DJ Dave and the crew from Fog and Smog films (makers of the very clever ” Whole Foods Parking Lot ” video) are back, taking on yoga–and on the make for yoginis–with ” Yoga Girl .”  We spot Vinnie Marino and DJ Drez. Who else makes a cameo?

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Rapper’s Yoga Video

Canada’s Globe and Mail Report on Business magazine has named Lululemon Athletica’s Christine Day CEO of the year . This news comes after the Vancouver-based company was criticized in the media for its new “Who is John Galt?” shopping bag (a reference to the Ayn Rand novel Atlas Shrugged). Day, who came from Starbucks and has served as Lulu’s CEO since 2008, has overseen tremendous growth during her tenure. “Lululemon saw its stock climb to almost $60 this fall, up over 280% from when Day joined the company, and a whopping 250% gain year over year,” according to the article. Day points to the company’s stated values as a driving factor in that growth. “Investing in your health will pay big dividends for individuals and society,” she told the magazine, “elevating the world from mediocrity to greatness.” Of course, the anti-mediocrity sentiment led to Lululemon’s controversial use of the Rand quote . “I believe in a culture of personal accountability and not compromising your values,” Day said. “Atlas Shrugged is both about not accepting mediocrity and being personally accountable for the life you are creating.” But Lululemon has always used inspirational (or what the magazine calls “communitarian”) messages for their logos, such as, “The pursuit of happiness is the source of unhappiness” and “Friends are more important than money.” It’s this selling of ideals, and not just yoga pants, analysts say, that has fueled the company’s enormous success. “Compared to more price-driven products, Lululemon apparel gives its customers the feeling that they’re purchasing a lot more than mere ‘value,’” the article states. “Buy a Cabin Long Sleeve T-shirt and you’re involved in bettering yourself. Pick up one of those cute Lucky Luon headbands and you’re joining a community of like-minded people. … It’s a thing of virtue. Budget in other spending categories if you must, the brand seems to whisper, but don’t stop taking care of your body and building a better society.”

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Lululemon’s CEO of the Year

We know that yogis are a passionate bunch, whether it’s going to extreme lengths to secure time on their mats or in fighting for a cause they believe in. Now one yogi is putting his own endurance to the test to keep a dream alive. Will Baxter, a financial-advisor-turned-yogin-social-entrepreneur who is trying to launch a yoga-bag company that will also help native Guatemalan women weavers, is one-day into his personal telethon (of the YouTube variety) to walk nonstop on a treadmill until the funds needed to launch the company are raised or until the campaign ends Nov. 22. I AM , Baxter’s sustainable-business-model idea, will sell naturally dyed yoga bags and straps woven by the indigenous Mayan women of the country, sharing 50 percent of the net profit directly with their communities. The seed money for the company will come through KickStarter, the funding platform for creative endeavors. Baxter needs to raise close to $25,000 more of the project’s goal of $45,000 before the fundraising period ends next week. Not unlike brands like Jade , a backer of I AM, Baxter appears to be the next generation of  yogis who hope to pair a business idea with sustainability and social responsibility. A new form of yoga off the mat?

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The Jerry Lewis of Yoga?

By now it’s common knowledge that yoga has its roots in Hinduism. For this reason one Seattle pastor says there’s no room for yoga in Christianity. Yoga is demonic, says Pastor Mark Driscoll, and it can’t be separated from its Hindu roots in order to make it acceptable practice for Christians. “Going to a yoga studio to practice yoga as a Christian is a bit like going into a mosque to practice Islam as a Christian,” he writes in a recent blog post . Driscoll makes his case by exploring yoga history and philosophy and citing both Hindu and yoga scholars and passages from the Bible. “My hope is that you’ll begin to see clearly how yoga at its core is much more than a physical exercise but rather a system of thought that contends against Christianity and subtly finds its way into our thinking, habits, and lifestyles,” he writes. This is not a new debate. While it’s probably safe to assume that few yoga practitioners believe that the practice is demonic, many agree with Driscoll’s view that yoga and Eastern spirituality cannot be separated. Even styles of yoga that appear to focus solely on the physical body or that use it as a tool for Christian worship are still in direct opposition to the Christian viewpoint that Jesus is the one and only way to salvation, according to Driscoll. Whether you agree with him or not, you have to admit he makes a compelling case.

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Can You Be a Christian Yogi?

Photo by J.T. Liss (Photography for Social Change) They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. In our time, this might also be true of a video captured by smart phone or a 140-character Tweet. Yet, there is a sense of timelessness, of depth, when a moment is captured at just the right time in a photograph. All the narrative you need is right there. That’s what yogin J.T. Liss realized when he walked through the streets of Harlem. This former school teacher and counselor to at-risk youth saw beauty in human imperfection, in buildings weathered by time and neglect, in spaces and scenes that others might not notice. He saw stories everywhere that deserved to be told. “A photo can be more than just stimulates thought or evokes emotion,” Liss says. “It can be an advocate for change.” Liss’s Photography for Social Change combines his dual desires to tell these stories through art and to give back and support organizations whose missions he believed in.    This Friday, Liss joins New York blogger YogaDork in a benefit to support Off the Mat, Into the World, the not-for-profit organization founded by Seane Corn that uses the power of yoga and community to bring about social change. Liss will donate 25 percent from sales of his photos of a yoga-roadtrip across the U.S. this past summer to the organization. (The photos are also on sale online .) The event will be held at the Trump Bar in Trump Tower in Manhattan. Get details here .

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Photo Benefit for Off the Mat

If a yoga company approached you to make your dream mat, what changes would you make to the standard mat design? John Friend, the founder of Anusara Yoga dubbed by a July NY Times article as “the yoga mogul” for his business savvy, got exactly that opportunity with his partnership with yoga mat company Manduka. Friend’s biggest complaint about these sticky pieces of rubber was that they weren’t wide enough to give his students the support they need in some poses. Friend recommends students practice poses like Upward-Facing Dog with their hands wide apart to give a broader foundation and more optimal alignment for the shoulders. For many students, the standard 24-inch wide mat just isn’t wide enough, he said. The new by Manduka features 30-inch wide Manduka proLite and eKO SuperLight mats (and even a wider hand towel) to give practitioners more room to find optimal alignment. “You actually can have an inner opening by a piece of rubber on your floor,” Friend said in a promo video produced by Manduka. “I’m proud to say that everything about this mat will lead to the essence of your heart.” Of course, not everyone agrees that wider mats will lead them to the essence of their hearts. One Youtube commenter points out that wider mats mean fewer people will be able to fit comfortably into already packed studios. “Are you going to be the one who shows up for a packed class with a gigantic mat, bigger than everyone else’s? Who wants that reputation?” I guess one man’s dream mat is another man’s invasion of personal space. Would you buy this wider mat? Does a well-known yoga teacher’s endorsement make you more likely to buy a yoga product?

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John Friend’s Wider Mat

The news is everywhere, from USA Today to ABC: A study published on Monday shows that yoga helps with chronic back pain. Published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the study  showed that yoga and stretching equally help people with chronic back pain. In the study, 92 people took a weekly yoga class. Ninety-one took weekly stretching classes. Forty-five people got a book that gave exercise and lifestyle modifications. After 12 weeks, the people who took yoga classes and stretching classes both improved, while the “book learning” group didn’t. However, yoga wasn’t any more effective than stretching when it came to providing relief, which raises an interesting question: Is there a difference between yoga and stretching? Buzz asked Loren Fishman, MD, of Manhattan Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and  Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, who prescribes yoga to his patients.   “That is an excellent finding because it shows scientifically, and again, what we believed from our own experience all along–that yoga helps patients with non-specific back pain. And stretching does too,” he says. However, what the study didn’t measure–the psychological and behavior benefits of regular yoga–is what yoga practitioners know is unique about the practice. “It often takes more time for these types of positive changes to take hold.”

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Is Yoga the Same as Stretching?

While people everywhere are struggling to make ends meet yoga businesses continue to thrive, according to a recent report by CNNMoney . Low operating costs and growing demand are fueling the success of yoga studios, many of which are mom-and-pop operations that simply want to share yoga with their communities. Of course, the still-struggling economy and high unemployment rate are also good reasons for people to look for ways to manage stress and do some soul searching. The yoga and Pilates studio industry is expected to hit $6.5 billion by the end of this year, which is an expected annual sales growth of 9.5% between 2006 and 2011 according to reports by market research firm IBISWorld. But studio owners aren’t the only ones making a profit from yoga–just ask Asheville, North Carolina, entrepreneur Jason Scholder. Scholder is on track to make $1 million in annual sales by 2013 with his innovative yoga prop the Three Minute Egg, according to a recent article in the Asheville Citizen-Times . An alternative to traditional yoga blocks, the Three Minute Egg fits the natural curve of the spine. “I would like to see the Three Minute Egg in every yoga studio, in every Pilates studio, in every chiropractic office and physical therapy office in the world,” he told the paper. At the rate the industry is growing, it might be hard to keep up. Has the economy impacting how much you’re willing to spend on yoga classes and products?

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Yoga Biz Thrives Despite Economy

Photo credit: Jasper Johal for ToeSox From the wide cultural misunderstanding of tantra yoga to controversial ads by some yoga-product companies, sex and yoga is a hot-button topic. The fire was stoked again last week in a series of news stories and blog posts. First, a post on The Daily Beast explored the topic of spontaneous orgasms during yoga class. While it’s no secret that people say their sex lives improve after a regular yoga practice, this was, well, perhaps a little too much information. Then, a group of high school girls in Loveland, Ohio stood up for their right to wear yoga pants after school administrators banned the stretchy pants as too revealing and thus a possible distraction from school work. The girls, dozens who said they were sent home or forced to change their clothes, maintained that the pants are comfortable and no more revealing than a pair of jeans. What do you think? Is it really possible to have an orgasm in yoga class? Are yoga pants too sexy for schools? Are there too many stories about sex and yoga in the media? And does any of this have anything to do with the practice of yoga?

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Sexy Yoga News

Photo: J.T. Liss (Photography for Social Change) Sun Salutations in the late-afternoon sun. Hawks soaring high above. A light breeze cooling down the day while gentle drumming keeps the tempo. Around me, 60 yogis, woman and men, arch into Up Dog, faces radiant as they gaze skyward. Such was the idyllic scene at the recent Mind, Body, Spirit and Wine event at Wente Vineyards in Livermore, California. Leading us through the practice was the lovely Suzanna Spring from Cosmic Dog Yoga studios. And co-teaching on this perfect autumn day was Yogadork, the delightful and prolific New York yoga blogger and teacher. The event marked the confluence of passions for yogin-winemaker Karl Wente, whose love of the practice is something of local legend. Around the winery, Wente is known for his spontaneous expressions of asana, busting out an arm balance to make a point or kicking into headstand when too-long tasting sessions start to dull his senses. Yoga, he says, makes him a better winemaker, helping to cultivate the Beginner’s Mind that allows him to approach each wine anew, fully experiencing every nuance. Watch Wente discuss his yoga-and-winemaking philosophy here . Pairing yoga with wine is a relatively new trend that stirs some debate in yoga circles. But on this day, yogis flush from fresh air and asana happily sampled the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah Wente had chosen for a post-class tasting. Whether or not you agree with mixing your yoga with wine, it’s hard not to like outdoor yoga. Your inhalations feel deeper; the exhales extend further. Reach for the sky; bow to the earth. No walls, no boundaries. Practicing under an autumn-blue sky, surrounded by grapevines? A votre sante!        

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Yoga Under a Big Blue Sky

From innovative designs that promise to lend extra support and comfort to stylish cover ups that transition seamlessly from the studio to the street, it’s no secret that yoga fashions are becoming increasingly more sophisticated these days. But is yoga clothing stylish enough for fashion week? Apparently so. Fashion designer Vivienne Tam, partnering with Chinese sports brand Li Ning, presented a fashion yoga collection yesterday at New York’s Lincoln Center during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. The “modern women’s dream yoga collection” wasn’t shown with a traditional runway show, but a “‘Live Sculpture Garden,” led by yoga teaching duo Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman Yee. Twenty yogini models were wore the new designs while they performed a choreographed yoga routine led by Yee and Saidman. Tam, a longtime yoga student, said she created the collection when she had a difficult time finding fashionable athletic apparel that she could wear to the yoga studio and then to the office or anywhere else. “With my crazy schedule, regularly flying back and forth from Hong Kong to the United States, yoga has been the one thing that not only keeps me focused but provides me with a sense of peace and better energy,” she said. The reviews aren’t in yet, but this well-known designer’s foray into yogawear created a lot of buzz in the fashion blogosphere. If it hits, we’ll likely see other designers jumping on board. What do you think? Does yoga have a place in fashion? Or does pairing yoga and fashion take the practice a little too far away from its intended purpose?

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Yoga Collection Unveiled at New York Fashion Week

Deepak Chopra will be releasing a video game in November that promises to “enhance the mind-body connection” through interactive full-body motions and breathing techniques. Leela , which is a Sanskrit word that means “play,” will be available for both Nintendo Wii and XBox 360. It uses interactive meditations and exercises to help players relieve stress and find balance, and visual imagery to help facilitate these goals. You can also create personal mandala though the program. “I wanted to explore how you can use games to not only have a good time, but to increase that experience of flow and actually maximize your physical and mental capacity,” Chopra said in an interview with CNN. Would you buy a video game that guides you through meditations and breath exercises?

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Deepak Chopra Creates Video Game

It seems like everyday we read about a new study showing what most yogis already know: yoga helps with a plethora of physical ailments. But we’re noticing a trend of new studies focusing on yoga’s ability to combat pain. This might be because yoga helps increase cortisol, a hormone thought to help with pain management. Or because yoga helps us to watch our minds instead of getting consumed by them. We’re happy that science is starting to back yoga’s benefits to relieve pain–the more people get turned on to the healing practice of yoga. Here’s a few recent studies: Fibromyalgia: The Journal of Pain Research recently published a study showing that yoga decreases chronic pain and the psychological effects of fibromylagia for women in the study. The participants practiced 75 minutes of yoga twice a week for eight weeks. The result? The women showed increased amounts of cortisol. Migraines:   A study out of University of Rajastan, published in the journal Headache, showed that yoga can help reduce the intensity and frequency of migraines. After the participants practiced a sequence of yoga poses, breathing exercises, relaxation, meditation, and mantras for three months, they reported migraine problems improved, as did their heart rate. “Scientists have been considering serotonin, a brain chemical, to be a crucial factor for headaches. They think low serotonin levels might cause blood vessels to dilate and cause migraines. And yoga is known to improve levels of serotonin,” said researcher Neha Sharma.  General Pain: The Journal of Neuroscience reported that meditation helps the brain deal with pain. It doesn’t take long: In the study, the subjects each took four 20-minute sessions to learn how to control their breathing and put aside their emotions and thoughts. We want to know: How has yoga helped you with pain?

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Yoga Helps Relieve Pain

The producers of Yogawoman have announced that Academy-award nominated actress and yogini Annette Bening will narrate the film, which will premiere in major North American cities in September. Yogawoman illuminates the global phenomenon of how modern women have embraced yoga. Eighty-percent of American yogis are women. Yet most of the teachers who bought the lineage here are men. The documentary explores how the current generation of female yoga teachers are taking the practice and making it their own–empowering their female students every step of the way. That’s why the people behind YogaWoman recently launched their website, a portal for yoginis, says co-producer and director Kate Clere. “Yogawoman.tv is designed as a resource for all yoga women around the world to come together and share all their thoughts, writings and research on how yoga is changing women’s lives,” she told Buzz.  “It will be a one stop shop to find out what is going on with classes, retreats and workshops that support women with their practice.” As a community resource, the website also tells you how you can pre-order a copy, host a screening, and find out where the film will be showing at a theater near you. We want to know: How do the women in your life support each other’s yoga practice?

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New Yoga Film Lands Star

The summer is halfway over. You might have a major trip planned, or a staycation where you while away the hours at home. You might have, like us, a list of books from the year that you just haven’t gotten around to. Whatever you choose for summer, a good book can make the summer just as memorable as a family trip to the beach or a double-decker cone. Here’s a few books that we think yogis will enjoy: For the creative. Writing Yoga : A Guide to Keeping a Practice Journal (Rodmell) by Bruce Black. An introspective book that explores where yoga, writing, and life meet. For the lighthearted. Downward Dog, Upward Fog (Alignment) by Meryl Davids Landau. A lighthearted novel about a woman who just can’t seem to stay on the spiritual path — something most of us can relate to.   For the balance-seeker. Yoga for Emotional Balance: Simple Practices to Relieve Anxiety and Depression (Shambhala) by Bo Forbes. Forbes, a therapist and yoga teacher, gives practical advice for working with both the body and the mind to address the blues.  For the scientific. Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer (Penguin): The author’s fascinating journey in the U.S. Memory Championship sheds light on the nature of the human experience. We want to know: What’s on your summer reading list?

