all the time and I buy more or less anything! Clothes express the way I feel and I go through very different stages over the year, the month, the week or even the day.'
By www.stuff.co.nz
THE LATEST AIRBOURNE YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
A YOGA DAY FOR CHARITY
Leave your canned food donation at the door before you do your downward facing dog.
The Stress Management Center of Nevada, 601 Whiney Ranch Drive, is hosting free yoga classes Saturday for national Yoga Day. Donations will be collected for S.A.F.E. House, a shelter for victims of domestic violence.
'Funding has gone down so badly because of budget cuts from the state, feds and the bad economy,' said Julie Proctor, S.A.F.E. House executive director. 'We're not getting a log of monetary donations.'
The benefit kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday with a drum circle and raffles for yoga apparel. All raffle proceeds will go to the organization, which also provides counseling and legal advocacy to women and children.
The group is in dire need of bus passes, size 3 to 6 diapers, paper products such as towels and toilet paper and ladies underwear, she said.
The classes are aimed toward new or therapeutic yoga students, said Kathleen Grace Santor, Stress Management Center of Nevada director.
'Easy Does It yoga is for people with a limitation, for those who have find they need different props and modifications,' she said.
Students will use yoga blocks, straps and chairs to help with balance.
The center will also host a class for full figured women and intermediate students, she said.
The center is a registered yoga school with the national Yoga Alliance. For more information visit www.yogainlasvegas.com. To register for a free class, contact Justine Zilliken at 810 5616.
By Becky Bosshart
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
The Stress Management Center of Nevada, 601 Whiney Ranch Drive, is hosting free yoga classes Saturday for national Yoga Day. Donations will be collected for S.A.F.E. House, a shelter for victims of domestic violence.
'Funding has gone down so badly because of budget cuts from the state, feds and the bad economy,' said Julie Proctor, S.A.F.E. House executive director. 'We're not getting a log of monetary donations.'
The benefit kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday with a drum circle and raffles for yoga apparel. All raffle proceeds will go to the organization, which also provides counseling and legal advocacy to women and children.
The group is in dire need of bus passes, size 3 to 6 diapers, paper products such as towels and toilet paper and ladies underwear, she said.
The classes are aimed toward new or therapeutic yoga students, said Kathleen Grace Santor, Stress Management Center of Nevada director.
'Easy Does It yoga is for people with a limitation, for those who have find they need different props and modifications,' she said.
Students will use yoga blocks, straps and chairs to help with balance.
The center will also host a class for full figured women and intermediate students, she said.
The center is a registered yoga school with the national Yoga Alliance. For more information visit www.yogainlasvegas.com. To register for a free class, contact Justine Zilliken at 810 5616.
By Becky Bosshart
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Monday, 19 January 2009
YOGA FROM INDIA
Yoga is commonly believed to be a practice started by Sadhus and Sanyasis of India in the ancient times, but it is not true. One will be surprised to know that first yoga exercise had been introduced in Baghdad in Iraq and later in Iran and Moracco. This was stated by Munger based Yoga Ashram and Bihar School of Yoga head Swami Niranjananand Saraswati while delivering a lecture at Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library on Sunday.
From there, he said, this was practised in Christian states and then came to India where Sadhus and Sanyasis preserved it. Swami said all the literatures published by his institutions are also translated in Persian and sent to Iraq and Iran which are certified by the governments of those countries. Every year people from those countries also come to Munger, he added.
Swami said what is shown on TV and preached and practised by various yoga gurus was not real yoga. He said about 5,000 years back Maharishi Patanjali had described yoga as a discipline and a source to keep human mind in peace.
He said his institutions try to tune the body, mind and soul for a disciplined life.
The yoga school has studied for years and has identified various asans (physical postures) for curing different diseases. For example, an exercise for 40 days can cure diabetics, he said. But he added that deep concentration and pin-pointed awareness is a must component for success in life.
The Swami said his institution imparts training to Army jawans mostly deployed in deserts or icy mountains and the golfers, archers and shooters also visit the school for training. Earlier, library director Imtiaz Ahmad showed Swami rare manuscripts preserved in the library.
