Humor on Christian Yoga

At last a humorous take on Christian yoga. BC native Shannon Rupp in the independent daily newspaper, The Tyee, skewers Quesnel area woman's objections to yoga in classrooms--because, the woman says, yoga is the work of the devil. Natch.

Here's an excerpt:
"Cummings also complains that yoga in the classroom is the same as prayer in the classroom, and again she's not wrong. You frequently hear prayers of the "oh-god-oh-god-oh-god" variety, especially in beginner yoga classes. An occasional "Jesus!" isn't unusual."

Read, "Me, A Yoga Devil?" at http://thetyee.ca/Life/2007/01/17/Yoga/

(And scroll down to follow the amazing, convoluted commentary that follows the story!)

NPR looks at the Business of Yoga

From NPR's Web site:
"Talk of the Nation, December 26, 2006 · Guests explore yoga's path from the margins to the mainstream, and its transformation along the way from spiritual meditation to a mass-marketed workout.

Guests:
Hanna Rosin, staff writer for The Washington Post and author of "Striking a Pose," an article in Harper's magazine that examines yoga's potency as both exercise and market force.

Robert Love, contributing editor at the Columbia Journalism Review. Love's recent article "Fear of Yoga" traces yoga's origins in the United States and its rocky rise to popularity.

Miriam Nelson director of the John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition"

Listen HERE http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6681341

Get a PhD in Yoga?

India-trained professionals in ayurveda and yoga are looking for work. Follow this link. In India you can get a doctoral degree in yoga (SVYASA, Bangalore is one place offering this) or a masters in applied yoga science at Bihar Yoga Bharati, Munger, Bihar and at other universities, too, probably.

What do they teach yoga PhD students? Sanskrit, anatomy, physiology, sutras? Like our typical one-month training spread out over 4 years? Or something completely different?

Will Americans be tempted to go to Pune, Lucknow, and Mysore, not just to improve their bodies and breathing, but to get advanced degrees in yoga?

Food for thought.

Don't Sit Up Straight

More info on cultivating an aligned back. From the NYTimes.

"The Claim: Sitting Up Straight is Best for Your Back"
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR

"Thirty years ago, scientists first showed this [that sitting up straight was bad for your back] by inserting needles into the backs of volunteers and measuring the amount of pressure created by various seating positions. They found that a reclining position was ideal, placing the least strain on the back and minimizing pressure that could lead to back problems. Since then, multiple studies have confirmed that finding."

Read the whole thing here.

Yoga for...

On Thursday, my article on "Yoga for Everything" appeared in Time Out New York (mysteriously titled "Goal Mate" by TONY).

On Friday, The New York Times ran this story, "Days of Wine and Yoga", about a yoga and wine workshop that's touring major US cities.

Hmmmmm, seems as journalists we're cementing a trend. (See what happened to the entrepreneur after she appeared in the Times.)

According to the Times, Yahoo.com is starting an entire "Yoga + " series that will pair yoga workshops with other kinds of learning and "indulgences." Yoga for chocolate is one.

I've watched some reactions to my little article. Yoga for dating raises eyebrows, but is by far the most talked about entry. Some people get indignant, some laugh, some are curious. The more sensible pairings, like yoga for running, or yoga for singers (after all, yoga tones the muscles of respiration and calms performance jitters) doesn't ruffle any feathers.

But what does yoga have to do with chocolate? Or wine?

I can see having a drink after a yoga class: when Go Yoga was still located in the Mini Mall, I used to enjoy stopping in at Uva Wines to taste the night's samplings.

But the Times shows yogis on their mats sipping wine. Mais, pourquoi? What benefit could there be from learning about wine in your gym clothes? (And possibly spilling it on the studio floor.) Is this a product of literal thinking or great marketing?

I think the answer is this: lifestyle.

Ahhh the fresh scent of the wave of the future.

Fear of Yoga

Robert Love, faculty at Columbia's school of journalism, and former editor-in-chief of Rolling Stone, writes at length about the history of yoga as it's appeared in the American press since 1909. After an exhaustive and entertaining review of personalities, movements, and attitudes, Love concludes that yoga is a marketer's dream, a flourishing and trend-proof recreation (vocation?) that can sell anything and everything.

Read more in "Fear of Yoga" at the Columbia Journalism Review web site.