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Summer Book List for Yogis

It used to be that if you weren’t near a yoga studio, you’d have to be creative about your own home yoga practice or pull from your personal library of DVDs. But with the proliferation of online yoga classes, self-directed yogis have their pick of classes, teachers, and technologies. The latest in the mix is NowLesson , a site that offers one-to-one classes where people can do yoga (or learn to play the mandolin lesson or speak Spanish!) over video chat with a live instructor, for $40 per class. Students find a teacher they like and arrange for an interactive class to fit their needs.  Have a teacher you already love and can’t bear the thought of missing your weekly class? Many teachers today are willing to teach privately over Skype. And for those of you who want to experience different teachers and styles  (and pay less money) there are numerous options, including streamed videos from a studio setting ( Yogaglo ); thousands of free instructional videos on YouTube, including those on the newly relaunched Yoga Journal YouTube channel; and, of course, there’s Yogajournal.com for free podcasts, Livemag videos, and more! We want to know: Do you download or stream yoga videos?

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Yoga Class Right at Home

Back in 1991, while living in New York City and working as a television journalist, Suzanne Bryant took a yoga class to help counteract the stress of her daily life. Nine years later, she had enrolled in the ISHTA teacher training program, realizing that the calm and clarity the practice gave her was something she wanted to share. But it wasn’t until she learned that her mother had terminal breast cancer, and moved back to San Francisco to be with her, that yoga became more than an adjunct to her life–it became her best friend.  After her mother’s death, and still carrying her immense grief, she set out to explore yoga, from its roots to its modern application, to better understand the transformative powers of this mystical practice. Yoga Is is Bryant’s documentary of this exploration. It led her to India where she studied Ayurveda in Kerala, practiced Ashtanga Yoga with Pattabhis Joi and his daughter Saraswati, and met with Neem Karoli Baba’s son and learned about Bhakti Yoga, and back to the U.S., where she met with prominent Western yoga teachers such as Alan Finger, Shiva Rae, Dharma Mittra, Baron Baptiste, and many more;  Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman; and celebrities like Russell Simmons, Christy Turlington Burns, and Michael Franti, who have embraced the practice. At the heart of the film is the earnest search to understand what this ancient system of asanas, meditations, chants, and more, can offer each of us as we navigate through our lives. Yoga Is has screened in New York and Boulder, this week opens in San Francisco, and is slated to play in numerous other cities throughout the U.S. and the world in the coming months.

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"Yoga Is" Documentary

How do you put your spiritual practice to use in the face of danger? This is the fundamental question behind Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets WIldfire at the Gates of Tassajara, written by former Yoga Journal senior editor Colleen Morton Bush. The book tells the tale of California wildfires that swept through California’s Ventana Wilderness surrounding Tassajara Zen Center . When the fires threatened to destroy the property, the center was quickly evacuated. Five monks, however, decided to risk their lives and stay. With meticulous detail and an open heart, Busch recounts the story of how these senior monks applied their Zen training, using mindfulness, presence, intuition, and faith to stay and guide the fire, in spite of grave danger.  We talked to Busch, a longtime Zen and yoga practitioner, about what she learned in recreating this emotional story, a process that generated more than 100 hours of interviews. “Zen is more about unlearning than learning, getting back to our innate clarity, compassion, and wholeness,” she says. “In working on a project that involved so many people, what I practiced with the most was how our relationships with one another are just as essential, and every bit as dynamic, as our relationship with our own minds on the meditation cushion.”

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Mindfulness in Action

“For some yoga practitioners, the body is a sacred vessel that should not be tainted. For others, the skin represents a blank, movable canvas for tattoos displaying thoughts, texts and deities that inspire and inform their practice,” Emily S. Rueb writes in the forward of  “A Moveable Canvas,” a photography portfolio in The New York Times, showcases the devotional artwork of yogic tattoos. Piotr Redlinski’s lovely black-and-white photos feature Jivamukti Yoga School co-founder David Life and other yogis who wear their passion for the practice, literally, on their skin. 

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Yogis Bare All

Last October, yoga teacher Lisa Rueff headed to Haiti to help out after the earthquake.  “Haiti has truly captivated my heart, she told Buzz. “The Haitian people exemplify gratitude, strength, and perseverance.  Amidst so much heartache, the Haitians choose to celebrate life, hope, and love as they continue to sing, dance, pray, and embody faith.” Inspired by her visit, Lisa and her global volunteer organization YogaVentures are heading back from June 20-16th to help build the Jacmel Children’s Center, a collaboration between Haitian community leaders and Americans like Rueff. The Center, primarily for kids who were orphaned by the quake, will be an eco-efficient place that will provide food gardens, housing, class room facilities, recreational areas and dining facilities. Rueff talked to Buzz about the transformative experience: “Inspired by their courage and love of life, I wanted to make a difference, but knew I could not do it alone,” she says. “As a yoga teacher, I invited my yoga community to join together and help make this children’s center a reality.” Get involved.  Join the Haiti Yoga and Volunteer trip , attend a fundraising event like the Collective Hearts Yoga for Haiti event in Rueff’s hometown of Marin County, donate to the Jacmel Children Center by purchasing a “Brick of Love” for any denomination or join the Collective Hearts Facebook page. Says Rueff: “I am amazed and beyond grateful for the enthusiasm, support and heroic effort of the yoga teachers, practitioners, studios and sponsors who have joined together to share in the vision of The Jacmel Children Center.” We want to know: What are you waiting for?

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Yoga Teacher Helps Heal Haiti

In the age of YouTube, it’s fun to sit back and watch a video of twins talking or a cat using the potty. But KarmaTube wants videos to do more than entertain: they view video as a medium to inspire action–either in the world or in your own heart. The website features videos that both pull your heartstrings and make you want to jump out of your seat and do something: Recent ones showed how some creative kids in Thailand started their own football team; a project that provides handmade hats to orphans in South Africa; and how one woman found art to help heal after the loss of a child. After each video, KarmaTube suggests ways you can create change based on what you just saw, whether this means thinking about tackling a problem in a new way, or volunteering in your community. Visit here to watch a video, suggest a video, create a video, or spread the word. We want to know: What do you do that inspires Karma Yoga (the yoga of action) in others?

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KarmaTube: Be the Change

Hunger. Reincarnation. Yoga. Cooking. Prayer. Restraint. Family. Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice , a new book of insights and meditations by yoga instructor and Oberlin College creative writing professor, Kazim Ali, touches on these parts of the human experience. Writing about the Islam occasion of Ramadan, Ali articulates the process of fasting from dusk to dawn: “Twenty-nine or thirty days to explore the line between the interior of the body and the surrounding world, to think about what is brought to us and what we owe,” he writes. He also compares the process to yoga. “[Yoga] is a practice, not unlike fasting, that allows us to practice linking the inside-the private experiences of the body and the mind-with the outside, the pulsing, breathing, actual world.” Even if you’ve never fasted in your life, Ali addresses the other way we deny our appetites–something most human beings can relate to. We want to know: Have you ever denied your appetite? What was the result?

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Mediations on Fasting

Anusura Yoga founder John Friend has announced the fall opening of an worldwide center for Anusara Yoga in Encinitas, California. Friend told Buzz that the center will include an 8,500-square-foot state-of-the-art studio, a soundstage for talks and concerts, and plenty of workshops, trainings, and gatherings, and will host visiting scholars and master teachers of other disciplines.  Friend invites yogis of all kind to come and “co-create some positive energy during this critical time on the planet.”   Friend calls this California outpost the realization of a lifelong dream. Encinitas has been a spiritual magnet for modern yoga, the place where Paramhansa Yogananda wrote the iconic Autobiography of a Yogi, and that has attracted many of yogas modern leaders, including  Pattabhi Jois and Tim Miller, and even George Harrison and Ravi Shankar. Friend, who has licensed 300 certified teachers and 1,000 Anusara-Inspired teachers, seems to be the next in line.  Watch John’s video explaining the center here. We want to know: Do you believe certain places carry higher spiritual energy?

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Anusara Yoga Heads to Encinitas, CA

It isn’t often that your doctor takes off his coat, puts on shorts, and leads a yoga class. Unless your doctor is  Loren Fishman, MD. Fishman is the medical director of Manhattan Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in New York City, author of several yoga books, and a pioneer in the treatment of piriformis syndrome, rotator cuff tears, and back pain. And twice a week, Fishman, who studied directly with B.K.S. Iyengar, personally teaches therapeutic yoga poses to small groups of patients. Fishman, who recently spoke at the1st International Conference on Yoga for Health and Social Transformation in Hardiwar, India, also conducts yoga therapy webinars with Ellen Saltonstall. Their next, “Creating a Safe Yoga Practice: Keys to Preventing and Healing Shoulder Injuries,” will play May 2 and 9. He recently spoke to Yoga Buzz.   Q: What immediate benefits do you see after a patient does yoga with you? A: It sounds almost corny, but after about 10 or 20 minutes the patients have better color and look younger. They become more willing to try poses they wouldn’t have dreamed of before. It’s amazing to watch people who have been in pain and feel lousy become decidedly more upbeat. Less pain and anxiety, better balance and range of motion almost always accompany the first session. Q: Tell us a success story with one of your patients. A: Lorraine had been teaching yoga in New Jersey for 10 years, but had been unable to raise her right arm beyond 60 degrees for seven of them, due to rotator cuff syndrome. I showed her a maneuver derived from the Iyengar teaching of Headstand and she was able to lift her arm painlessly to 180 degrees within 2-3 minutes. Eighteen months later she was still raising her arm completely, painlessly and happily. Q: Do you see a future where yoga is universally prescribed for back pain? A: Back pain is a symptom with many causes, with different, sometimes contrary treatments. Identical examples of severe sciatica may be caused by spinal stenosis and herniated disc. Flexion is good for spinal stenosis, and dangerous with herniated disc, while extension is good for herniated dIsc, but dangerous in stenosis. So you need to know the diagnosis; prescribing yoga or surgery or anything depends upon that.  Therefore my crystal ball has people that can identify the cause of back pain properly prescribing yoga for it. And quite frequently! Yoga therapists need to learn a good deal of medicine; medical people need a lot of practical information about yoga. Visit YogaSpirit for more details about Fishman’s webinars. We want to know: Are your medical doctors aware of yoga’s benefits?

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When Medicine and Yoga Meet: Q & A with Loren Fishman, MD

D oes yoga steady your heartrate? A new study out of The University of Kansas shows that yoga decreases episodes of cardiac arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat whose symptoms can include chest pains, dizziness, heart palpitations, and shortness of breath. The research was conducted by Jeannie Drisko, MD and Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, MD. (The latter grew up in India with a yoga-teacher father.) Here’s what they did: Participants with arrhythmia spent three months doing their normal exercise routines. Over the next three months, they attended three yoga classes a week, which included pranayama, asanas, meditation, and relaxation. At the end of the study, not only did the frequency of irregular heartbeat episodes decrease, but the participants also reported less anxiety and depression. Lakkireddy says: “These findings are important because many of the current conventional treatment strategies for atrial fibrillation include invasive procedures or medications with undesirable side effects.  Success with these therapies varies widely, and they are often only modestly effective in controlling heart rhythm. It appears yoga has a significant impact on helping to regulate patients’ heart beat and improves their overall quality of life. Any intervention that helps in reducing or controlling the arrhythmia burden in atrial fibrillation can have a huge impact on public health.” We want to know: What health issue has yoga helped you with?

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Yoga May Help with Irregular Heartbeat

People around the globe jumped into action to support relief efforts and aid to the victims of Japan’s devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and those efforts continue. Yogis have been helping in their own unique ways, with donation classes, fundraisers, and even a Bakesale for Japan , which raised almost $125,000 and counting. For her part, Sarah Baroni, a yogini and jewerly designer in Arcata, California, decided to create the Healing Pendant and donate 100 percent of the net proceeds from its sale to the organization Direct Relief International. “We make jewelry, it’s just the most logical thing for us to do to do our small part to help,” Baroni says. The pendant’s three charms–a dove, a Biwa pearl, and amethyst–represent peace, regeneration, and inner strength, qualities that Baroni wishes for the people of Japan right now.  “I wanted something that felt really healing and peaceful,” she says. Have yogis in your community pitched in to help Japan?

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Yogis Aid Japan’s Tsunami Victims

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the growing trend of yoga for kids. Not only does it improve their flexibility, but it also helps them focus better on schoolwork: In January, Paul Ecke Central Elementary School in Southern California added yoga to its curriculum for 650 students at $20,000 a year. Principal Adriana Chavarin says she has seen how calm and centered students are after practicing the techniques. At a recent assembly, students were getting restless as they sat on the floor. Then a few sixth graders spontaneously led the rest in yoga poses and breathing exercises. “Every kid in the audience quieted down,” says David Miyashiro, the district superintendent. “It’s a different language they all speak now.” We want to know: Have you noticed this trend in your area? If so, tell us how it has changed someone’s life.

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WSJ: Yoga is Good for Kids!

Every night, I give my five-year old son a blessing based on the Buddhist loving kindness prayer. May you be safe and protected from harm. May you be happy with peace in your heart. May you be healthy, able, and strong. May you go easy through sunshine or storm. He usually rolls over, and goes to sleep. But last night, he looked at me and seemed to have decided that I, too, needed a little love. He put my chin in his hand, and brought his mouth to my ear. Then he proceeded to say the blessing back to me. It was a profound moment. Incredibly, had never thought of actually saying this nightly blessing to myself! I put so much effort into taking care of my kids, the house, my husband, my work, and my home. Sometimes I forget that I need, I deserve, the same kind of love right to come flowing back to myself. Today, I’m going to try to show myself the same love that I show everyone around me. I think it just might pay off. We want to know: How can you show yourself love in everyday moments?

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A Nightly Blessing: Love Thyself

Photo of Russell Brand and David Lynch by Evan Sung for The New York Times We love it when meditation–such a solitary pursuit–gets some public recognition. That’s what happened in an article  by Irina Aleksander from The New York Times, which centers around how British comedian Russell Brand has discovered Transcendental Meditation (TM). In doing so, the article touts the benefits of meditation, including lowering blood pressure and reducing stress, and then quotes celebrity meditators such as Dr. Mehmet Oz and Susan Sarandon about why they meditate. Brand said that he meditates twice a day for about 20 minutes each session. He’s not the only one, apparently: The article says that the numbers of TM practitioners has tripled over the past three years. “Transcendental Meditation has been incredibly valuable to me both in my recovery as a drug addict and in my personal life, my marriage, my professional life,” Brand said. We want to know: How has meditation benefited you?

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Russell Brand Meditates!

As yogis, we wish for all people to be happy, safe, and healthy. A touching story from Nashville Public Radio talks about how yoga helps wounded soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afganistan piece their bodies and their lives back together. For many veterans, yoga is a subtler and gentler approach toward health. Beyond visible physical wounds, many soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, which the stress relief, body awareness, and serenity of yoga can address: “At first, I was skeptical because I liked running six or ten miles a day, just doing it the 101st way,” says Spec. Michael Stefan. “But the positive thing is for me to focus on what I can do to overcome symptoms of PTSD, rather than getting stuck in a rut, self-centered, ‘oh me’ mentality, which I used to have.” We want to know: What aspects of yoga do you think could benefit veterans the most?

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Yoga Helps Wounded Soldiers

Yoga was a hot topic at the 7th annual Integrative Healthcare Symposium . From yoga in the military to a planned teacher training in Haiti to an explosion of web applications for medical professionals to introduce yoga to patients, the practice is reaching deep into America’s most venerable institutions and professions.   “It’s phenomenal how rapidly yoga has spread into acceptance in mainstream health care,” said presenter John Weeks, editor of the I ntegrator Blog and executive director of the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care.   Some of the highlights:   • A more holistic paradigm for overall military fitness has been called for by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen. One possible model is The Wellness Inventory, which was featured as an exemplary assessment in a report commissioned by Mullen, and provides a holistic overview of a patient’s needs for purposes of customizing wellness plans. Things like movement, breathing, feelings, and the ability to transcend situations are among the considerations measured by the inventory. “It’s all yoga-the original system of holistic health,” says Jim Strohecker, co-creator of the web-based inventory and a lifelong yogi and one-time student of Swami Muktananda.   • The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, in Washington, DC, has trained “120 doctors, nurses, priests, and voodoo healers,” in Haiti following the devastating 7.0 earthquake there in January 2010, in practices such as guided imagery and yogic movement and breathing, said center founder and longtime yoga practitioner, James Gordon, MD. The center is working on a plan to also offer yoga teacher training there.   • Yoga is finding it’s way into medical practices through a number of other web-based applications, such as LiivMD, which employs video instruction from well-known yogi and mindfulness figures such as John Friend and Joan Borysenko to guide patients through poses and concepts.   Yoga may play an even larger role at next year’s symposium, with a planned presentation about the benefits of the practice in therapeutic settings. Dr. Woodson Merrell, the M. Anthony Fisher director of Integrative Medicine, Continuum Center of Health and Healing in New York City, and chairman of the symposium, said integrative providers “feel like yoga is a foundation for accessing inner wisdom and healing capabilities. It’s fundamental.” By Nancy O’Brien                    

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Yoga Makes a Splash at Integrated Healthcare Conference

Helping women overcome issues like poverty and abuse leads to education and leadership. And this can transform the world. This is the idea behind the annual Care Conference, where artists, politicians, and thought leaders come together to talk about why helping women heals the world. For the first time this year, the Care Conference will kick off with a yoga class with Off the Mat, Into the World’ s Seane Corn, Hala Khouri, and Suzanne Sterling. With both groups focusing on grassroots social change, they are perfectly aligned. “It’s going to be a great way to get participants energized and ready to take action on issues affecting girls and women around the world,” says CARE’s Sarah Moser. The conference takes place on March 8-11th — in conjunction with International Women’s Day — and features appearances by Melinda Gates, Laura Bush, Judy Woodruff, India.Arie, Michael Franti, and others. After their conference class, the dynamic Off The Mat trio will then teach an intensive called Yoga, Purpose & Action, at Washington D.C.’s Flow Yoga Center . We want to know: Do you think yoga has the potential to transform the world?