By www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
From there, he said, this was practised in Christian states and then came to India where Sadhus and Sanyasis preserved it. Swami said all the literatures published by his institutions are also translated in Persian and sent to Iraq and Iran which are certified by the governments of those countries. Every year people from those countries also come to Munger, he added.
Swami said what is shown on TV and preached and practised by various yoga gurus was not real yoga. He said about 5,000 years back Maharishi Patanjali had described yoga as a discipline and a source to keep human mind in peace.
He said his institutions try to tune the body, mind and soul for a disciplined life.
The yoga school has studied for years and has identified various asans (physical postures) for curing different diseases. For example, an exercise for 40 days can cure diabetics, he said. But he added that deep concentration and pin-pointed awareness is a must component for success in life.
The Swami said his institution imparts training to Army jawans mostly deployed in deserts or icy mountains and the golfers, archers and shooters also visit the school for training. Earlier, library director Imtiaz Ahmad showed Swami rare manuscripts preserved in the library.
By www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Thursday, 15 January 2009
YOGA BY DONATION
KO Yoga Studio in Charleston is hosting donation only yoga classes as part of Yoga Day USA on Saturday, Jan. 24.
Donations contributed that day will benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Classes range from gentle yoga and meditation to yoga for special needs children with Susan McKinley from Tangible Alternatives in Huntington.
'KO Yoga has proudly participated in Yoga Day USA for the past three years. This is a wonderful event that brings the community together for two great causes, sharing the amazing benefits of yoga with others and contributing to the work of the Lance Armstrong Foundation,' said Lesa Smith, owner of KO Yoga Studio, in a press release.
For a complete list of classes, visit www.koyogawv.com or call Lesa Smith at 304 437 3403.
KO Yoga Studio is located at 5132A MacCorkle Ave., SE, in Charleston.
By www.herald-dispatch.com
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Donations contributed that day will benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Classes range from gentle yoga and meditation to yoga for special needs children with Susan McKinley from Tangible Alternatives in Huntington.
'KO Yoga has proudly participated in Yoga Day USA for the past three years. This is a wonderful event that brings the community together for two great causes, sharing the amazing benefits of yoga with others and contributing to the work of the Lance Armstrong Foundation,' said Lesa Smith, owner of KO Yoga Studio, in a press release.
For a complete list of classes, visit www.koyogawv.com or call Lesa Smith at 304 437 3403.
KO Yoga Studio is located at 5132A MacCorkle Ave., SE, in Charleston.
By www.herald-dispatch.com
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
YOGA AND THE BENEFITS
We are hearing more and more about yoga and its benefits as yoga has grown dramatically in popularity. The big question is WHY?
Yoga is different than traditional fitness in that it doesn't break up the components of strength, flexibility, stamina, and cardiovascular training into levels of importance based on our goals. This ancient practice addresses all aspects of 'self'... the body, mind, and spirit. Yes, I said spirit. No, yoga is not a religion; however the heart of yoga is spirituality, best defined as the process of self awareness, self discovery, and self realization. Yoga is about finding your self again, pushing your boundaries, and relaxing into who you are. It is taking an hour or so for yourself to get back in balance and bringing this balance back to other aspects of our lives. It is a welcomed 'time out.'
The first text on yoga was written by Patanjali over 2,500 years ago, but it is believed that yoga originated in India over 5000 years ago. Patanjali defined yoga as the 'cessation of the turnings of the mind.' The word yoga comes from the Sanksrit word yuj, which translates 'to unite, to join, or to connect.' Quieting the mind is no easy task and must be cultivated. During yoga practice, you start with the 'known' putting your body into postures or asanas and mindfully noticing the breath or pranayama. As you challenge the body and mind through asanas and pranayama, you become more open to experiencing the 'unknown,' a quiet mind or inner stillness.
