To ease tension and stress while taking public transit, some Israelis get yoga instruction on board.http://media.www.dailycollegian.com/media/storage/paper874/news/2007/02/22/News/Israeli.Travelers.Learn.Yoga.During.Bus.Ride-2735091.shtml
Yoga Adapts to American Culture
Sigh. It's unstoppable. "J. Crew and Puma now offer yoga accessories and Nike has a yoga shoe called the Kembali. There is yoga perfume and jewelry by the truckload online, and now, there is even yoga skydiving. America has effectively Big Mac-ed yoga, only, unlike the Maharaja Mac, American yoga offers enlightenment instead of high blood pressure."From UC Davis campus paper.
http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/media/storage/paper981/news/2007/02/23/Features/Yoga-The.New.American.Pastime-2739338.shtml
All you had to do was ask...
Yoga is a trend, announces entrepreneur.com. Well, ahem, duh. (Interesting info on how the experts define "trend" though.)
Iraq Vets Outreach includes Yoga
...but not enough, says BlogHer (http://blogher.org/node/15006). Yoga is a great way to work with PTSD, but the Veteran's Administration isn't wholeheartedly behind it yet. Only two classes in the country are specifically designed for returning vets.
In Boston: http://www.socialweb.net/Events/52675.lasso
In Santa Cruz: http://www.vetshall.org/classes.htm
Dudes do Yoga
http://www.readexpress.com/read_freeride/2007/01/fit_boy_meets_mats.php
Evidence that if women are taken out of the scene, and yoga-speak is restricted, men can love yoga, too. In Washington, DC, at least.
I see a lot of men in yoga classes. But I see many, many more women. How to explain this? Because women are more looks-conscious? More spiritual? Because men think yoga is too 'sissy' for them? None of these explanations is very satisfying.
For now, I'm happy to see regular dudes doing backbends.
Watch a video of guys doing yoga, from ABC's 49 News
http://www.49abcnews.com/news/2007/feb/21/yogadance_combination_even_appeals_guys/
Yoga Masters and.... Yoga Pants!
Gary Kraftsow (American Viniyoga) and Shelly Craigo (Himalayan Institute)
Someone gets unhinged
HardTail
HardTail booth
The Yoga Journal Conference NYC 2014
Again from the sublime to the ridiculous...
Workshops with Sarah Powers (Insight Yoga), Bo Forbes (Yoga for Empaths), Richard Freeman (the Art of Vinyasa), and Gary Kraftsow (Tantra Yoga: Meditation, Mantra, Visualization) at this weekend's Yoga Journal Conference NYC definitely left me with a lot to think about.
I was struck by how their teachings--and their mastery-- seemed to come from a place of commitment rather than from a place that was searching for recognition or fame. (And I wondered: where are the up-and-coming Sarah Powers', Bo Forbes', Richard Freemans, and Gary Kraftsows? Are they off incubating somewhere?)
At Bo Forbes, I ran into both the first editor of Yoga Journal, Linda Sparrowe, and one of my editors at the current Yoga Journal, Carmel Wroth.
So we now confirm that editors are long-suffering empaths. Thank you.
Carmel whisked me off to the "townhall meeting" that included LuluLemon folks, yoga activists, and yoga scholars. I have to say, it was pretty tough being an empath in that room: TENSE is the word, as Seane Corn and crew sought to wring out a statement of contrition from LuluLemon. In fact, the "debate" dramatically unbalanced at least one person in the audience who began pacing in front of the panelists as though looking for a fight.
But as Yoga for Empaths had just showed me, just because I was worried, didn't mean I had to take it on... So I got grounded and refocused. And so, next stop?
Well, sometimes a yogini just wants to .... shop.The dazzling array of pants from HardTail at the Yoga Marketplace was worth a photo. A horizon of beautiful pants. I did buy a pair.
New Drink-- Our True Desires
At the opening of Golden Bridge Yoga Center in New York last weekend, and then again at Jivamukti this weekend, I sampled a new super green drink that's coming onto the market, Cellnique. It claims to replenish and renew all 30 trillion cells in my body in just 400 ml.
Advertising (and price) aside (this baby goes for about $5), the drink tastes okay, and feels excellent in the body. It should; it's stuffed with an amazing number of good-for-you ingredients. The list is so long you can hardly read the type, but it includes pea protein, hemp protein, and quinoa, as well as some more expected ingredients like broccoli and spinach. But the exotic far outweighs the domestic here.
What I found really intriguing was the marketing label. It neatly captured what I think we think we're doing when we 1) eat organic 2) practice yoga 3) go to accupuncture or a Chinese doctor 4) go to therapy. It's a kind of 1970s mentality of well-being meeting the lifestyle-consumer mentality of the 2000s. We all have to work now, but we spend our money on health.