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Help Women, Heal the World

Larry Schultz, founder of It’s Yoga studio and developer of the signature practice known as Rocket Yoga, has died. He was 60. Schultz founded It’s Yoga in San Francisco in 1987, creating a vibrant hub for a growing yoga community in the San Francisco Bay Area. Known as one of the foremost Ashtanga Yoga teachers in the West, he also taught thousands of classes across the U.S. and abroad and shepherded more than 1,000 Ashtanga Vinyasa students through his rigorous 200-hour teacher training course. In the 1980s, Schultz traveled with and taught yoga to the band the Grateful Dead.  Schultz studied with luminaries such as Tim Miller, David Williams, and K. Pattabhi Jois, and was best known for developing what become known simply as The Rocket, his unique spin on Ashtanga Yoga poses and sequencing that culminated in an intense, sweaty, and much-beloved advanced yoga practice. Over the years, yoga students of all kinds flocked to his studios (he facilitated the opening of 12 studios altogether). Advanced students came to practice on their own, while new students that included Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, artists, students, and entertainers came to explore this mysterious practice. In an open letter on the It’s Yoga website, Schultz shared his vision for teaching: There is nothing more satisfying to me as a teacher than to watch the glow with which people arise from Savasana. Often people walk into It’s Yoga with worry, stress and tiredness written all over their faces but when they leave, they show the effects of Ashtanga Yoga: they feel better and look better, lighter, freer, more relaxed and energized. This is why to me, teaching Ashtanga Yoga is a kind of self-realization; every time I lead class I, as a teacher, grow and express the insights of my own yoga. I see people take in the practice from various different angles and develop, change and transcend their limitations, realize their possibilities. “Larry was a warm and generous person,” remembers Yoga Journal Senior Associate Editor Jennifer Rodrigue, who took his teacher training. “One of his greatest contributions to the yoga community was giving people the courage to own their personal practice, encouraging people to honor the past and to live in the present.” David Kyle of It’s Yoga Puerto Rico, remembers his teacher: “His passing has taken many by surprise,” he says. “His life here has influenced thousands to search within themselves for their inner guru. He is an inspiration to us all.”   Combining his signature mix of humor and discipline, generosity and firmness–and above all, kindness–Schultz delighted in introducing his students to the practice, traveling around the globe, and spreading his gospel of yoga’s healing and restorative powers. “Larry was dedicated to yoga with every cell of his being,” says Eddie Modestini, who created with his wife, Nicki Doane, Maya Yoga. “He was a wild, joyous, funny, charismatic yoga teacher who turned many people on to the practice. He left us too early. He is loved by many and will be missed.” “It’s a huge loss,” says San Francisco yoga teacher Stephanie Snyder, who says that Schultz referred to yoga as a party to which all were invited. “He was an entryway for anyone to come into yoga. He made it accessible to all. He was an institution.” Schultz is survived by his wife Marie.

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Iconic Bay Area Yoga Teacher Dies

Competitive yoga has always been controversial. But that never stops the United States Yoga Federation from hosting its annual Yoga Asana Championship. And this year is no different. On March 5-6, more than 105 yogis from around the country will gather in Los Angeles to compete for the title of the 2011 Yoga Asana Champion in different categories, including male, female, and youth divisions. Such competitions have been happening in India for years. Bikram Choudhury, creator of Birkram Yoga, has championed their acceptance in the U.S. Choudhury’s wife, Rajashree, a five-time winner of the All India Yoga Championship, is the president of the USA Yoga, which sponsors the event and aims to get yoga accepted as an Olympic Sport. Event competitors are judged on physical perfection in their execution of asanas:  T he focus of the 2011 Yoga Asana Championship is physically demanding–similar to a gymnastics floor exercise–and competitors are judged on the perfection of the pose, its difficulty, their poise and composure, and the grace of movement both into and out of the position. We want to know: Does the idea of a yoga competition seem counterintuitive or just a natural outgrowth of the physical practice of yoga?

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On Your Mark, Get Set . . . Pose!

” Eat mostly plants, especially leaves .” Everyone has certain “food rules” that they live by–including bestselling The Omnivore’s Dilemma author Michael Pollan. After his wildly successful book last year, Food Rules : An Eater’s Manual, which gave us nutritionally sound, easy-to-remember gems such as eat your colors and the whiter the bread, the sooner you will be dead , he’s calling for submissions for an expanded version. His newest tome will include food rules submitted by readers.   Submissions are due by Sunday, February 27. Winners will be credited with their “rule” and receive a signed copy. Yogis, have any rules to share? Submit your food rule here We want to know: What’s your favorite food rule?

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What Are Your Food Rules?

In a bit of political news, the topic of yoga recently reached our country’s capital. California Republican Darell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is proposing amendments that would ban government-funded studies on health issues, including whether video games improve the health of older people, the impacts of a soda tax–and the effects of Integral Yoga in treating hot flashes for menopausal women. At this point, no one knows if they will be passed. According to an article in Politico : Typically, the lawmaker argues that the study is a waste of taxpayer money and the administration–or the researcher who won the grant in question–counters that the research is important for disease prevention or treatment. We want to know: Do you think it’s important to have government-funded yoga studies such as these?

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Giving the Ax to Yoga Studies?

It used to be that a big part of succeeding in the business world meant schmoozing with higher-ups on the golf course or after work at the bar. But according to writer Dana Schuster in The New York Post , yoga is the post-modern, post-golf way to get ahead with your bosses and climb the corporate ladder. At least in Manhattan. Explains corporate consultant Amy Hedin in the article:  “An executive might use golf as an icebreaker with a potential or existing client; it’s really more about drinking and socializing in a relaxed atmosphere–but yoga makes more sense for an executive seeking to take a pre-existing relationship to the next level.” Jamie Schutz goes even further in his praise for intra-office Bikram, which he started doing three months ago with two colleagues. “It creates a loose environment so that the next day at work, you’re a cohesive unit,” says Schutz, a  director of business development. “It is a healthy experience, as opposed to going out to a bar.” We want to know: Have you ever done yoga with your bosses? Have you done yoga to get ahead professionally, and if so, how did it go?

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Is Yoga the New Golf?

“This sh** is hard,” says one NBA player when describing yoga in an article in the online magazine Slam about the growing interest of yoga in the NBA. Some teams have on-site teachers during the season, while others direct their players to practice during off-season. In the piece, author Kyle Stack talks about how yoga helps NBA players deal with the intense stress and strain of their job–and the clash of cultures that can happen when yoga meets the money, fame, and pressure that goes with professional sports. ” That there is even one NBA team which has a yoga instructor on the payroll is fairly surprising,” he is quoted as saying. “Yoga has a fundamental association with nature and soft music and showing one’s sensitive side. That doesn’t jive with an NBA environment that is filled with aggressiveness, even ruthlessness. ‘Soft’ doesn’t work; NBA players can read through someone trying to tap into their inner self. ” We want to know: Should yoga adapt itself to its environment or remain true to it’s original format?

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Yoga in the NBA: Culture Clash or Savior?

From February 4-6: His Holiness The Dalai Lama will initiate The Buddha Maitreya. Maitreya is the Buddha of Universal Love, and the goal of this teaching is to bring abundance, peace, and joy to the planet. For this event, taking place at a monastery in India and documented by Elevate Films , The Dalai Lama has called ten thousand monks from around the world. Of course, most of us can’t attend. But you can do your part, thanks to  Do As One. This site hosts online “breathing rooms,” where people can sign in and join others breathing; current breathing rooms include Laughter Room and Om Room, among others. “I had a vision of having a billion people breathing together synchronously,” says Do As One co-founder Rabia Hayek. “And then I realized with the Internet that I could actually do it.” The goal is 10,000 people breathing together at any given time. For this week’s happening, Hayek encourages everyone to log in and join the Universal Breathing Room anytime during the 4th, 5th, or 6th to take part. We want to know:  Do you think breathing together has an effect on the planet?

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Breathe with the Dalai Lama!

Many people can get up in arms about yoga being used to sell products. But I think that we yogis can laugh at ourselves, too. And laugh is what I did when I saw this advertisement from PEMCO, a Seattle-based insurance company. PEMCO, has brought yoga into the fold, with Type A Yoga Girl, one of five characters in their new ad campaign. The moment the meeting ends, she’s off — with hair in a ponytail and a yoga mat wrapped so tightly under her arm it’d take two downward facing dogs to rip it away from her. She’s going to find her inner peace. So don’t even consider getting in her way . We want to know: Is there truth to this stereotype? Do you think Type A personalities are more attracted to yoga than other types? Does this ad offend you–or make you laugh?

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Type A Yoga Girl?

The creativity and loving energy yoga community never ceases to amaze and inspire me! A few weeks ago, we reported on the Yoga Flash Mobs happening around the globe to raise awareness about the Africa Yoga Project, whose goal is to create peace among tribes in Africa. From Santa Monica to Nairobi to London, through the snow, sun and in the streets, yogis young and old gathered to “lead the change.” Here’s the inspiring  video , featuring Baron Baptiste, that shows how yogis came together from around the world, to honor each other, and spread the simple yet profound message of peace.   To donate or learn more, visit The Africa Yoga Project. We want to know: How do you Lead the Change?

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Watch It: Yoga Flash Mobs for Peace

Ever since Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, spoke out against Christians doing yoga , the blogosphere has gone wild. If you haven’t heard about it yet, the story revolves around an article on Mohler’s website, where he wrote: “When Christians practice yoga, they must either deny the reality of what yoga represents or fail to see the contradictions between their Christian commitments and their embrace of yoga.” Here’s an update: Since that story broke, the Wall Street Journal followed up with a poll that posed the question: Should Christians Practice Yoga? The result: 71.8% said yes, and 28.2% said no. And in a December 30th article by highly-regarded scholar Wendy Doniger, I s Yoga a Form of Hinduism? Is Hinduism a Form of Yoga? she highlights the issues this debate has brought to the forefront, especially that some American Hindus think American yoga isn’t Hindu enough, while others like Mohler think that yoga is too Hindu. We want to know: Do you think of yoga more as exercise, or as a spiritual practice?

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WSJ: Should Christians Practice Yoga?

At age six, most kids are taught by some kind of teacher. But in an unusual role reversal, an Indian six-year old IS a teacher. A yoga teacher, that is. The Daily Mail calls Shruti Pandey t he world’s youngest yoga teacher: she’s been teaching since the tender age of four. Today, groups of 30 adults–businesspeople, teachers, and housewives–flock to her 5:30 am classes at the Swami Brahmachand Saraswati Kaivalya Dham Ashram in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh in India , to soak in some of her youthful wisdom.  “It feels good when people follow my instructions,” she told the paper. “I got interested in yoga after seeing my brother doing it. I tried picking it up myself, but it was too hard. So I asked my parents to send me to yoga classes.” We want to know: Do your favorite yoga teachers teach by intuition, or by experience? 

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The World’s Youngest Yoga Teacher?

Want to experience rare private yoga classes with Jivamukti founders Sharon Gannon and David LIfe, a six-month membership to their studio, and “The Jivamukti Enlightenment Kit,” which includes books, CDs, mats, clothes, and accessories? How about a membership to Eddie Stern’s Ashtanga Yoga school plus one private a month for a year? Or Cyndi Lee’s “A Place to Call OM” package, which includes a 10-class card to her studio plus a weekend workshop?  Head to Tibet House’s annual benefit auction at Christie’s in New York City. This year, the items auctioned off include not only rare art and a safari for two, but also yoga packages from generous and prominent yogis in the community. The goal is to entice people to donate to Tibet House US, which is aimed at promoting and preserving Tibetan culture.  With famous yogis like Sting and Donna Karan as members of the honorary chair committee, portions of the proceeds will go to Tibetan Children’s Village, which educates poor Tibetan children in exile.  We know everyone can’t make it to the event (or the $175-$225 ticket price). But click here  to see other ways you can support the work.  We want to know: How are the yoga teachers in your community giving back? 

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Tibet House Auction Offers Yoga Packages

Hugh Hefner has done it again. The controversial and eternally youthful playboy is in the spotlight once more, this time because of a flashy Playboy video showing a female playmate doing yoga poses. The Hindu keepers of the yoga flame are livid, according to a various news reports . “Hindus are upset over what is the misuse of the age-old and revered system of yoga by Playboy for mercantile greed. . . ” said Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism. “Yoga is one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy and it is highly revered in Hinduism. It is a serious mental and physical discipline by means of which the human soul can unite with the universal soul.” This is yet another chapter in the raging debate about who gets to define modern yoga. Not every case is as extreme as Hugh vs. the Hindus, but the core issues–materialism, commercialism, and sexism–remain the same. We want to know:   Do you think Hugh Hefner has crossed the line? Is this latest flap an insult to yogis, or do you just take it with a grain of salt?    

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Hefner Blasphemes Yoga

Joy is our natural state. When I say this out loud, it makes perfect sense. So what happens along the way? Feeling bogged down by responsibility, unexamined emotions, and a whole list of “shouldas,” it’s so easy to veer from this natural state. Writer Karen Talavera tackles the topic of joy in the second of her a two-part series in her blog, The Accidental Seeker. Talavera’s impassioned plea about following our bliss is nothing brand new, but it’s a gentle reminder to remember what is so easy to forget from day to day. She talks about what prevents us from joy–and how to recognize joy when it’s right in front of our noses. The next time you’re faced with a decision as mundane as whether to go to the grocery store or take a walk in the woods, or as serious as whether to move up a rung on the corporate ladder or start your own business, give it the “internal alignment” test.  Forget for a minute your external circumstances like money, image and obligation, and ask yourself one elemental question, which choice leads to joy? Your heart will tell you loud and clear. A yoga practice helps us tune into our inner voice, and connect with our hearts so that we can feel the joy that already exists in and around us. Ultimately, we can make the choices that support joy, even when life seems overwhelmed with sadness, grief, or pressure. For today, choose joy. We want to know: How does your yoga practice connect you with joy? What are the small choices you make that bring you joy?  

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Follow Your Bliss

Did you know that the wings of a butterfly flapping in Bali have an effect on the Gulf Coast tornados in North America? This incredible cause-and-effect is the inspiration behind yoga teacher Twee Merrigan’s international Butterfly Effect Tour. After the gulf coast oil spill, Merrigan wanted to raise money and awareness about the cause. With the help of other yogis and activists, she created the Butterfly Effect Tour, traveling around the world teaching dynamic vinyasa flow workshops — and donating the proceeds to clean up the gulf. The tour, which included stops in Bali, Los Angeles, Nashville, and New York, raised more than $3,000 for the gulf and other charities in just one month. But Merrigan wants more than just an event that comes and goes. So she’s incorporating Butterfly Effect classes into her workshops and events around the world. Here, students have an open forum to talk about ways they can positively change the world, while raising money for local and global charities. “It’s not just a response to a clean up or an earthquake or a tsunami,” says Merrigan, who has been living and teaching on the road for the past three years. “But it’s on-going awareness and action to continue the yoga in our ‘matless’ world.” Her next stops include Bali and Sydney.  To see the full schedule, or learn more, visit butterflyeffecttour.com We want to know: In what small ways do you positively change the world? How does your yoga practice help?

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The Butterfly Effect

Fame. Fortune. Commercialization. Is this where’s modern yoga headed? Or what it’s already become? This is the big question tackled by a Boston article called What’s Happened to Yoga? The article opens with a scene from a yoga class, where two students are busy texting away to the dismay of their teacher, Natasha Rizopoulos. Then it touches on the serious issues keeping modern yogis up at night–mainly monetization and commercialization. For this reason, among others, Rizopoulos is aligning herself with some of the country’s foremost yoga teachers who are trying to take back yoga from the masses who they believe are running afoul of the traditions of a 5,000-year-old spiritual, intellectual, and physical discipline. The underlying idea of this “movement” is a studio called Down Under Yoga, which held a summit last weekend to discuss modern yoga, including ways yogis can stay aligned with yoga’s roots in modern times. We want to know: Is modern yoga too big to generalize about? What aspects of modern yoga enhance the practice? And what aspects diminish it? Nora Isaacs is a Bay Area-based health writer and editor.