Admit it, the first thing that comes to mind when someone says yoga is 'a new exercise fad of contortionistic poses that helps you become more flexible.' You don't have to be Gumby or chant or burn incense. It is not a competition and everyone's body is different. Yoga works because it is simple and in harmony with how the body is designed to move and operate. By bending, stretching, lifting, reaching, and twisting, yoga empowers you to use your body the way you do in everyday life. Anyone can do yoga. A balanced practice brings vitality, deep relaxation and peace of mind. Yoga develops coordination, flexibility, stamina, balance, mental clarity, increased concentration, and overall health.
Here are just a few of the rewards for the bodymind:
1. Stretches and strengthens muscles throughout the body
2. Increases circulation to internal organs and glands
3. Quiets the nervous system
4. Decreases blood pressure
5. Increases flexibility and lubrication of joints, ligaments and tendons
6. Detoxifies the body and tones the muscles
7. Increases energy level and enhances memory
8. Improves sleep patterns, balance and mood
9. Decreases depression, anxiety and stress
The simple answer to 'why yoga?' is because it makes you feel good. With a balanced yoga practice, you start to see subtle changes such as a more positive peaceful outlook, want a healthier diet, and become more open to a regular meditation practice. With this combination, you effortlessly drop old habits and begin a life transformation to a better healthier you.
By Michelle Crawford
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Yoga is different than traditional fitness in that it doesn't break up the components of strength, flexibility, stamina, and cardiovascular training into levels of importance based on our goals. This ancient practice addresses all aspects of 'self'... the body, mind, and spirit. Yes, I said spirit. No, yoga is not a religion; however the heart of yoga is spirituality, best defined as the process of self awareness, self discovery, and self realization. Yoga is about finding your self again, pushing your boundaries, and relaxing into who you are. It is taking an hour or so for yourself to get back in balance and bringing this balance back to other aspects of our lives. It is a welcomed 'time out.'
The first text on yoga was written by Patanjali over 2,500 years ago, but it is believed that yoga originated in India over 5000 years ago. Patanjali defined yoga as the 'cessation of the turnings of the mind.' The word yoga comes from the Sanksrit word yuj, which translates 'to unite, to join, or to connect.' Quieting the mind is no easy task and must be cultivated. During yoga practice, you start with the 'known' putting your body into postures or asanas and mindfully noticing the breath or pranayama. As you challenge the body and mind through asanas and pranayama, you become more open to experiencing the 'unknown,' a quiet mind or inner stillness.
Admit it, the first thing that comes to mind when someone says yoga is 'a new exercise fad of contortionistic poses that helps you become more flexible.' You don't have to be Gumby or chant or burn incense. It is not a competition and everyone's body is different. Yoga works because it is simple and in harmony with how the body is designed to move and operate. By bending, stretching, lifting, reaching, and twisting, yoga empowers you to use your body the way you do in everyday life. Anyone can do yoga. A balanced practice brings vitality, deep relaxation and peace of mind. Yoga develops coordination, flexibility, stamina, balance, mental clarity, increased concentration, and overall health.
Here are just a few of the rewards for the bodymind:
1. Stretches and strengthens muscles throughout the body
2. Increases circulation to internal organs and glands
3. Quiets the nervous system
4. Decreases blood pressure
5. Increases flexibility and lubrication of joints, ligaments and tendons
6. Detoxifies the body and tones the muscles
7. Increases energy level and enhances memory
8. Improves sleep patterns, balance and mood
9. Decreases depression, anxiety and stress
The simple answer to 'why yoga?' is because it makes you feel good. With a balanced yoga practice, you start to see subtle changes such as a more positive peaceful outlook, want a healthier diet, and become more open to a regular meditation practice. With this combination, you effortlessly drop old habits and begin a life transformation to a better healthier you.
By Michelle Crawford
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
YOGA HELPING ANIMALS
Three New Jersey yoga teachers are trying to make life better for homeless animals.
Dina Smodlaka of Colonia, Carly Porrello of South Plainfield, and Tiffiny Twardowsky of Rockaway have all rescued pets from animal shelters.
Sharing a love of animals and yoga, they established Happy Tails Yoga: A Cause for Paws. Their charity of choice is New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (njspca.org).