Here's the blurb, complete with Cellnique's capitalization and punctuation:"You are beautiful and unique, in every way, all 30 trillion cells... you are Cell-nique (tm)."Our Philosophy--Live Consciously: Most of us don't live on a mountain. We live in this world. We strive to be authentic, caring, compassionate and, most of all, soulful. Our perspective is worldly, informed, provocative, stimulating, sensual and aware. We desire to go deeper, to find meaning and balance while living and succeeding in the material world. We ask questions and find answers, continuing to evolve and emerge into our highest being. We feed ourselves the best nature has to offer, knowing it is the secret to lasting health, ageless beauty and superior performance."
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
Baghdad Yoga
The Army Times reports that Maj. Michele Spencer, a medic in training, recently called to duty in Iraq, is now teaching 3 yoga classes a week in Baghdad.
According to the article, "Six months ago, when the reservist went to the Green Zone in Iraq with the 9th Brigade, 108th Division out of Charlotte, N.C., she decided the class could provide a calming effect for soldiers facing daily battles with stress. She said at least one other yoga instructor teaches at the embassy."
Spencer has an enthusiastic Web site, too, Baghdadyoga.com.
Laughter Yoga NYC
At first laughter yoga seemed confined to California. Okay. We know California is willing to try anything. But I just read about it in Montreal (see photo above, from the Montreal Gazette), and after a bit of searching, found a club in New York.
Here's what the New York site (www.grabbagiraffe.org) says about laughter yoga:
"The unique idea of laughter yoga clubs was discovered on 13th of March 1995 by Dr. Madan Kataria, a physician from Mumbai (India). Any one can laugh for 15-20 minutes without depending upon great sense of humor, jokes or comedy. It combines laughter exercises (simulated laughter) and yoga breathing, which turns into real laughter when practiced in a group."
I still don't know why it's yoga. Why is this yoga?
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.
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.
Better Sex Through Yoga videos
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, "Better Sex Through Yoga" is a video series, created by Jacquie Noelle Greaux. I know it's ridiculous, but don't tell me you're not curious.
Didn't you used to think, vaguely, that yoga had something to do with sex? Back before you actually practiced it, of course. I think that association lingers, especially among men who don't practice. Fantasies of flexible women, you know...
In October 2006, Prevention.com ran an article on how yoga improves sex. Read it here: The Big O in OM. No one's watching.
New DVD: Yoga 4 Fellas with Trev the Yogic Builder: The Only Yoga Teacher who Can Drink Ten Pints.
Ailon Free was a yoga teacher for 20 years before getting into comedy. In this self-produced DVD, his character, Trev, "features yoga down the pub, in the motor, at the footie, with the missus and meditation for builders – each with up to eight poses adapted for everyday situations."
Trev will also help guys to "achieve the perfect builder's bum."
From the Brits, of course: Yoga 4 Fellas with Trev the Yogic Builder.
Bikram Yoga Championships Hit Britain, Olympics Could be Next Stop
The Huffington Post reports that two former British Yoga Champions (this is only for Bikram-style yogis) are lobbying to have yoga officially recognized as a competitive Olympic sport . The last National Championships in the US were held in the summer of 2003, to very mixed reactions. When did yoga become a competitive sport, some asked.
Bikram himself was a champion in India; who knows what other yogis like Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois think of it, but yoga championships continue today, like the World Yoga Competition in New Delhi next week. The competitors are five 15-year old boys and one 14-year old, so don't get excited.
One thing's for sure: in the West, many of us don't accept this version of yoga. The comments on Huffington Post blurb show a familiar mix of lurid skepticism and outraged disbelief. Some hilarious comments, too.
More on the Olympic effort on buzzfeed.
Taking Our Pulse
Hanna Rosin, former Style writer for the Washington Post and a current contributing editor for The Atlantic, takes the pulse of yoga in America in her December 2006 article "Strike a Pose." According to Rosin, the good old days of hard-core yoga--like that practiced by Jivamukti teachers and practitioners--have been superceded by the more mainstream yoga like Power Yoga taught by Baron Baptiste, a pragmatic blend of gym workout and church pep talk.
The article is not available online, but you can read a related interview with Rosin on The Atlantic's site here.
Sweet Irreverence from McSweeneys
The Primary Series of Poses in Yoga for Depressives.
BY CARMEN NOBEL
- - - -
1. Up yours/downward spiral
2. Dead cat/fat cow
3. Sorrier one
4. Sorrier two
5. Unloved child's pose
6. Shrug of futility
7. Goddam farting vegan
8. Crap squat
9. Awkward pause
10. Applying for COBRA
11. The collapsing bridge
12. The pointless Kegels
13. Too fat for that pose
14. Forward flop
15. 12 hours of corpse pose
16. Namaste, or whatever
- - - -