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What’s Happened to Yoga?

Obsessing about what you didn’t say at a job interview. Wishing your partner acted differently. Believing that you aren’t smart enough. This is the way the mind works. Or is it? I’ve been thinking a lot about these stories we tell ourselves. My book club just finished the fascinating book My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor. If you haven’t heard about it, she is a brain scientist who tells the story of her stroke. After the stroke, she has experiences of bliss because the part of her brain that governs judging, language, and ego is damaged. She just feels totally at peace and connected to all beings. What she learns is profound. After her recovery, she writes: Now that my left mind’s language centers and storyteller are back to functioning normally, I find my mind not only spins a wild tale but has a tendency to hook into negative patterns of thought. I have found that the first step to getting out of these reverberating loops of negative thought or emotion is to recognize when I am hooked into those loops . . . Learning to listen to your brain from the position of non-judgmental witness may take some practice and patience, but once you master this awareness, you become free to step beyond the worrisome drama and trauma of your storyteller. As yogis, we know how to become a witness to our mind. We know how to move beyond obsessive thoughts, story telling, and negative thought patterns. We know–but sometimes we forget. Choose happiness. Start today. We want to know: When do you call on your practice to choose happiness? Nora Isaacs is a Bay Area-based health writer and editor.

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Choose Happiness

Remember that proverb about all work and no play? Finding that balance between work and play, rest and activity, is one of the great challenges of modern life. But those limber acroyogis want to inject some play into your life with their AcroYoga Festival, which is coming to the Bay Area from October 8-11 at Historic Sweet’s Ballroom in Oakland, CA. Billed as the first-ever AcroYoga Festival and the biggest in the world, the four-day festival will draw over 250 students, 40 AcroYoga teachers, and 10 master teachers from yoga, acrobatics and Thai massage. There’s something for everyone, including different styles of acrobatics, yoga, and Thai massage for all levels. The first day is all-day intensives, and the rest of the weekend is dedicated to short workshops and events like Bollywood Carnival Jam, Ecstatic Dance, and a kirtan with Jai Uttal, MC Yogi, and the Mayapuris. If you don’t catch the festival, you can head to its next destinations, including Spain, New York, Boston, Mexico and Costa Rica. For more information, visit acroyogafestival.com . We want to know: How do you bring more playfulness into your life? Nora Isaacs is a Bay Area-based health writer and editor.

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Get Playful at the First-Ever Acroyoga Festival!

The city of Cambridge has stretched its views on parking tickets. Last week, city officials began issuing parking tickets illustrated with a series of calming yoga poses. According to an article in The Boston Herald by Laura Crimaldi and Ira Kantor, the city printed 40,000 yoga parking tickets as a part of a public art project by artist-in-residence Daniel Peltz. The artist says: “I started this process by wondering what would happen in a world where I received them [parking tickets] with a set of graceful postures: a clean bend at the waist, a gentle lift of the windshield wiper . . . I’m going to get the ticket either way, my only choice really is how I’m going to receive it.” We want to know: Would an image of a yoga pose make you feel less annoyed at receiving a parking ticket? What daily hassles would be improved if they included a gentle reminder about yoga’s relaxing principles? Nora Isaacs is a Bay Area-based health writer and editor.

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Cambridge Institutes Yoga Parking Tickets

Bhakti, the Sanskrit word for devotion or connection to God, can be an intimidating concept even for experienced yoga practitioners–if not for its religious associations, for its scriptural context within the ancient mythology of the Bhagavad Gita. If its namesake event, Bhakti Fest, a four-day celebration of around-the-clock kirtan, yoga, and the healing arts in Joshua Tree, California last weekend was any indicator, Bhakti is experiencing a modern-day renaissance. Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Sean Johnson, and Dave Stringer were among the musical headliners while Saul David Raye, Seane Corn, Krishna Kaur, and Dana Flynn led back-to-back yoga classes in tents and halls across festival grounds. Ram Dass made a video appearance and workshop content ranged from Ayurveda to yoga psychology and the symbolism of Hindu and Tibetan deities. The festival is certainly visionary in its mission to create a sacred space and vibrant community. The desert setting, a sort of surrealistic playground reminiscent of Burning Man, fostered a palpable air of magic as attendees of all ages from as far as Australia and Ukraine sang, danced, and constructed impromptu altars in celebration of the present moment. Bhakti Fest also featured an impressive array of raw and vegan culinary offerings and a healing sanctuary that appealed to my newest of new age desires. I felt my former analytical constructions of Bhakti dissolve to the sound of a drumbeat after a transformative session of subtle-body healing, lecture on the Mayan calendar and an hour or so of ecstatic trance dance with the festival’s Ombassador Shiva Rea. As Radhanath Swami explained in a Sunday address, “Bhakti makes no sense to the intellect, but perfect sense to the heart.”  Photo Credit: Julianne Reynolds Shannon Skillern is a yoga teacher, designer, macrobiotic cook and student of ayurveda.

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Divine Celebration

The folks at the Australian-based YogaAid have dreamed up a large-scale nationwide yoga event on September 18th and 19th to coincide with National Yoga Month. The two-hour yoga classes around the country will be taught by 12 local yoga teachers to benefit charity. While the biggest events are being held in Chicago, New York, Miami, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco, organizers say that more than 20 others will happen around the country. Participating in a Yoga Aid Challenge is easy: Log on to www.yogaaid.com and click the red button for the United States Yoga Challenge. Here, you can register to create a profile page.Then people can visit your page and donate–all online. The idea is that students raise money for charity in advance of the free class. (Many well-meaning charity events actually lose money, because the cost of putting on an event eats into the profits.) YogaAid’s model is funding the event so that all of the money raised goes directly to the chosen charities: Off the Mat, Into the World, Africa Yoga Project, 4OneWorld, and Yoga for Youth. Beyond raising money, the organizers hope that the event will have a ripple effect, sparking the desire in each student to serve in their community. Karma Yoga (the yoga of service) is one of yoga’s eight limbs. How do you find ways to serve in your family or community? Let us know. And to get you in the giving mood, Yoga Aid and MC Yogi have paired up to create the tune, “Give Love.” Download the MP3 for free by going to yogaaid.com and clicking on the blue box at the bottom right hand corner. Nora Isaacs is a Bay Area-based health writer and editor.

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Give Love! Join a Nationwide Yoga Aid Challenge

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Stacey Rosenberg

Robin, a local therapist in Haines, Alaska invited me to her home for a private yoga session. She said she had to check the tide schedule to see when it would work. Check the tide? Yes, she lives across Mud Bay where part of the day you can walk across the mud flats, and then when the tide comes in (Haines has the third most changing tide in the world) and you have to canoe across. There are a dozen or so families across the bay that all live by the tide, completely off the grid. I was up for the adventure, so I biked over to meet her. After loaning me a pair of extra tough rubber boots we took the 10-minute walk across the seaweed-strewn mud flats together.  As we walked, I was struck by the color of the seaweed and also at the realization that this was her commute to and from her home in any weather: rain, sleet, snow, hail, wind….this is Alaska after all. On this July day I was still wearing a hat and coat! As I stopped to examine the seaweed she told me about how she had prepared our dinner for the evening. The propane for the stove had run out that morning and her partner had tried to bring the propane tank over in the canoe earlier, but it had been too windy and he had to turn back. Needing to use the stove to boil water she got creative and cooked on the wood burning stove. When we arrived at their home, a three-story cabin perched over the bay, she gave me a tour of her prolific garden. I am continually amazed at the abundance of Alaskan gardens and what vegetables and flowers can do in a short growing season with long, long days. We had a lovely yoga session and delicious dinner with vegetables from the garden and wood stove cooked pasta. After dinner and some greatly enjoyed conversation (Robin’s partner, Dan, is writing a book on the history of the Native Alaskan people) I was informed that we had five minutes left to make it across the bay before the tide came in. We had to leave NOW! Back into the rubber boots I went, and tromp across the bay we did as the tide quickly crept in. Robin told me she thinks about her yoga practice and the support her abdominal muscles give her as she makes the pilgrimage across the bay.  She says she keeps her low belly drawn in and her spine in elongation as she confidently and gratefully makes the journey across. I tried to do the same as I sloshed through the mud and sea weed trying not to fall, my heart pounding in my chest, wind blowing across my cheeks. I was silently hoping I would make it across before the tide came in and that I would not have to strip and wade as I did a previous year when another Mud Bay resident invited me to dinner! Actually, that was great fun as well and its all part of the adventure and life in Haines, Alaska. How can you use your yoga practice during the day? How can you stay connected to the cycles of mother nature? Sarana Miller lives and teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sarana is trained in the Iyengar and Forrest Yoga traditions and is a graduate of the Piedmont Yoga Advanced Studies Program and the Forrest Yoga Teacher training program and is currently studying the Sarah Powers method. She also sings and studies kirtan with Jai Uttal.  

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Living by the Tide

I spent some time in Los Angeles this week, and one day visited the set of the new Shiva Rea video. While there, I had a powerful conversation with the director, James Wvinner. We discussed the importance of media, both social and store-bought. Specifically, we talked about how it’s really helping the world gain access to yoga and to the teachings of great instructors like Shiva, who can’t possibly get to all the students who want to study with her. James related a funny story told to him by another teacher who was recently leading a training in Bulgaria. A student came up afterward and said, “Do you know Sadie Nardini? I study with her!” Now, I’ve never been to Bulgaria, but I bet my YouTube videos have. Wherever I go, I meet students who have studied with me for years, without my even knowing it! This is just one example of what I’m now calling Conscious Media. Anyone with a video camera and a YouTube account can employ these channels to spread the word about how simple and effective it can be to get happy, be healthy, and to rock your awesomeness from the inside out. Before I made DVDs, wrote a book, or did anything else that now comprises my income, I was using social media to create virtual kulas , or communities of the heart and spirit. There are so many ways for each of us to speak our core values, and to a wider audience than just our partners, friends, and students. By reading this blog, you are directly benefiting from my choice to step outside my comfort zone and share my views in a public forum. It’s a vulnerable place to be, letting others see you and, at times, judge or disagree with your offerings.  But I endure this aspect of the job in order to do what I consider to be much more important: Speaking my piece in a way I feel is constructive to both our humanity and divinity. In this day and age, when we’re being bombarded with negative imagery and fluff, the media-sphere is crying out for substance and soul. And it’s crucial that conscious people go first to light the way for those who may not even know they want to watch this mind/body stuff, or understand how much they need it. Who will do this if we don’t? In fact, I feel that as we awaken to our possibilities and become aware of the tools available to transform ourselves toward balance and passionate living, we have a responsibility to really put ourselves out there and lead by example. Now, you may not be a yoga teacher or committed to raising awareness of the joy of cultivating wellness on all levels, as I am. But I’d wager that you have some skill, some creative voice you’d like to add to the mix. You can do this for yourself, so that you live each day as the rockstar you really are, and also because you just might inspire one person to dig deeper and step forward with more confidence to be their best. The amazing thing is, with conscious media, your one voice turns into thousands, and your single moment of sharing becomes a constant message. When it comes to changing the world in a positive way, I say let’s each do what it takes to turn our quiet, inner voices into a beautiful chorus that can be heard all the way in Bulgaria, and beyond. Core Pose: Lion’s Lunge To help you access and then amplify your voice, you’ve got to make some noise. I use Lion’s Pose with a lot of my core poses, to open the channel between my foundation, my core, and the courage it takes to express myself so that people can hear. The muscle meridian closest to our skeleton, called the Deep Core Line, moves from the arches of the feet; up through the legs, hips and spine; and ends at the tongue. Doing Lion’s Pose draws energy and tension up and out through this line, which is why it’s considered an immensely detoxifying pose on a very profound, pranic level. Life force and your ability to speak from your inner knowing will increase as you dissolve obstacles to your inherent freedom and flow. Come into a High Lunge with the front knee over the heel and the back leg long behind you, supported on the ball of your foot. If you want more stability, step your feet sitting-bone-distance apart. Inhale through your nose and reach your arms either back behind you or up into the air, fingers wide. Exhale through your mouth as you stick out your tongue and say “Aaaaaaaaahhh,” as loudly as you can.  Really get into it, letting the sound be another way to say what you really need and want to express from your deeper creative center. Repeat 3-5 times or more. Then take Dog Pose or Child’s Pose for a few moments, and move to the other side.  

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Creating Conscious Media

We’ve been playing a game  all week. Maybe you’d like to play with us. If you were stranded on a deserted island-it’s a beautiful island, great weather, great food somehow, great books, just no other people-and you could only do one yoga pose for the entire month, what would it be? After much hand wringing and general hoopla, we’ve decided that Savasana is a freebie. You can do all the Savasana you want. And one other pose. Another thing. In this game, you’ll be completely healthy at the end of the month. Flexible, strong, peaceful, and beautiful. So the pose you pick is just about the happiness it’ll give you, not about, “oh, god, if I don’t do the shoulder openers, I’ll look like Hulk Hogan by Friday” (no offense to Hulk). Here’s what we’ve got so far: My sister picks Upward Dog, because it looks so beautiful. My lovely man says The Plow. He’s just gone back to it in class and it’s exciting to be able to do it for the first time in decades. My friend Paul chooses Triangle Pose. I think he’s crazy, but free choice is a part of the game. (He did ask if we were allowed to come out of the pose at all, or whether we have to hold the pose for an entire month. The answer, with rolling eyes, is yes, you can come out of the pose.) I will do Downward Dog. I love everything about it: the inversion, the use of my entire body, easily a month’s worth of interest. And if we play again next month, I’ll pick handstand, because it makes me feel like a goddess. And you? What pose? Why? Hoho! I can hardly wait to hear. Thanks to yoga for being so interesting, and so much fun, and thanks to you for the conversation. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, speaker, and workshop wonderwoman in North Bay, Ontario.  These games thrill her inordinately.  Join her on Facebook at Dr. Kristin Shepherd, on Twitter at kristinwonders, or at kristinshepherd.ca

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The Game

In the September issue, we published a letter written by the esteemed yoga teacher and Yoga Journal co-founder Judith Hanson Lasater, which expressed her disapproval of advertisements featuring naked women. It’s been a hot topic ever since, and it seems appropriate to offer a few thoughts. First, I greatly respect Judith and her concerns. Over the years, we’ve had conversations about the magazine, the business, the community. More than once, she has called me to share an opinion, in her trademark direct style, and we talked about her September letter before I published it. I appreciate her frankness. I interpreted Judith’s formal note about ads that she feels “exploit the sexuality of young women in order to sell products” to be a message both to the folks at Yoga Journal who make advertising decisions,  (I am responsible for editorial direction only, I have no authority over advertising)–and to the larger community, including the creators of the ads. Clearly Judith’s letter struck a chord, and I’ve read the opinions of many people who agree with her views. Others have written specifically in support of what they see as the artistic beauty of the ToeSox ads ,  in particular, which feature the talented yoga teacher and frequent Yoga Journal contributor Kathryn Budig demonstrating poses in the buff. The diversity of reader opinion isn’t surprising, given the diversity of the yoga community today and the highly subjective nature of the matter at hand. But somewhere in all the heated blog posts about whether nudity equals exploitation and about what Yoga Journal ’s advertising policies should be, I’ve seen a fair bit of frustration and misunderstanding about Yoga Journal’ s role in the community. Over the past 35 years, Yoga Journal has evolved from a nonprofit publication aimed at yoga teachers to a popular magazine read by more than 2 million Americans and supported by national advertising. Perhaps the biggest difference between the magazine Judith founded and the one I edit today is that while Yoga Journal continues to be a source of instruction and insight on yogic practices, it is now also a chronicle of the ever-evolving yoga scene–a scene that didn’t exist 35 years ago and one that some old-time practitioners would, quite frankly, find un-yogic. Yoga Journal doesn’t intend to be a textbook of ancient practices, nor an arbiter of yogic morality. It’s a magazine that introduces people to a world of ideas–sometimes profound, life-changing ideas that they might not otherwise be exposed to. It’s a messy time to be in the business of covering yoga. Some yoga publications that offered a purist’s view of the practice are no longer in print, while “workout yoga” is popular on the newsstand. Yoga Journal remains devoted to bringing a full spectrum of teachings to a wide audience, and it does so while walking the age-old line of art and commerce. Spiritual teachers often say that while monkhood requires practicing austerities, it is actually easier to live in a cave than to practice yoga while living in the world; it’s tough to maintain a quiet mind when deadlines loom, when the kids meltdown, when all kinds of distractions beg for your attention. Yoga Journal lives out in that world–tackling real-life issues of finances, politics (yes, politics in the world of yoga!), and the sometimes-clashing ideals of the yoga community. I’m proud that amid all the chaos, the magazine continues to focus on delivering wise teachings and practical tools for bringing the essence of yoga into our daily lives. We are grateful to have the support of the teaching community, including Judith and the many other dedicated teachers who share the depth of their knowledge through our pages, and the support of our advertisers, which enables us to continue offering world-class instruction, insight, and inspiration for practice. As always, we hope that the magazine we work so hard to bring to you, serves you well. –Kaitlin Quistgaard Editor in Chief , Yoga Journal