The premise of Happy Tails Yoga is simple: yoga teachers throughout New Jersey will donate their time during the month of February and teach a Happy Tails Yoga Class.
Anyone interested in taking these classes will in turn make a donation, in any denomination, to attend. Happy Tails Yoga teachers then turn over 100 percent of the proceeds to the NJSPCA.
'Yoga is more than just a form of exercise,' said Twardowsky. 'It is a way of life, helping you enhance your own health and well being. I have opened my heart to two special boxers I adopted from Second Chance Boxer and ASPCA and wanted to find a way to enhance the health and well being of the too many abandoned, neglected and unloved animals in New Jersey.'
Yoga teachers throughout the state who would like to donate their time, or facilities that would like to donate their location, can register on the Happy Tails Yoga website: happytailsyoga.org or by contacting Twardowsky directly at 908 305 6006. The deadline to register is January 20.
For those who cannot attend a class but would like to make a monetary donation, NJSPCA is in the process of creating a donation link on their website specifically for Happy Tails Yoga. You can also mail checks made payable to NJSPCA to:
Happy Tails Yoga, c/o Tiffiny Twardowsky, PO Box 53, Rockaway, NJ 07866.
By On Deck Staff
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Dina Smodlaka of Colonia, Carly Porrello of South Plainfield, and Tiffiny Twardowsky of Rockaway have all rescued pets from animal shelters.
Sharing a love of animals and yoga, they established Happy Tails Yoga: A Cause for Paws. Their charity of choice is New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (njspca.org).
The premise of Happy Tails Yoga is simple: yoga teachers throughout New Jersey will donate their time during the month of February and teach a Happy Tails Yoga Class.
Anyone interested in taking these classes will in turn make a donation, in any denomination, to attend. Happy Tails Yoga teachers then turn over 100 percent of the proceeds to the NJSPCA.
'Yoga is more than just a form of exercise,' said Twardowsky. 'It is a way of life, helping you enhance your own health and well being. I have opened my heart to two special boxers I adopted from Second Chance Boxer and ASPCA and wanted to find a way to enhance the health and well being of the too many abandoned, neglected and unloved animals in New Jersey.'
Yoga teachers throughout the state who would like to donate their time, or facilities that would like to donate their location, can register on the Happy Tails Yoga website: happytailsyoga.org or by contacting Twardowsky directly at 908 305 6006. The deadline to register is January 20.
For those who cannot attend a class but would like to make a monetary donation, NJSPCA is in the process of creating a donation link on their website specifically for Happy Tails Yoga. You can also mail checks made payable to NJSPCA to:
Happy Tails Yoga, c/o Tiffiny Twardowsky, PO Box 53, Rockaway, NJ 07866.
By On Deck Staff
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Monday, 12 January 2009
TREATMENT BY YOGA
Must the road to enlightenment be paved in sincerity? Can only the super earnest attain spiritual salvation?
Some yoga teachers have been pondering these mysteries with the gravity of an economic summit. And they are chanting in unison, 'Nooohhhhm.'
'I do think there's a trend toward lightening up in the yoga community,' said Kelly McGonigal, 31, the editor in chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy (found at iayt.org). 'Mostly around the rigidity and humorlessness of doing things 'the one right way' ... feeling like every yoga practice has to be one big self improvement project.'
Now some teachers are infusing levity into classes in an effort to appeal to more students.
Amanda Wegner, 28, a yoga teacher in Madison, Wis., often demonstrates a variation of standing knee to chest that she calls 'Captain Morgan pose,' like the rum. 'Most often, the students know exactly what I mean,' she said.
Sadie Nardini, the director of yoga at East West Yoga in Manhattan, said she runs a kind of 'punk rock' practice (never mind the inherent sanctimony in the word 'practice').
Her cheekiness is on display on her YouTube video, 'The Bon Jovi Chant' which features a close up of Nardini, fingers clasped, leading a hearty rendition of the noted sage Jon Bon Jovi's 'Living on a Prayer.'