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Naked Truths: YJ’s Editor-in-Chief Responds to the Nudity Debate

Last week, my friend and manager, Ava, and I left Wanderlust and took a road trip from Lake Tahoe through Napa Valley and into San Francisco, where I was scheduled to teach a workshop.   Taking a trip like this was fun and freeing–something I hadn’t done since college. I’ve traveled, sure, but mostly on airplanes and highways. It’s been a long time since I’ve stopped to smell the roses, literally, or walked through vineyards, wandered without an agenda, and taken my time getting where I needed to go.   When I left more space around the journey itself, rather than seeing it as useless time between my starting place and my destination, a whole new world opened up. We turned off the highway and into local communities and had adventures I never would have had otherwise, like singing impromptu karaoke into a straw at a local pub or eating an incredible meal at Bouchon in Yountville. A few times we turned off the GPS and just tuned into where our hearts told us to go next. We were led unerringly toward something life-affirming and just right.     It was an experience similar to the one I aim to offer my students during yoga class. I’ve often asked them to pause and even play during the transitions between poses, those moments we often rush through on our way to the “goal” pose. The word “tapas” means “heat,” but it also symbolizes the space we make with the energy and awareness we bring to the present moment. When we release our grasp on achieving the goal and wake up to what’s going on every step of the way, we begin to see how fully we’re surrounded by exactly what we need to evolve, to be happy and fulfilled, and to love our lives.   What you do before you get into a pose dictates its quality once you arrive. It’s the same in your life: The millions of smaller actions you take will determine the strength–or shakiness–of the foundation underneath the more showy milestones of your life.   In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that if you’re not bringing a consistency of mindfulness, spaciousness, and quality action into your transitional periods, you may not reach your goals after all.   If you want to be a financial advisor, but you’re irresponsible with your own money, it’s unlikely that any clients will trust you with theirs. If you do reach your goal on a shaky foundation, it’s far more likely that your dreams will crumble around you, undermined from the very roots (hello, Bernie Madoff!).   Instead, what we yogis practice both on and away from the mat, is making sure that we pay attention to the entirety our lives, not just the parts; and doing so most of the time instead of just sporadically. It’s as simple as taking a deep breath and reminding ourselves that we’re here now. We stop time-traveling to the past or future when we learn that the only thing that will determine our future movement is what we do right now.   This inner road trip is the key to living out loud and enjoying your life holistically today. Not when you have the man, the cash, or have lost that last 10 pounds. Why wait? The power you have to self-generate satisfaction is waiting for you to see it, claim it, and act from it. When you stop, look around, and listen to your deepest wisdom in the space you’ve created, you will suddenly, sweetly realize:You are everything you need.   Here’s a transition that I’ve made into its own pose, to exemplify that every moment is pivotal, not just the flashy, more obvious ones. There’s a whole universe of strengthening and freedom to be found right here, on the journey within.   Core Pose: Parsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose) with Core Circles Variation   When you go straight into Side Angle Pose from Warrior 2, the tendency can be to enter the asana with a over-curved lower back, front ribs jutting forward, and the back body constricted. To re-enter the pose with a more centered alignment and free the habitual hip, low back, upper back, and shoulder tension it can create, we need to exit it, or as I often say in class, back off to move forward.   First, come into the pose from Warrior 2 with your forearm on the front thigh and your other arm over your ear. Notice how your lower back and shoulders feel. Are you core-connected or are your shoulder blades, back muscles, and legs doing most of the work?   Begin to circle your top arm back behind you. Take it down toward the floor and, as you do, turn your torso toward the floor and draw your low belly away from your front thigh and upward, into your sternum. This will activate your core strength, bring length to the tailbone, support to the lower back, and also open the gateway of your front hip joint. You’re not pressing out the low back curve at all with this move, but supporting it from the front of the spine as well as from the back.   Continue to sweep your arm forward now and back up over your ear. Press your feet down strongly; maintain the stability, shoulder fluidity, and core awareness you cultivated during the transition; and enjoy new strength, freedom and areas of stretch releasing in your new, more intentional goal of a pose.                      

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The Road Within

There are days – pushing my stroller up a steep hill, scooping dog poop while answering the phone, trying to meet writing deadlines while Lucien plays at my feet, managing outings and baths and meals and schedules, not to mention making time for my yoga practice-when I could almost forget. How hard it was getting here. It was hard for me to become a mother, excruciatingly so. (Now, in comparison, is the easy part.) Neil and I married when I was 30, and though it seemed prudent to wait to try and have a baby-for our careers to become more stable, to have more of an income, to settle down in one city -I wanted to get started right away.  Maybe deep down I knew. After six months of trying, I became pregnant. We lived in Los Angeles at the time and immediately I changed everything. My diet: Goodbye coffee, hello egg salad sandwiches. My asana practice: so long Mysore series, hello Iyengar. Even the way I thought of myself changed in the instant I saw that plus on the pregnancy stick. In a flash I went from struggling would-be writer to contented mom-to-be. That pregnancy was seven years ago. At eight-and-a-half weeks (that half week was as important to me then as Lucien’s “half” a year after his two years is to me now) I went to the doctor for my first ultrasound. In that fancy office in Beverly Hills I sat feeling out of place but confident in my impending motherhood as I flipped the pages of the magazines laid out in the waiting room. And then the exam. There was no heartbeat. What followed was an everyday nightmare that I know many of you reading this have been through-the blood work and waiting, the D & C, the endless and unexpected free fall of grief. It took a long time for me to heal. One thing that helped was working on my first book, an anthology I edited, About What Was Lost: 20 Writers on Miscarriage, Healing, and Hope . I wrote my story and collected others.  Hearing women’s stories, immersing myself in them, steeled me as I spent the next several years determined to become a mother, but not sure how or when or some days, if, I would. Yoga helped too. In class I felt cared for and comforted, and on good days I felt that everything would be all right. (On the bad days I stared in envy at the gorgeous pregnant women in class, on the really bad days I cried at home on my mat, and on the worst days I stayed in bed.) Now, all these years later, I have my beautiful boy.  As he sings to me and as we snuggle and make believe, and even when I get so exhausted from keeping up with him that I need to collapse in front of hours of reality television in a pop culture coma, I remember, and I feel for all the women (and men) out there struggling-whether with IVF cycles or adoption waiting lists or simply the monthly still-negative pregnancy tests. I’m sending love to all of you and prayers that soon you’ll be with the children you are meant to parent. And believe me, I know how lucky I am. Do you have a story to share? Jessica Berger Gross is the author of enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer (Skyhorse), she lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and two-year-old son.

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Remembering

I know there are branches of yoga. I know most of us are focused on the physical branch. Some multi-branched yogis don’t love our primary focus on the physical. I think it’s all right. Here’s why: I began with Hatha yoga. But it doesn’t take long before I realize, without any teaching, that yoga has at least a second branch for me. Let’s call my two branches outside yoga and inside yoga. The physical is outside. I love its strength and flexibility, its warmth, love the physical buzzy calm after my practice. At some point on the trip, outside yoga introduced me to inside yoga, a kind of calm, accepting, eyeball-dissolving something, so often accompanied by huge sighs the end of class. And just as the physical branch teaches itself to me, class by class, the inside branch works its way through me, too, telling me a thing or two or twenty that I didn’t see at first. Like the fact that I don’t feel inner peace after every class. In fact sometimes I’m as relaxed as all get out during class and then my head races during Savasana. Go figure. And sometimes I find that lovely, floaty peace without doing a physical practice at all. Sometimes it shows up out of nowhere, while I’m driving or eating or scratching the dog’s belly. Today I saw an old man sitting on a guardrail, watching traffic go by while he picked something from the sole of his shoe, and my heart melted as though he were my grandfather.   Somehow, my yoga practice helps this inside thing happen, even when they don’t occur together. So. There you go. I have two branches, now. Who knows what will show up next, and what kind of tree I’ll be in the end. How about you?  How many branches?  What kind?  What’s your current growth? Thanks to yoga for such gorgeous growth, and thanks to you for the conversation. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, speaker, and workshop wonderwoman in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her at kristinshepherd.ca or on Facebook at Dr. Kristin Shepherd.

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My Own Branches

Okay, what is it with triangle pose???? (Those of you who are experts need not read this one. Go back to practicing your one-armed handstands with your legs in full lotus. I adore you, I do. I worship your accomplishments. But today’s thoughts are not for you.) Triangle pose. Pretty basic. Do the triangle thing and reach forward to grab your first toe. For the entire 10 months of my gorgeous, intensive involvement in yoga, this is exactly what happens with my right leg. I reach down, gently grab the first toe of my right foot, and look up to the ceiling. I breathe slowly and evenly. I don’t care if Rob and Cristina (my teachers) count to 29 on this one. Happiness. Not so with my left leg. On my left side, I reach down, all the while thinking, I am so flexible, I am flexibility itself, I am flexibility incarnate and reincarnate. And my hand reaches mid-calf. Not an inch lower. Makes me crazy. I know, I know, patience, kindness, acceptance of what is. Even if what is is a daily reminder of my exaggerated imbalance. All I wish for is balance, I tell myself. So guess what happened this week? For no reason I can think of, my triangle pose has changed! But not the way you think it might. Not the way it happens in fairy tales and romantic comedy yoga videos. Now neither of my hands can reach my toe! I mean it. I just tried it again before sitting here to write. Both sides to mid-calf. Not an inch lower. My thoughts? Be careful what you wish for. I wanted balance. I got it. Is there a pose that drives you crazy? (Okay, if it’s the one-armed handstand with full lotus, you can play, too.) Thanks to the yoga poses that drive us crazy, and thanks to you for the conversation. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, speaker, and workshop wonderwoman in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her at kristinshepherd.ca or on Facebook at Dr. Kristin Shepherd.

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Poses That Make You Crazy

We’ve all had days like Alexander’s in the children’s book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. In case you haven’t read it (you should) one thing after another happens from the moment he wakes up: from finding gum in his hair, missing out on the cereal box prize to fighting with his big brother, a trip to the dentist, and having a broken nightlight, Alexander wishes he could forget this mess and simply run off to Australia (me too!)–they don’t have bad days there. As adults, and as yogis, we hopefully have outgrown some of these limited belief systems–but somehow it seems like this “bad day” allowance issue still comes up. We wake up and know this day is going to be off, so it is written off as such. What does science, and yoga have to say about that? Steve Schwartz of LifeHacker checks it out: The brain’s facility to simplify, in most contexts, is very useful and beneficial. Our brains develop symbols, or abstract representations of complex ideas, that allow us to connect the represented ideas with other ideas, and to build upon them, without having to keep the full details of every complex idea at the forefront of our minds. In other words, simplification clears our minds, freeing our brains to draw additional connections and conclusions from complex ideas, data, and experiences. But what happens when we simplify experiences with the wrong symbolic conclusion? This is precisely what happens when we conclude that we are having a bad day. We blame our misfortune on factors outside of our own control, in order to avoid analyzing the real reasons things happened as they did (or perhaps even to eschew our own responsibility). Hence, it is easy for us to believe we’re having a bad day. The obvious downside is that once you accept the convenient conclusion that the entire day is for naught, it will actually cause the rest of your day to go horribly awry. Experiencing the world with negative expectations is like viewing reality through a muddy water glass. Your view will be distorted and you won’t like what you see. Schwartz offers a four-step program on how to not have a bad day any day, most of which sound pretty much like yoga to us. In summary: 1.Reflect on the negative feeling you have right now. (Presence) 2.Re-evaluate the situation or events that lead to this stress. (Perspective) 3. Remember that the outcome of the previous minute is not indicative of the outcome of the next minute. (Avoid Samskaras) 4. There is no number four…get on with your life already! (Yoga is now!) Next time you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, try being present and changing your expectation–just like we do in yoga–and see if you have a wonderful, awesome, not bad, very fantastic day. Because some days are still going to seem like that, even in Australia.

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Got a Bad Case of the Mondays?

As yogis, we all struggle to keep our practice consistent. We get distracted by life and make excuses to skip one day, then the next, and pretty soon we find ourselves making a lasting indent into the couch–we are too defeated for that one down-ward dog that could turn it all around. It seems like perfectionists catch the worst of this cycle. We like to feel like we are “being good,” “making progress,” and “on track.” Self-proclaimed perfectionist and yogi blogger Daniela Velázquez at TBO.com says “Yoga helps me cope with much of that fretting – until I stop practicing. Then all of the anxiety creeps back and makes me want to crawl in bed instead of working it out on my mat.” And she’s not the only one who struggles with this all-or-nothing mantra in her yoga practice and exercise routine. “‘It makes it hard for people to stay motivated – they have to be perfect in their diet plan and/or exercise plan,’ behavioral psychologist Dean Anderson says. ‘When they inevitably aren’t, they start getting down on themselves. They figure they’re never going to do it,’ says Anderson, who writes for the weight-loss website SparkPeople.com under the pen name Coach Dean. ” Velázquez  says ” Lately, I have learned to let the problem remain what it is and nothing more. Eating a cookie or skipping class is simply that – not an excuse to send myself over the edge. That’s what I have always loved about yoga. Sure, I geek out when I do something I couldn’t before, like my first on-the-wall handstand a few weeks ago. But the emphasis for me has always been on the journey of the practice and the progress I have made to become a happier, more whole person. Once you’re able to do something new (like a handstand), there’s always a slightly more complicated pose to work on (a one-handed handstand). And with more than 1,000 poses in yoga’s repertoire, you won’t ever be able to master them all. And that’s OK. Because each time you practice, you gain a little more wisdom about yourself and the world. It’s about the process of changing, not about each individual event. Perfectionists focus on the outcome, and if they don’t get a perfect outcome their motivation collapses. ” Next time, start with reminding yourself that you are inherently full or whole–lacking in no way. Then press on to practice with willful intention and non-concern for results and see if it feels different. Erin Chalfant is a writer, yoga teacher and the Web Editor at Yoga Journal.

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Yoga for Perfectionists

As an urban yogi I often day dream about coming to a bustling, messy street square and seeing–instead of garbage and taxi cabs– hundreds of yogis. Wouldn’t that be a sight? Well, Bay Area yogis are in luck because you are all invited to yoga it up in Union Square on August 7. Stephanie Snyder and Darren Main have signed on as volunteers to lead the masses, and just to add a little agave-flavored icing to this holy granola treat; registration fees benefit City of Hope . Here’s the spiel: Yoga for Hope is an event for yoga beginners and experts alike to bring awareness to the benefits of yoga practice for patients with life-threatening illnesses. Join City of Hope’s efforts to expand awareness of the importance of the mind-body-spirit connection is when battling cancer, diabetes or HIV/AIDS. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for Yoga Journal’ s sponsor booth to get a goody bag and magazine. There are also prizes and incentives to raise donations above the registration fee, for more information visit Yoga for Hope. Who says New York yogis get to have all the fun?

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Yoga in Union Square

In a recent Anatomy of Yoga class with Leslie Kaminoff, we watched a video that I’ll never forget. And hopefully, neither will you. And, trust me, this all has a heck of a lot to do with your yoga practice! It features anatomist Gil Hedley explaining The Fuzz. You can watch it yourself, but be aware that it shows him working with a cadaver. Yet it’s such an important piece of knowledge that I’d like to define this incredible concept for you, and you can choose to view it or not and still take it forward into your daily life. Each night while we sleep, or any time we’re still for long periods, like sitting in a car on a long road trip, our body begins to build collagen fibers. They look a little like cotton candy, and are just as sticky, causing friction between what should be smoothly sliding muscle surfaces. The end result is the stiffness you might feel in the morning getting out of bed or standing up after watching a three-hour movie. Now, this is usually no big deal for those of us with a consistent movement practice. We feel creaky, we do yoga, we’re good. But if you don’t lubricate your joints and move your muscles to break up the fuzz regularly enough, it begins to knit together. Over time, the normal, subtle stiffness becomes limited movement, and even pain as the spider-webbed, bound body tries to move against resistance. Instead of confronting the fuzz, to avoid discomfort, many people simply move less. It becomes a vicious cycle that we often chock up to aging, but really is a cumulative, and mostly avoidable, buildup of fuzz. Now, that’s not to say that all physical slowdown is due to the fuzz, and if we simply stretch more, we will never feel the effects of age. But there is much more we can do to keep our bodies–and therefore our minds–as open, vital, and free as possible. This parallels the yoga teaching about samskaras , the mental and emotional patterns that make up our conditioning. Samskara is a neutral word, indicating simply the actions we take that lead to certain results, but our habits can lead to either constructive or destructive outcomes, depending on our goals. The yogi seeks to strengthen those positive habits that maintain the full range of spiritual motion, and, importantly, dissolve the ones that have become diminishing and threaten to hold us back from reaching our potential of living from love, light, and joy. It’s exciting to see science finding that the same lessons apply to our actual body as well. In fact, I see the two as interconnected, since continual mental and emotional stress, for example, leads almost unerringly to muscle tension, which is a direct physical manifestation of the samskara of anxiety or fear. This is the mind-body connection the yogis have known about for centuries, and though sometimes yoga philosophy can get pretty obtuse, much of it can be translated into the real world as simply as you want to make it. That’s nice to know when you’re looking for tools you can apply today, right this moment, that can help you release what doesn’t serve you, and keep, even amplify, the things that do. Yoga doesn’t have to be confusing. It’s the art of living in balance, and taking actions that fuel your happiness, whatever that means for you. From there, you’ll be inspired to offer some of that goodness to the world through your creative self-expression, and with a burning desire to help those who are still suffering. This is the road map the samskaras offer us: What kind of a life are you carving out through your choices? Is it shaping up as you’d like? If not, then start chipping away at another way of being until it more closely resembles your heart. The next time you’re on the mat, or doing a few Sun Salutes just out of bed, you are not only solidifying healthy habits, you’re creating the potential for new ones to take root in your life in so many ways. Here’s a great all-in-one pose for dissolving restrictive samskaras, and, with them, the fuzz. Do it in the morning just after you get out of bed, and you’ll greet your whole day with more resiliency, flexibility, and freedom from all sorts of fuzz. Core Pose: Low Lunge with Cat/Cow Variation Come into a Low Lunge position with your right foot forward. Your front knee is stacked over the heel, not out in front of it, to avoid knee pressure. The back knee stretches comfortably behind the hip, not directly under it. The front foot and back knee are hip-distance, or about two fists-width apart. Keep your hands on the floor, framing your front foot at first. Take a moment to back off the hips, since you don’t want to sink too far into this pose. This can cause you to overstretch the connective tissue. Instead, lift out of the pose a bit until you can ground the foot and knee, draw in the low belly, and bring your torso upright, hands onto the knee or thigh. You should now feel a stretch in the center of your muscles, not in the back hip crease and front sitting bone only. Your legs are also working to maintain the buoyancy of the pose. Inhale, carve your tailbone long, and arch your spine. Keep the back of your neck long, and lift the chest sky-high. As you do this move, pull your shoulders back and slide your shoulder blades closer. Exhale and round your back. Remember to keep the length in your lower back and roll more through the upper back and shoulder area. Gently lower your chin for a mindful neck stretch. This pose is meant to lift through the back of your heart and spread the shoulder blades wider apart than it is to press out your lower back curve. So although you will activate the low belly fully on your exhalation, lift it in and up towards the chest, rather than squeezing it back towards the spine only. Repeat the spinal motion with your breath for 5-10 rounds, then return to a Down Dog or Child’s Pose, and repeat on the left side.

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Fuzz Buster

My office was burgled (what a lovely sounding word! It sounds like water pouring over rocks in a cool stream) on Friday, while I was in a back room speaking with someone. For the first two hours afterward, I thought, oh, this is just like trying to find the toothpaste on my bathroom counter. That substantial amount of cash is here somewhere. I just can’t find it. When the reality of it sank in, my gut writhed for a few minutes. Until–and this is the yoga part –until I realized this is what is. It is exactly like my hamstrings. They are short. No whining about that helps. No gnashing of teeth, no “why did this happen to me”, no “I should have done this or that”. My hamstrings are short. The money is gone. Can’t do much about it. Except. Except that I can look at the situation gently, and positively, and with a lot of love for myself. I can soothe my gut by contemplating the good things that might come from this. I can dwell on how lucky I am to be safe, happy, and engaged in work that will never land me in jail where the food is bad and my yoga props might be confiscated. A sense of humor comes back to me. Which, strangely, helps me wish my burglar friend well. For him (it turns out I met him before, which is why I know he is a him), I wish peace, well being, a relaxed gut, and good life choices ahead. In fact, I’ll go all out and say I wish long hamstrings for him. Somehow I know my own flexibility on this point will help both of us. Here’s what yoga is teaching me: What is, is. I do better when I let go. Looking at everything with peace and love makes it all better. It turns a burglary into water pouring over rocks in a cool stream. How cool is that? Has yoga done this to you, too? Thanks to yoga for the alchemy in this, and thanks to you for the conversation. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, speaker, and workshop wonderwoman in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her at kristinshepherd.ca or on Facebook at Dr. Kristin Shepherd.

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Burgled!

Feeling a little burnt out on your yoga practice? How about a little inspiration for your practice from a few of the greats? Check out Krisnamacharya’s totally zen moving Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand)! And from Mr. Iyengar himself: Who, or what, inspires your practice?

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Old School Yoga

It’s my first week in a new town, having moved from NYC to Austin to focus on yoga, travel and all that it entails for me right now. It’s slower here, no doubt, with a local news story lamenting that the new city Metro system doesn’t have enough people riding it! I’ll soon be parking my grateful derriere on one of the new, cushioned seats (with actual airspace between bodies) on my way to a yoga class. I miss New York, but I’m interested to see what health and yogic possibilities lay ahead for me here. In this transitional period, where cardboard moving boxes vie for my attention along with daily responsibilities (as I write this blog, all my books sit next to me in U-Haul containers, awaiting their freedom), I can’t help but feel, well, empty. This is a specific kind of emptiness, not the windswept sensation after an emotional storm, or the primordial suspension of a deep meditation. It’s more like a mixture of mourning and excitement, so evenly matched that it generates the time-standing-still feeling you have while retaining the breath after an inhale, or letting the exhale slide into a silent moment of nothingness before inspiring again. And when I say, “inspiring,” I mean breathing in and getting back to the creation of my life’s work, my dharma.  This is the calm before the flood, when creative elements will sweep me forward. And I have to be ready to both direct the wave and ride it into places I can’t foresee. It is scary, yet wonderful. I wonder if this could be the Middle Path the Buddha spoke of, or the “field” between happiness and sorrow that Rumi wrote about so eloquently. I think of it as The Void, taken from the Runes, the ancient Viking stones etched with symbols used by those seeking clarity. Here’s one definition of The Void from the Book of Runes : The Unknowable represents the path of Karma–the sum total of your actions and their consequences, the lessons that are yours for this lifetime. And yet, this Rune teaches that the very debts of old karma shift and evolve as you shift and evolve. Nothing is predestined. What beckons is the creative power of the unknown. We all hit The Void at one time or another, sometimes multiple times a day. It’s that pause that seems hollow but that is actually pregnant with possibility, full of creative energy, or shakti, waiting for you to decide which action to take next to direct it into form. The Void itself is often what ignites fear: of the unknown, of letting go, of being alone, of moving to that next level of ourselves, and risking failure and public ridicule to do it. Many people never cross The Void, because of what seems an impenetrable closed door of “I can’t, I shouldn’t” or “I’m not enough” blocking the entrance to the bridge across.   Yet when we practice yoga with as much determination off the mat as we do on it, when we get present and focus on what really matters–living completely, passionately, and without regret–we take destiny back into our own hands, the doorway magically opens, and, Void or not … we leap. Here’s a pose that may help you understand how solid the Void actually is, as you begin to see that you’re always where you stand, and from there, you can channel this veritable ocean of energy towards your biggest, brightest goals. Core Pose: Ankle-to-Knee Chair(Eka Pada Galavasana Preparation) This pose leads to taking flight in the arm balance of Eka Pada Galavasana, but for our purposes, we’re going to start where we are. Running too fast into the Void can cause you to miss out on the information coming at you from the core, and from your environment, a conversation that needs your full attention. Come to the front of your mat, feet hip-distance apart. Bend both knees and generate as much lift from your lower belly as from your lower back. Keep your spine long as you ground into your left foot and lift your right knee mindfully into your chest. Don’t rush; rather, make every moment of this pose an opportunity to find balance again. Once you’re stable, cross your right ankle over your left knee. Roll the thigh outward so your right knee lowers, and sit down deeper. Bring your hands to the chest, palms together in anjali mudra, which celebrates your connection to the Divine, or universal energy. Offer your heart forward as the hips move back to anchor you in this new place of balance and freedom. Take 5-10 breaths here, then return to Chair Pose, and fold forward over bent or straight legs for a few moments before repeating the balance on the other side.      

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Filling the Void

Testing Food Blog

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Testing Food Blog

testing entry for Challenge Mondays

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Monday test

In May 1975, the first issue of Yoga Journal –all 10 pages and 300 copies of it–was born. YJ is 35 years old this year, and we thought it only fitting to celebrate with yoga, of course! Our Facebook fans submitted their daring arm balances from all over the world, which you can view in our Arm Balance Extravaganza slideshow . Founded in 1975 by members of the California Yoga Teachers Association (Rama Vernon, Ike and Judith Lasater, Rose Garfinkle, Jean Girardot, Janis Paulsen, and William Staniger), Yoga Journal was created to unite the growing yoga community and provide “material that combines the essence of classical yoga with the latest understanding of modern science.” Read the full story of YJ’s beginnings here. Keep an eye out for more on our Special 35th Anniversary Edition hitting newsstand this fall. Be the first to get sneak previews and other special offers by becoming a fan at www.facebook.com/yogajournal

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Happy Birthday Yoga Journal!

Although I’m a yogi living in beautiful British Columbia, on stressed out hectic days, it doesn’t take much for me to veer into my frazzled New Yorker mode. But lately, thanks to the (finally) beautiful Vancouver summer weather, the aftereffects of my recent yoga retreat, my reduced work load – no university writing classes this summer to teach, no short turn around freelance assignments – I’m feeling much more mellow than usual.  My to do list no longer feels so pressing or urgent, nor does the laundry pile.  Because our morning day care only runs during the school year, Lucien is home for the summer and I’m in 24/7 mom mode. In some ways it’s easier having him home and on a more flexible schedule with no rush out the door in the morning. We can swim down by the beach or go to the playground or library, all to our hearts’ content. Even the usual challenges of mothering feel easier these days. If Lucien skips his afternoon nap, then we go outside in the sunshine and play.  If my babysitter’s alarm clock fails to go off on the one morning I have a few hours slotted for writing, then Lucien and I hang out on the front stoop for an unexpected unscheduled hour of just being together.  If my husband goes on a four day long weekend trip to Sweden for work, well then I’ll tame my inner cheapskate (or try to) and hire aforementioned beloved babysitter so that I can go to a Saturday afternoon yoga class and a Sunday morning movie, too.  Feeling this way is worth it.  My relaxation is having an effect on all of us.  When I feel calm and centered, Neil’s less stressed (despite his crazy work deadlines), and Lucien seems happier and more easygoing, too.  He sings around the house all day long.  When I’m anxious and overworked  – thinking back to the days when I was frantically juggling teaching, meeting a book deadline and caring for a nursing baby – everyone felt that, too.  My new goal for this coming year is to see if I can be in the “real” world (balancing work and motherhood) but keep an easier, lighter yogi-summery attitude.   Yoga is a gentle reminder to come back to this calm center. Please someone, next winter when it’s cold and rainy and I have a writing deadline to meet and a virus is going around, remind me to take a deep breath and remember this summertime mellow-as-can-be feeling with the kitchen door open and the sunshine coming in. Jessica Berger Gross is the author of enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer (Skyhorse), she lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and two-year-old son.

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Summertime Zen

Before I move to Austin on Monday, I thought it would be a good idea to pop up to Boston to teach a couple of workshops on Saturday. Why? Because I’m a glutton for punishment! No, actually, and perhaps strangely, I’m considering it a mini-vacation. A moving vacation, more specifically, since I get to ride a train and have nearly 8 hours to myself to do with what I wish. That’s about 6.5 hours more than I’ve had in a long time. On the trip so far, I’ve slept, read a magazine, planned classes, written this blog, caught up on emails, and simply stared out the window, enjoying the passing views of the verdant Hudson Valley.  This may sound like a lot, but these were all things I felt like doing, and they’ve brought me heartfelt pleasure. Virginia Woolf once said, “A woman must have money and a room of her own, if she is to write fiction.” I think that sentiment extends to both genders. No matter who you are, in order to create, you need resources. And one integral requirement of creative freedom is space. This doesn’t mean just a physical space, but some kind of spiritual “room”–an expanse within. This is where your spirit can dance with abandon as you gift yourself the chance to decide what to create next, instead of having your next move dictated by the pressures of time, relationships, and responsibility. The funny thing is, we yogis learn that in order to expand, we must first draw inward. We have to contain ourselves, plug our pranic leaks, and stop existing solely in other people’s rooms if we are to truly live in our own. This practice of self-regulating the balance between giving and receiving helps us stay focused not only on sharing with others, but on keeping what we need. In this way, we cultivate moksha , or being free from stress and suffering, but to me, also means having the freedom to access the soul, and from there, to express oneself completely and without regret.   This is often what stepping onto the mat means to me. It’s a magic carpet ride to new adventures as I remember and reveal the most vital parts of myself. No phones ring, no flight times loom, no partners or students need my attention. Sometimes I feel guilty for wanting this time to myself, this room of my own. After all, I love my loved ones and enjoy my job. As a centered-living teacher, I should be able to exist in peace within the chaos and pull of the outer world, right? Well yes, and no. I find that in order to give the quality of attention that my projects and interactions deserve, I simply must take physical, mental, or emotional retreats at regular intervals. Otherwise, I risk burnout. Whether it’s a nap, a walk in the park, a long bath, or a train ride, I’m careful to immerse in the luxury of being totally Self-centered. Then, once I’m ready to re-engage with the world, I have all the more to offer the next time an offering is called for.      All too often, we wait until we are at the end of our ropes, frazzled and spent, before we’ll use those vacation days or get a massage. Sometimes it takes illness or fatigue to force us to pause and get some much needed rest. As practitioners of a conscious path, I invite each of us to do better than that. Let’s look for daily opportunities to invoke freedom: to withdraw, conserve, and nourish our bodies, hearts, and minds. If chances for restoration are lacking in your life, build a room of your own with the tools gathered from your yoga practice: the wisdom to know when to go and when to stop, and the inner strength to create the boundaries needed to literally make peace with–and within–your life. Core Pose: Ustrasana (Camel Pose) with Arm Stretch Here’s an asana that helps me invite moksha into my day by shaking off the constrictions of tension in my body or on some other level. Kneel at the front of your mat with your knees slightly separated. Reach one hand back onto the floor or a block. Exhale fully and firm your belly. As you inhale, press your fingertips into the mat and circle your other arm up and back beside your ear. At the same time, lengthen your tailbone and pull your navel in and up as you lift your hips (a little or a lot, depending on your flexibility) and wave your spine towards a heart-opening backbend. Refrain from dropping your head back; keep the neck curve naturally long and supported. Exhale, return your hips to your heels, and bring the opposite hand behind you to repeat on the other side. Aim for 5-10 repetitions of this pose then fold forward into Child’s Pose for one minute.      

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A Room of One’s Own

1.Do your hamstrings become close to the same length at any point? 2. Have you found clothes that contain your gut while doing Downward Dog? (Perhaps you don’t have a gut anymore.) 3. How long did it take you to get the bandha thing going? 4. (This is directly related to #3) Can you lift your bum and legs off the ground when doing Uttitha Padmasana? How long did it take you to learn that?  (Are your arms disproportionately long by any chance?) 5. Has anyone ever snapped a hip in two doing Pigeon Pose?   6. Do you like yourself more, now, than you did before starting yoga? (I do, for the most part. Something to do with the daily determination to be kind to myself, I suspect.) 7. Do you fantasize about teaching yoga? Classes at sunrise? In temples? In India? (If you currently teach yoga in temples in India, do you fantasize about teaching yoga at sunset in Machu Picchu?) I do. I have long, flowing hair and long, flowing hamstrings in these fantasies. 8. Does yoga elbow its way into all of your conversations? (For example, your dentist says you need to replace a crown. You say, that reminds me of forward bends in class today. Your dentist doesn’t understand.)  Most of the people in my life hope this wears off at some point.  9.  Do you still love it?  As much as you did when you were new? That last one is the one that matters to me most. I’d love to hear that it’s possible to love this for the rest of my life. Thanks to yoga for inspiring questions, and thanks to you for the conversation.