'People laugh at first and then get teary chanting Bon Jovi,' she said. There are yogic benefits: 'When you laugh, you open your heart to reality. Truth is there, deep in that laughing place.'
By Abby Ellin
THE LATEST YOGA TREATMENT NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Some yoga teachers have been pondering these mysteries with the gravity of an economic summit. And they are chanting in unison, 'Nooohhhhm.'
'I do think there's a trend toward lightening up in the yoga community,' said Kelly McGonigal, 31, the editor in chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy (found at iayt.org). 'Mostly around the rigidity and humorlessness of doing things 'the one right way' ... feeling like every yoga practice has to be one big self improvement project.'
Now some teachers are infusing levity into classes in an effort to appeal to more students.
Amanda Wegner, 28, a yoga teacher in Madison, Wis., often demonstrates a variation of standing knee to chest that she calls 'Captain Morgan pose,' like the rum. 'Most often, the students know exactly what I mean,' she said.
Sadie Nardini, the director of yoga at East West Yoga in Manhattan, said she runs a kind of 'punk rock' practice (never mind the inherent sanctimony in the word 'practice').
Her cheekiness is on display on her YouTube video, 'The Bon Jovi Chant' which features a close up of Nardini, fingers clasped, leading a hearty rendition of the noted sage Jon Bon Jovi's 'Living on a Prayer.'
'People laugh at first and then get teary chanting Bon Jovi,' she said. There are yogic benefits: 'When you laugh, you open your heart to reality. Truth is there, deep in that laughing place.'
By Abby Ellin
THE LATEST YOGA TREATMENT NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
YOGA AND MUSCLE
Yoga may have a soft and peaceful reputation, but the theme at Willow Street Yoga on a recent evening was fear. If I collapse from a handstand, what happens to my face?
The students in Batya Metalitz's advanced class were no strangers to the handstand or other difficult poses, but she still encouraged them to acknowledge that some of the things she would ask them to do in the two hour session would be unnerving.
'I want you to be OK being in that fear. Fear will encourage you to engage those muscles,' Metalitz told the group.
Is yoga just a nice stretch, or will it make you stronger? What about cardiovascular health? How does it stack up to the activities more commonly associated (in the West) with aerobic endurance, such as running or biking?
As with most forms of exercise, the answer is, it depends, on what goals you set and on how you organize your training. Watching the students in Metalitz's class, there was little doubt that yoga practiced at such an advanced level involved serious strength. It also takes a pretty single minded commitment.
For anyone not ready to go that route, the relevant issue is whether there is value in a less intense relationship with 'mindful exercise.'
Practitioners say that regular participation in yoga, regardless of the style or level, is going to produce at least two surefire benefits: It will identify and help strengthen weak points in your body, and it will help reawaken muscles that tend to be underused.
Whether the issue is strength or flexibility, your body's weaknesses become obvious when you start working through yoga poses, even seemingly simple ones. And the further you go, the clearer it becomes what muscle or joint is holding things up.
Clearly, you can't stand on your head unless a whole bunch of things are working right, but even a simple child's pose can be revealing. Although different styles of yoga have different emphases, proper alignment is a common tenet (if for no other reason than to prevent injury). One particular pose was done standing and involved curling the back while the hips remained perpendicular to the floor. That can be a challenge, given that the tendency, when someone says 'backbend,' is to throw your hips forward and start arching the legs.
Which brings us to the other benefit: learning to use the right muscles at the right time. This might sound like something the brain takes care of without a lot of conscious planning on our part, but not necessarily. A sedentary life leads to bad habits: We unlearn how to do things that ought to be natural.
Yoga, as well as such disciplines as Pilates and tai chi, which require similar precision, forces you to concentrate on which muscles are engaged, and leads to more awareness of how we move in daily life.
Working through the body's weak points, retraining muscles, building flexibility, teaching balance: All these flow from yoga practice, even if it's limited to the less intense styles, said Ralph La Forge, an exercise physiologist at Duke University Medical Center's Division of Endocrinology. There are other widely accepted psychological and physiological benefits as well: Yoga's emphasis on controlled breathing and its meditative aspect, for example, can help lower blood pressure and reduce stress.