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Questions for Yogi Experts

Getty Images Starting you kids out young in yoga sounds like a great idea, but would you bring your child to a hot yoga class? In case you haven’t heard, Bikram’s self-proclaimed “torture chambers” are a series of twenty-six postures in a 104-degree room for 90 minutes. It is an extreme workout. Instructors say it’s natural to feel nauseous, dizzy and maybe even black out. This blogger from MomLogic.com starts investigating after a mother brings her four-year-old to the weekend hot yoga class. “At the beginning of the class, this little yogi was trying each of the moves, naturally having trouble holding any pose. By 15 minutes into the class, the poor thing was playing with her water bottle, spraying herself and rolling around on her towel. I am in my mid-30s, and I can barely stay focused for the hour and a half. So I totally understood how this little one was bored out of her mind. As the class continued, she got up and down and tried more moves. Of course her mom kept trying to correct her, but the instructor insisted that she let her daughter learn on her own. Meanwhile, I was hot as hell and wondering, Is this healthy for the child? So of course, back at work, I just had to get an expert opinion. Pediatrician and momlogic expert Dr. Alanna Levine said the following: “I do not recommend that young children participate in Bikram yoga . Children handle high temperatures differently than adults. They have a higher surface-area-to-mass ratio, which means they absorb heat more than adults do. They also have a smaller blood volume, which makes it harder for them to dissipate the heat. Lastly, they have a slower rate of sweat production than adults, and sweating is a mechanism to cool us off. Children are not ‘mini adults’ — and should not be treated as such.” I thought it was only fair to call up the Bikram Yoga College of India and talk to someone there. Jessica, 32, has been a Bikram instructor since 2008. Here’s how our chat went: ml: Does Bikram have a minimum age requirement?  Jessica: There are no strict rules, as long as the child is quiet and well-behaved. There’s a youth category for the annual Bikram competition. Bikram, the founder, has three children, and they all started doing “hot yoga ” at a very early age. ml: How old was your youngest student ever? J: I haven’t have any younger than 9 or 10. Sometimes younger students wait outside during  the standing series and come in for the floor series. ml: How would you respond to our doctor’s claims that Bikram is unhealthy for kids? J: With any physical practice, you should have a doctor’s recommendation. A decision to do Bikram should be taken person by person. It’s case by case. What do you think? Do kids as young as 4 belong in a hot- yoga class? Have you ever brought your child to yoga ? What types of yoga are acceptable?” Read more here .

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Hot Yoga for Kids?

I think yoga is a sport, just like the World Cup. Hear me out. Tuesday was one of those days. I love yoga, love my home practice, love class, but there are some days, some weeks, even, when it all goes off the rails.   This is one of those weeks. I’ve been in hotels two weekends in a row, I’ve seen my share of drive-through windows over those weekends, and my hotel practice has been less thorough than my home practice. I’ve been away so much that my dog rolls her eyes when I come home. The result is that my body and spirit are tired, chunky, and unsociable.   It took Olympian determination to get myself to yoga class on Tuesday. It was touch-and-go all morning. I kept thinking, “I can go home for a break, I can eat, I can read, I can get some work done, I can sit here and stare out the window for an hour.” Most of these options looked much more appealing than going to class. (It’s possible some of you never feel this way. I am determined to like you anyway.) By the grace of Whatever, I get changed, get in my car, and drive to the studio. I lie down, and almost immediately I could cry, I am so happy. Class starts. My left hamstrings have shrunk considerably over the weekend, somehow, I have NO balance, my thighs and rear end burst at the inadequate seams of my formerly roomy yoga pants, and still there is no place I’d rather be. This is where the World Cup comes in.   When we go to class on these days, I think our teachers should welcome us at the door with big, glossy medals. “Would you like a medal today?”  “Yes,” I’d say. “Bronze, silver or gold?” “Are you joking? Do you have any idea how far I’ve come today?The French fries and pizza I have overcome, the hotel coffee, the hours in the car, the dog’s face, and lethargy the size of an oil spill? Give me the gold, absolutely. I am the champion of the world today.” There are days when we should all have medals around our necks. Thanks to yoga for making me show up, and thanks to you for the conversation. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, writer, and workshop wonderwoman in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her at kristinshepherd.ca or on Facebook at Dr. KristinShepherd.

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Champion Yogis

Two fantastic things occurred over the last 24 hours. 1. We experienced an earthquake yesterday. Very exciting. It lasted 26 seconds. The dog growled for a few seconds, and the antennae on the TV shook for a full minute. In fact, the quake shook much of the province, which was wonderful, because it led to phone calls with my mother in Ottawa and my sister in Toronto. It’s the kind of thing everyone wants to talk about.  2. I tried naked yoga this morning. My goal was to last longer than 26 seconds. There is no doubt I was shaken more by the naked yoga than the quake. If you haven’t tried it, if your dad is British, say, and you’re uneasy in short sleeves, if you wear flannel clown pants to bed every night and peel your socks off during the middle of the night as you become unbearably hot–if you do all of that–well, we can talk. (If this isn’t you and you’re the type who goes naked to the movies, you have no idea what I’m talking about. In my next life I’ll be just like you.) The first 26 seconds are spent dismayed by the complex surface of my thighs, which look as though they have undergone several earthquakes of their own. Then I forget about them, perhaps because it is hotter this morning than it’s been all summer, and as humid as cottage cheese. My first forward bend makes me sweat. I make it to 40 minutes, naked. I put my clown pants back on for seated postures, to avoid rug burn, I say to myself. I conclude that this naked thing is no big deal. And then something unexpected happens. I move off the rug and onto the wood floor for Savasana. And, oh, oh, oh, the floor is as cool as ice cream on my poached back, so cool that I take my clown pants off again for the last couple of minutes. I press my low back into the floor and when I relax it makes a deep, suction-y, rumbling, farting sound that is the best thing I have EVER heard during my practice.  A soft, funny earthquake of my very own. I am CERTAIN you have things to teach me about your naked (or not) home practice. My ears are quaking. Thanks to earthquakes, to cool floors, and to you for the conversation. Join Kristin at kristinshepherd.ca or on Facebook at http://kristinshepherd.ca

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An Earth Moving Experience

As our nation turns to backyards, barbecues, burgers, bright colors and explosions in the sky, it seems appropriate to celebrate independence in a personal way as well. Perhaps with some yoga? Independence. Freedom. Liberation. Moksha. Most cultures take time to celebrate a form of letting go and feeling open and alive to possibility, and it seems the height of summer is the perfect time for this expression. Your pores are open and warmed by the sun, encouraging your body to release, the days are long and, in most places, the weather is inviting.  What do we, in this modern day, need to do to disentangle ourselves from our oppressors?  What are our oppressions anyway, and why do we feel tangled in the first place? Yoga can help answer all of the above. I woke up with Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” in my head: “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.” This will be my mantra in practice this weekend. Any obstacle I perceive has been placed there by me, and I can also choose to remove it. My morning yoga practice, of course, will be my revolution. Today I celebrate independence from the mind stuff, vritti .  I will not allow myself to be worried about the extra traffic caused on a Friday before a holiday weekend…or the longer lines at the grocery store, or the wait at the bank or how crowded it will be at the park and the beach. These things are fun and they are choices. I will enjoy my liberation with breath, movement, and maybe a little reggae. How will you liberate yourself this weekend? Check out the accidental yogist if you’re in SoCal and looking for studios that are celebrating their independence. Erin Chalfant is a writer, yoga teacher and the Web Editor at Yoga Journal.

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Independence Day

I was out at lunch with a friend in Brooklyn the other day. She’s Israeli, and she enjoys teaching me Yiddish words that seem random. (Like the word for suspenders, or shleykes .) I was telling her about my decision to spend the rest of 2010 engaged in a hugging practice. For the first half of the year, I toured like crazy, a rewarding yet hectic experience of meeting students and studio owners across the country. For the next few months, and into 2011, I’m going to hug in, or streamline and focus as much as possible, on what positively serves my goals of teaching Core Strength principles to people. And I intend to limit the things that drain my energy unnecessarily so that I have more quality instruction to share when I do teach. “Gurnisht!” my friend interjected. “What?” I replied. She explained that in Yiddish, this word means “done” or “a decision made.” That’s it, that’s all, that’s all she wrote. Gurnisht is what we do whenever we choose not to participate in something in favor of doing something else. Yogis go a step further, We aim to bring a consciousness and compassion to our choices, so the decisions we make end up helping us to stay healthy and balanced, with energy to give to the important projects and relationships that nourish us in return. I know that, for me at least, it’s much easier to say yes than to say no. It’s uncomfortable to disappoint people. It’s also intense to keep energy inside that could have gone out to something or someone else, as anyone knows who has ever held Chair Pose for what seems like an eternity instead of running screaming out if the room. The key to balance is to know when a yes or a no will best serve your highest good. Often, my students express anxiety about saying no, because it feels like a negative thing. Well, it inherently is, and yet when we realize that a boundary can be as positive as an offering, our perspective of saying gurnisht might also shift. After all, without banks, a river becomes a stagnant swamp. If we truly want to move anything forward in our lives, it’s important to first identify the areas to which we want to give our commitments. Then, the borders we build with the solidity of our focus around those agreements encourage our energy to flow forward into action. Over time, these positive habits carve a path toward our preferred creations, careers, loves, and life choices. This sounds great, but it is supremely challenging to do, whether you’re saying yes to a wonderful opportunity or no to participating in relationships or responsibilities that take you off track of what you wish to cultivate. Understanding when to employ agreement or denial is a skill we use each time we step onto the mat. In our asanas, in any given moment, we get chances to hug in or expand in infinite ways: Do you want to express outward into Full Wheel or back off in Bridge Pose to protect an injured shoulder or to save energy? Through refining our choices based on what we think will empower our ultimate harmony of sthira-sukha , or steadiness and ease, we learn how to more easily navigate the constant stream of requests coming from within and, once we move off the mat, from the outside world. One could even say that sthira is our no, and sukha is the freedom and joy of our big yes that sthira helps to make possible. After all, there can hardly be one without the other. In our poses and in our lives, we employ not only conscious yeses, but conscious nos. Yoga teaches us that when you choose your dharma, and step into the current of your highest expression of health and happiness, freedom and delight, you undeniably serve the highest good of everyone else around you. Think about that for a moment. We yogis know that even though good is served doesn’t mean it will feel good to say no to drama and yes to our dharma. At times, moving toward our own truth can cause anger, fear, insecurity, and pain–for others and for ourselves. When your heart and your core tell you that it’s time to hug in, and say “no more” to leaking your attention and prana (life force)–instead making room for freedom from suffering and freedom to be yourself–remember the principle of gurnisht and don’t do it! Core Pose: Half Chaturanga Dandasana Just because this is half a Chaturanga doesn’t mean it’s not fully challenging. I see so many students rushing or collapsing through full Chaturanga, and they flirt with shoulder, elbow and wrist strain, instead of reaping the core and arm-strengthening benefits of the pose. This variation will help you back off to go deeper. Coming into effective alignment and generating the freedom of more power and safety means you have to create boundaries all around the pose. Begin in Plank Pose, fingers wide, palms and fingertips grounding. Place your knees down on the mat, not under the hips, but farther back. Remain lifted at the navel with a long tailbone and spine. Reach your chest forward between the upper arms without sinking toward the floor and winging the shoulder blades; they stay firmly on your back. Hug your elbows in, not squeezing the ribs but also not leaking energy by opening too wide. Keep the elbows directly over your wrists. On an exhalation, float your heart forward to maintain the vertical line of your forearms, push the floor with your hands, pull up the side waists and lower belly, and begin to lower, by about 2 to 4 inches. Resist the urge to go to as far as full Chaturanga. Staying higher will keep you working from the belly, or center, of your muscles, so you gain tone instead of stressing connective tissue and joints. Try 3-5 repetitions, holding each Half Chaturanga for 1-3 breaths. Press back into Child’s Pose and rest for 1 minute after your last pose.  

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Hugging in–and saying No

The sigh with the first sip of coffee. The click of my mug when I set it on the coffee table. The grunt when I realize my left hamstrings are still half the length of my right hamstrings. Ujjayi breathing, when I remember to do it. Seagulls squawking outside. The yeah! yeah! yeah! I say under my breath with my handstand and anything resembling a back bend. Heaving groans that ease their way into regular breaths during side twists. The big, fat sighs that settle me into Savasana. Shanti, shanti, shanti, which I whisper to the lake (don’t know why I whisper at home). The tickety-tickety-tickety of Rosie, my dog, who hears me whisper and comes to join me after her own upward dog, downward dog series. It’s worth it just for the sounds, isn’t it? What are your favorites?   Thanks to yoga for the sounds and thanks to you for the conversation. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, writer, and workshop wonderwoman in North Bay, Ontario.  Please join me at kristinshepherd.ca or on Facebook at Dr. KristinShepherd.

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The Sounds of Yoga

  I just got back from Feathered Pipe Ranch in Montana–my first-ever time away from Lucien and first out-of-town yoga workshop in years. When I got there I had a bad headache and a guilty conscience. Had I made a huge mistake in leaving my two-and-a-half year-old son? Was I a bad parent for ditching him while doing something–studying yoga–that was all about me? How would Neil and Lucien manage to survive a day without me, much less five?   Sure, I was there to study with one of my favorite yoga teachers in the world, Marla Apt. Yes, Neil and Lucien are as close as could be and Neil had half convinced me that I deserved this break. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was somehow wrong for me to be there.   Then we began to practice. Three hours of asana in the morning, two and half hours in the afternoon of asana and pranayama, with time in between and after class to read, think, meditate, talk to Marla and the other yogis, and just be.   Marla is a gifted and generous teacher. Her sequences are magical, her instructions brilliant, her adjustments incredibly insightful. During our time together my asana practice took a serious leap forward. I came to remember something, too: how important asana is to me. As much as I treasure everything else yoga has brought me closer to–yoga philosophy, conscious living and parenting, healthy eating, the creative life–yoga asana is the daily tonic I need in order to make all that possible.   Each day at the ranch I felt calmer, more open, freer. My headache disappeared and my tense shoulders became soft. My guilty conscience eased. I felt more like me. I promised myself then and there I’d rededicate myself to my home practice and my weekly classes with my wonderful Vancouver teacher Louie Ettling in Vancouver. I also vowed to continue studying with Marla whenever possible.   By the way, Lucien and Neil did great. My “baby” didn’t cry once over his missing Mommy as I’d worried he might. According to Neil, whenever my name came up Lucien would smile and say “Momma’s at a yoga retreat! In Montana! Downward dog!” The truth is Lucien loves his Daddy, and feels just as comfortable with him as he does with me.    When the retreat was over, Neil and Lucien picked me up at the airport in Vancouver. “Momma!” Lucien said, and hugged me tight. “You seem so much lighter,” Neil said when he saw me, with a kiss.  I was beaming, breathing, easier in my body than I’d been in a long time.  And committed to staying that way. Do you make enough time for yourself? What part of you practice needs re-commitment? Sharing here may help you keep your intention!   Jessica Berger Gross is the author of enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer (Skyhorse), she lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and two-year-old son.

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Re-committed to Yoga

Yesterday morning, sitting at my desk, hard at work, I would have never predicted that by late afternoon I’d be sitting on a boat with Yogic Arts creator Duncan Wong, eating watermelon and floating down the Hudson River. But that’s exactly what happened. That morning, my manager, Ava, called, inviting me to hop aboard the meditation and reiki cruise that Captain Ike and his Spirit Seeker Journeys crew does weekly. “Get to the boat basin at 79th Street,” she said. “Life awaits!” At first I said no. I had far too much business to attend to, I was comfortably at home with my tea, my computer, and Google, and it seemed unfathomable to peel myself out of the chair and make such a big trek. Not to mention that getting from Brooklyn to some uptown Manhattan dock during rush hour is an almost impossibly long journey. When I hung up the phone, though, I began to reconsider. I could always work, but a boat, a willing captain, and an available body of water is not always as easy to find.  I took a deep breath, got up, and went to find my sunblock. When I got to the boat, I was pleased to see Duncan and Ava there, along with some new friends and yoga teachers I looked forward to getting to know. And bond we did. The day was gorgeous, our ravenous yogi appetites cleared out Captain Ike’s cupboards, and we had so much fun that a scheduled 7:30pm return became 11:30pm!  It was a special day, magical even, and lying on the deck watching the moon hide and reappear between skyscrapers, I was so thankful I’d chosen sailing over Googling. I realized that as yoga practitioners, we have more choices than we might think about the quality with which we live our lives. It’s so easy to fall into our samskaras , mental and emotional patterns that can drive the habitual actions and default settings we’ve been doing for so long. Sometimes it’s like we’re on we’re on autopilot, and that the way we’re living is the only reality there is. But once in a while, we get the opportunity to choose again, to broaden our perspective of what our day could be like, or how our lifestyles, our relationships, careers and ways of perceiving the world could be brighter, more abundant, and could serve us in the absolute best ways possible.  Sometimes I hear myself saying “no” to the unknown adventures that might be found on a different track, because I think, “I can’t possibly do that.” My rational mind then proceeds to tell me why. Well, what if, just once in a while, we let our spirits answer with the big “Yes” born of the question: “Why not ?”  Doing exactly that yesterday, instead of returning phone calls a little faster or making my deadlines a little earlier, manifested a memory I will cherish for a lifetime. After all, life isn’t always going to give us the peace and happiness we want. Sometimes we have to create it from the inside out by doing something revolutionary. So, next time you find yourself deep in a samskara that might be comfortable but not pushing you to be as powerful and vital as you’d like to be, see if you can jump out and say “Yes!” to something radical, exciting, and new.  After all, life awaits. Core Pose: Shakti Kicks I call these Shakti Kicks in honor of the creative fire they spark at your center. If you want to bust out of a rut, this energetic pose is a fast-track to transformation! I use it to help students strengthen the upper body for arm balances and inversions as they practice courage and the hugging into center it takes to re-track towards power and grace. Note: You don’t have to kick this high. I encourage you to start very mindfully, going slower and lower than you might think you can. All my asanas are built from the ground up, specifically to give you the best chance to remain in the integrity of your body’s healthy structure and respect your individual process, even as you’re moving and growing in the pose. So try little hops, and chip away at this pose until you are going farther but still in full alignment. From Down Dog, firm your fingertips into the floor and walk your feet together. Press your big toe mounds into a bandha , or lock. This activates your inner thighs and keeps your legs hugging in for more control as you hop. Bend your knees on an inhalation and look forward between your hands. Draw up through your lower belly as you take small or larger hops. If you’re building strength, or if your wrists or shoulders won’t support hopping, then pretend to hop, grounding the hands down and lifting your hips higher with the low and mid abdominals on each exhale. Otherwise, aim your heels for the sitting bones and land with bent knees. As you hop, exhale strongly for more core support, and keep your shoulder blades naturally down the back even as your hands press into the floor.   Eventually, your hips may hover over your arms and you’ll be able to tuck your tailbone and lift your belly as you root down through your hands and set your feet down lightly. However, even if you’re kicking low, you can still find the dynamic earth-to-core connection that allows you to lighten your landings as you float between the hands. Try 5-10 kicks then fold forward for a few back-body stretching breaths in Uttanasana.      

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Saying Yes

All this World-Cup-inspired team spirit reignites the debate about yoga as a sport. Bikram has been lobbying for a Yoga Olympics for ages. One need only watch the New York Regional Yoga Championship video from New York Times to conclude that yoga is VERY challenging and amazingly beautiful and fun to watch. There are of course pros and cons to having all this attention in the yoga world. Those opposed say yoga cannot be judged and that doing so misses the point entirely. Supporters say exposure inspires children to get involved at a young age.   What do you think about yoga as a sport?  And what about some of these crazy poses…is that even good for you? More advanced poses here: Extreme Yoga Poses Join the debate: Can that be Good for You?!

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World Cup Yoga?

What’s with the naked theme? I write a blog about loving home practice, and you, some of you, write in that you love naked yoga. I write a blog about favorite poses, and you write in about naked yoga. I write a blog about meditation or chanting or acting, for goodness sake, and some of you (is it the same people? The Naked Yoga Alliance? I don’t know!) write back that you love naked yoga. Billy Connolly, the marvelous Scottish comedian, writes that he loves an ordinary love life with his wife. A meat-and-potatoes kind of lover, he is.  He’s all about comfort. It takes some self-assuredness to admit that. I feel that way about yoga. I love yoga in my flannel pajama bottoms. I start with two t-shirts and peel one off as I warm up. Sometimes I start in socks. This naked thing? I don’t know. It’d be like grocery shopping while naked, or bowling while naked, neither of which is ever going to happen, so don’t feel you should write in about those. Besides, where I live, anyone in a canoe can see me unless I downward dog in the dark.   All right, all right! I’ll try it. I’ll try it in the dark (by the park, for a lark, with a shark. I’m going all Dr. Seuss in my nervousness.). I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks for the conversation, I think. Kristin Shepherd lives in North Bay, Ontario. She is a chiropractor, workshop facilitator, actor, writer, and parent of two grown children and a perpetually infantile dog.  Check her out, fully clothed, at kristinshepherd.ca or on Facebook at Dr. Kristin Shepherd. 

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Why Naked Yoga?

by Kathryn Budig I was so excited when Elena Brower, Goddess of yoga, invited me to demo at the maha event–Yoga in Central Park–but once I added up my financial sum for taking off, my numbers were looking dangerously high. Dismayed, but happy to stay off of a plane and knowing all is as it should be, I decided to watch the live stream from the genius boys at Yogaglo .  Soon after, thanks to the my home-away-from-home (aka my Facebook page) , I saw that Flavorpill was hosting two simultaneous events. One in Miami and one in Los Angeles with Tara Stiles. I shot Ms. Stiles an email and was RSVPed for some yoga poolside at The Standard hotel–yes, welcome to LA! I began my day at 4:30am; disgruntled to find that my green tea canister was empty. I chugged two glasses of water and took out my angst in the form of a Facebook update. The Om-tastic New Yorker, Cyndi Lee, comically replied, “5:30am? — green tea? — this is when I realize I don’t live in LA. Good luck!” I chuckled to myself thinking of the contrasts between this day in NYC vs. LA. Green tea, albeit healthy, does sounds a bit wimpy next to the vibrato of a black cup of coffee.   Then I thought of the yoga events.   Ten Thousand yogis gathering in the vast and majestic Great Lawn of Central Park, and where is the Los Angeles equivalent? Clearly, amongst scantily clad poolside peeps at a posh West Hollywood hotel. Hey, you’ve got to accept a person or place for exactly who or what it is, and Los Angeles–you certainly are pretty. Everyone was so pretty, in fact, that I wondered if the hotel hired True Blood physique-worthy people to lounge next to their pool to make it look good. Let’s not forget, Tara Stiles –our teacher for the event–is a Ford model. Very apropos. That said, Tara is a good midwestern girl who now resides in New York City with her studio, Strala.  Any midwesterner is a friend of mine, and upon meeting Tara in person, I was very pleased to feel her instant geniune warmth, love and goofiness. A true down-to-earth girl. We strolled gracefully (okay, I lugged my Manduka) past the pool, took off our sunglasses and decided whether we wanted sun or shade.  The group of roughly 30 people placed their mats, applied sun block, and the practice began. Tara led us through a well-rounded hour class with sun salutes, lunges, gentle twists, standing poses and time for inversions, backbends and some good hip loving. The initially too-hot sun felt amazing as we opened our hearts to a refreshing rooftop breeze to balance out the heat.   The facade of this event was tres LA, but the heart of the event was pure yoga. There is nothing more powerful than a group of people uniting to breathe with intention, to soak up the sun and learn how to light up from within. The irony is that the New York version of the solstice celebration of light was rained out. One big OM and a round of salutations was all they squeezed in before the show was shut down due to lightening. My intital reaction was sympathy for how frustrating that must have been. Then I laughed. Here I was, comparing Angeles to New York all day long.   Green tea verses black coffee.  A hip West Hollywood pool verses the vast green of Central Park. Sunglasses verses reading glasses. US magazine verses The New Yorker. Sun verses rain. What have I learned? Balance. We are all connected. Rain or shine, we are all yogis unified, coming together to show the world that yoga has the power to heal and change the world. Anyone can do yoga–in the park, at a pool, or even from a computer at home. All it takes is the will and intention to do so, and let me just say–10,000 yogis–that’s a pretty sight. Kathryn Budig is a Los Angeles yoga teacher and writer. Kathryn is an arm balance rockstar who teaches challenging vinyasa flow classes at Yoga Works.

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SoCal Solstice Celebration

One of the world’s largest yoga classes proved also to be one of the shortest. An estimated 10,000 people showed up for yoga in Central Park on Tuesday only to find–mid Surya Namaskar–that lightning and rain would cut the solstice celebration short. Legendary yoga teacher Elena Bower lead the mass of yogis. Participants on the scene say even the rain and thunder could not dampen their moods or destroy their inner peace. One of the greatest things about yoga–and New York City–is its ability to unite young and old, and people from all parts of the city proudly waited in long lines for a chance at this great coming together of community in the park. As they waited, they did what yogis often do: yoga. In the end, the day will be remembered as yet another lesson in willful intention with non-concern for results. Aerial image by Geoffrey Goodridge / Michael O’Neill Photos by J oe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan

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The Faces of Yoga in Central Park

Lucien and I made a trip to the naturopath a couple of weeks ago. Being in a doctor’s office for two hours with a two year old was quite a challenge, but it was worth it. (At my urging, Neil went a few days later.) Within days we’d each changed our diet pretty dramatically (no dairy for Lucien, no sugar for Neil, a liquid iron supplement for me, and much more protein for all of us) and added a regimen of pro-biotics, protein smoothies, and the like to our run of the mill multi-vitamins. We felt better almost immediately. In addition to the dietary changes and supplements, the naturopath (Kristen Brown at the Crossroads Center in Vancouver) suggested that one of the reasons we kept getting sick, as I described a couple of weeks ago, might be that we were all doing too much. Neil needed more sleep, she said. And my system seemed depleted from a three year period that included an IVF cycle, a pregnancy and c section, and two plus years of breastfeeding–all while writing a book, teaching classes, and providing most of Lucien’s daytime childcare. Not to mention moving to a new country. (Although props to Canada for making it possible for us to afford to see the naturopath; the visits will be reimbursed by our health insurance at an incredible 80%.) Was my body trying to tell me something?  Have I been doing too much?  Have we all been? On the drive home, I thought of the David Sedaris essay “On the Kookaburra” where he discusses the idea of the four burners. Think of your life as being like a stove top, says one of the people he encounters on a trip to Australia, where each burner represents a key component: family, friends, health, and work. In order to be successful, the theory goes, you need to turn one of the burners off, and in order to be really successful, you can only have two burners on. Trying to do too much means you’ll suffer in all areas.   The word success is an interesting one. To the yogi, success can, of course, mean fulfillment and inner peace, as much as worldly accomplishment. Either way, I think there’s something to this theory and I’m having a hard time deciding which one–or two–of the burners I’m willing to turn off, even temporarily. Do we all need to readjust our stove tops? Do I? And how to go about making the choice of which burners to turn off, even for a time?  Or is it better–more yogic–to keep all the burners on a moderate flame?   Which burners do you have on high?  Which are you willing to shut off?  And does anyone know where I can get a seriously discounted Viking range with six burners, which would solve the problem completely? Jessica Berger Gross is the author of enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer (Skyhorse), she lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and two-year-old son.  

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The Four Burners

New York Yogis are truly the toughest, most dedicated yogis around. Thousands of mats covered the streets in Times Square and shut down the city center in order to salute the sun  and share a concrete-penetrating AUM! Check it out: Images courtesy of Lem Lattimer.

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Solstice Celebration!

Hundreds of fellow yogis celebrated the Solstice in Times Square , and Yoga Journal was on the scene. Dana Flynn from Laughing Lotus and Alanna Kaivalya taught to hundreds of eager yogis in the heart of the city that never sleeps. If one can yoga here, one can yoga anywhere. Here’s a preview of some blissful yogis…stay tuned for more updates in the coming days. Did you go to this event? Share your thoughts below and post your images to our Facebook page.

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Solstice Yoga in Times Square

I love yoga because of its solitary nature. An early morning coffee, my lovely man and dog still in bed, me shuffling to the living room in pajama pants and a t-shirt. Darkness in winter, green grass and blue lake in front of me in summer. This is good, good, good. The other side of this is that I often have elaborate get-togethers during my practice. This morning was like this. My daughter is in China. I miss her beautiful face. So, during Warrior II, I reach my fingertips forward and back and imagine my arms growing, circling the world until I can hold her face with both hands. In seated forward bends, I think of one of my best friends, Riesa, who lives on the other side of the country. She taught me some of my favorite forward bends ten years ago. I miss her voice today. My mom shows up when I’m trying to open my hips. I suspect we’d both love to be more flexible with each other. And at the end of my practice, when the time comes to offer the fruits of practice to someone who might benefit (we do this in class, sometimes), I send my love and thanks to Nancy, a theater friend who passed away recently. She was still here when I came back to yoga 8 or 9 months ago. I got into the habit of sending her strength and courage and just kept on after she passed away. My hope is she’s out there somewhere, happy to receive the love. Who knew home practice could be such a gathering place? It also makes me wonder who you’re with when you practice.  I’d love to hear. Thanks to yoga for uniting us all, and thanks to you for the conversation. Kristin Shepherd practices yoga, theatre, public speaking, writing, and chiropractic in North Bay, Ontario. Contact her at kristinshepherd.ca and at Dr. Kristin Shepherd on Facebook.

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Union

I can do a handstand! I’m 48 and I’ve never said that before. We learned in class the other day. Rob said to try it if you’re ready, and I thought, no way, that’s not going to happen for me.  Like playing in the NBA, like leaping from the Eiffel Tower and landing on two feet, like flying to Mars. That’s where handstands belonged for me. Then. We discuss. We prepare. We approach. We inhale one foot up, and exhale the other up.  Okay, I have to fling mine up.) First try, no go. Which is understandable because it’s about 75 miles from the floor to the wall when you’re upside down. Second try, same thing. Third try, same thing. Then Rob comes over to help. Just slightly, by showing my feet where the wall is. “Look at a point on the floor between your hands this time,” he says. And on my fifth try, I fly to Mars. I swear to God, that’s what it feels like. And yes, my ribs are half way across the room, and yes, I need to reach with my heels. I need to do about 300 things to improve my form, but I DID IT!!!!!! The NBA, the Eiffel Tower. A handstand. I read somewhere in Yoga Journal that a Handstand can change your life–they’re right! It has.  I feel invincible. Have you tried? Do you hope to? Is this old hat for you? Do you love it? Tell me, please. Thanks to handstand for changing my life, and thanks to you for the conversation. Kristin Shepherd lives in North Bay, Ontario.  She is a chiropractor, workshop facilitator, actor, writer, and parent of two grown children and a perpetually infantile dog.  Check her out at kristinshepherd.ca or on Facebook at Dr. Kristin Shepherd.

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I am Invincible

I used to think asana practice required a yoga mat, sweats-or maybe even “yoga clothes”-a quiet indoor space, and time. (Lots of it.) Lately, Lucien has been teaching me that none of these are necessary. Thanks to my two year old, I’m starting to realize-after more than ten years of consistent practice-that yoga can be practiced in spurts, a pose here and a pose there.  Yesterday we were in the backyard gathering vegetables from our garden for dinner. I noticed that both Lucien and I were in Malasana pose as we clipped and gathered the kale and spinach. Later that evening during Lucien’s bath, my husband Neil and I were amazed to see Lucien sitting in Virasana for twenty minutes straight while he played with his rubber duck and wooden boat.  This morning, when Neil and Lucien came to wake me up, Lucien put one hand on a laundry hamper temporarily stashed in the bedroom, and stretched the opposite side leg onto the bed, inadvertently coming into a beautiful Utthita Hasta Padangustasana. (He’s a natural.)  I’ve decided to take a lesson from Lucien and add a pose here or there into my daily activities-a shoulder stretch while I’m at my desk working, a triangle pose while hanging out with Lucien in the kitchen. The other day Lucien skipped his nap-a bummer for me since I’d been going all day. He wasn’t sleepy, but I needed a break. While Lucien played on the floor in the living room with his trains, I laid down next to him in a bare-bones Savasana.  It was just a minute or two or three, and I was in my jeans, but you know what? It was bliss. What poses do you mix into your day?  What has your child taught you about yoga lately? Jessica Berger Gross is the author of enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer (Skyhorse), she lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and two-year-old son.

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Malasana in the Garden

My husband Neil–an exceptionally dedicated father, and an equally dedicated workaholic–goes to yoga class on Sunday mornings. This is a miracle ten years in the making. While Neil has always loved the feeling of stretching himself out in an asana class, finding the time in his busy schedule has been a struggle. The only time he attended class faithfully was years ago when I was teaching yoga in the evenings down the road from the college where he was a professor. For a long time after that, Neil would take a class here and there, or very occasionally practice at home, but he never managed to build in a regular practice. Neil, a sociologist, loves his work, and he works very hard. He also puts in a lot of time with Lucien. Unlike me, he never takes the occasional Saturday afternoon to meet a friend, go on a bike ride, or read in the hammock for an hour–on the weekends he’s either hanging out with the family, doing errands for us, or working. With little-to-no personal downtime, I knew how much yoga could help him. The physical benefits of asana practice would be a perfect antidote to his hours at the computer, and the peace of resting in Savasana at the end of class might be the only complete relaxation he’d have all week. But there’s no forcing someone into a yoga practice. Sure, Neil wanted to find time for yoga class, but he wanted to be with Lucien and me and work more. Much more. Every so often, though, I’d bring up the topic. “Wouldn’t you like to…?” I’d ask him, suggesting an evening level 1/2 class offered by my teacher.  But I didn’t push–not too hard, anyway. On his own, after some trial and error, Neil finally found a class that works for him. It’s a Sunday morning “men’s class” at my Iyengar center. At first we worried about losing our Sunday morning family time–the one morning of the week we all have together, since I often take Saturday mornings to catch up on my writing and on the laundry.  We needn’t have worried.  “Daddy doing yoga,” as Lucien calls it when Neil heads to class, has had an entirely positive effect on our family. And Neil doesn’t need to be convinced to go, either! While he hasn’t made it to class every Sunday morning (see my previous posts on how sick we’ve been!), he has gone most mornings since signing up. Lucien and I use the time to host a play date in the backyard, or just to be together. Neil comes home by noon–rejuvenated, rested, relaxed and ready for the week. Jessica Berger Gross is the author of enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer (Skyhorse), she lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and two-year-old son.

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Daddy Does Yoga