What's missing? Cardiovascular training.
Different styles of yoga will involve comparatively more or less motion. Some of the more dynamic, like ashtanga and vinyasa, provide 'a hell of a workout,' La Forge said. But in general, he said, yoga won't produce the same elevated heart rate or intense energy expenditure as more standard aerobics.
And La Forge said there can be limits when it comes to strength training.
The styles that involve holding poses for a longer time build static strength, for example, as opposed to other sorts of exercise that require muscles to move weight through a range of motion or that build endurance by repeating motions under weight. In general, the gains in strength from yoga are limited by the type of resistance being used: namely, your body weight. You'll only become as strong as you need to be to hold yourself in a particular pose.
But for a handstand, that would be pretty strong.
BY HOWARD SCHNEIDER
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
The students in Batya Metalitz's advanced class were no strangers to the handstand or other difficult poses, but she still encouraged them to acknowledge that some of the things she would ask them to do in the two hour session would be unnerving.
'I want you to be OK being in that fear. Fear will encourage you to engage those muscles,' Metalitz told the group.
Is yoga just a nice stretch, or will it make you stronger? What about cardiovascular health? How does it stack up to the activities more commonly associated (in the West) with aerobic endurance, such as running or biking?
As with most forms of exercise, the answer is, it depends, on what goals you set and on how you organize your training. Watching the students in Metalitz's class, there was little doubt that yoga practiced at such an advanced level involved serious strength. It also takes a pretty single minded commitment.
For anyone not ready to go that route, the relevant issue is whether there is value in a less intense relationship with 'mindful exercise.'
Practitioners say that regular participation in yoga, regardless of the style or level, is going to produce at least two surefire benefits: It will identify and help strengthen weak points in your body, and it will help reawaken muscles that tend to be underused.
Whether the issue is strength or flexibility, your body's weaknesses become obvious when you start working through yoga poses, even seemingly simple ones. And the further you go, the clearer it becomes what muscle or joint is holding things up.
Clearly, you can't stand on your head unless a whole bunch of things are working right, but even a simple child's pose can be revealing. Although different styles of yoga have different emphases, proper alignment is a common tenet (if for no other reason than to prevent injury). One particular pose was done standing and involved curling the back while the hips remained perpendicular to the floor. That can be a challenge, given that the tendency, when someone says 'backbend,' is to throw your hips forward and start arching the legs.
Which brings us to the other benefit: learning to use the right muscles at the right time. This might sound like something the brain takes care of without a lot of conscious planning on our part, but not necessarily. A sedentary life leads to bad habits: We unlearn how to do things that ought to be natural.
Yoga, as well as such disciplines as Pilates and tai chi, which require similar precision, forces you to concentrate on which muscles are engaged, and leads to more awareness of how we move in daily life.
Working through the body's weak points, retraining muscles, building flexibility, teaching balance: All these flow from yoga practice, even if it's limited to the less intense styles, said Ralph La Forge, an exercise physiologist at Duke University Medical Center's Division of Endocrinology. There are other widely accepted psychological and physiological benefits as well: Yoga's emphasis on controlled breathing and its meditative aspect, for example, can help lower blood pressure and reduce stress.
What's missing? Cardiovascular training.
Different styles of yoga will involve comparatively more or less motion. Some of the more dynamic, like ashtanga and vinyasa, provide 'a hell of a workout,' La Forge said. But in general, he said, yoga won't produce the same elevated heart rate or intense energy expenditure as more standard aerobics.
And La Forge said there can be limits when it comes to strength training.
The styles that involve holding poses for a longer time build static strength, for example, as opposed to other sorts of exercise that require muscles to move weight through a range of motion or that build endurance by repeating motions under weight. In general, the gains in strength from yoga are limited by the type of resistance being used: namely, your body weight. You'll only become as strong as you need to be to hold yourself in a particular pose.
But for a handstand, that would be pretty strong.
BY HOWARD SCHNEIDER
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA