Inappropriate Yoga Guy issue

I'm thrilled to see my article in the NYTimes Thursday Styles section today! Read it here.

"THE words “Do you come here often?” are not sweet nothings when you are going into final relaxation during a yoga class. Nor do most yoga practitioners welcome someone who flirts shamelessly as mats are positioned during the lull before the teacher arrives.

Now, a popular online video starring a lech named Ogden has the yoga community chuckling in recognition and talking about the problem of men who come to studios in search of phone numbers rather than enlightenment.

The comedy sketch, aptly named “Inappropriate Yoga Guy,” has racked up nearly 1.8 million views since its debut on YouTube in June... keep reading.

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Don't Litigate--Meditate?

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After San Francisco lawyer, Mark Webb's, successful "total yoga makeover" in which he lost 30 pounds and regained mental clarity, sponsored by (and profiled in) Yoga Journal, he is organizing a yoga course for the legal world. His mission statement says [all caps his!], "WE HAVE GATHERED SEVERAL OF THE FINEST YOGA INSTRUCTORS IN SAN FRANCISCO, WHO ARE DESIGNING A COURSE TAILORED FOR LAWYERS, LAW STUDENTS, & LEGAL SUPPORT STAFF, TO BE GIVEN IN MID-JULY 2007. JUDGES ARE ALSO WELCOME."

Bravo, Mark (but what's the deal with judges?) (and the capital letters?) and long live Yoga Lawyers.com. May we all have a less litigious world.

Arnie Herz of the blog Legal Sanity seconds the motion. Herz has also written about the benefits to the legal profession of yoga and meditation.

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Japanese Yoga

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Combining principles from Japanese and Indian culture, Japanese Yoga promises to deliver a double-whammy of oriental peace.

The publisher's Web site says: "Emphasizing gentle stretching and meditation exercises, the ultimate goal of Japanese yoga (Shin-shin-toitsu-do) is enhanced mind/body integration, calmness, and willpower for a healthier and fuller life. Developed by Nakamura Tempu Sensei in the early 1900s from Indian Raja yoga, Japanese martial arts and meditation practices, as well as Western medicine and psychotherapy, Japanese yoga offers a new approach to experienced yoga students and a natural methodology that newcomers will find easy to learn."

Fusion is forever.

Copyrighting Yoga Poses--an ABCD perspective

On May 7, 2007, writer SUKETU MEHTA wrote in the New York Times with a rare Indian perspective on the yoga craze, particularly the craze to copyright poses or sequences of poses instigated by yoga bad boy Bikram Choudury. Choudury has lived in the US since the 70s, and according to one Indian friend of mine, is a classic south-asian businessman.

Mehta says,"I GREW up watching my father stand on his head every morning. He was doing sirsasana, a yoga pose that accounts for his youthful looks well into his 60s. Now he might have to pay a royalty to an American patent holder if he teaches the secrets of his good health to others. The United States government has issued 150 yoga-related copyrights, 134 patents on yoga accessories and 2,315 yoga trademarks. There’s big money in those pretzel twists and contortions — $3 billion a year in America alone.

"It’s a mystery to most Indians that anybody can make that much money from the teaching of a knowledge that is not supposed to be bought or sold like sausages. Should an Indian, in retaliation, patent the Heimlich maneuver, so that he can collect every time a waiter saves a customer from choking on a fishbone?"

Read the whole story on the New York Times site: "A Big Stretch."

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Rodney Yee Makes Page Six

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The New York Post's gossip column, Page Six, rats on Rodney Yee's July 4th class in the Hamptons, which was held outside without a permit.

"July 4, 2007 -- HAMPTONITES looking to Zen-out with yoga master Rodney Yee before the holiday crush got a rude awakening yesterday. The Post's Thomas Hinton reports too many people showed up for Yee's class in his Sag Harbor studio, so he and his modelicious wife, Colleen, decided to teach a larger class in the Marine Park by the harbor. But the Yees didn't realize they needed a permit. As the class started, cops descended and threatened to arrest the couple, but were talked down and the group was allowed to disband without a violation being issued."

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Yoga and Wine Vacations Rear Their Heads

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As reported unironically in the Chicago Tribune.

"The yoga package is priced at $2,590, including accommodations, all meals, all activities and transfers to and from Rome. Trans-Atlantic airfare is additional. The tour is offered by Tuscan Way, known for its Tuscan cooking vacations. (800-766-2390; www.tuscanway.com)"

Michael Moore to Try Yoga Next

According to an interview on the Chicago Tribune blog, Michael Moore is trying to loose weight and get in shape. Yoga is next.

"Q: You are so ready for yoga.

"A: I’m telling you, that’s my next step. I’ve been putting it off because you have to get down on the ground, but they say you can start practicing in your chair."

Moore says he weighs between 300 and 305 pounds.

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Yoga: The Musical

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SB Dance, out of Salt Lake City, presented "Yoga the Musical" in June.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported, "It's kind of like 'Romeo and Juliet' meets 'Star Wars,' " said Stephen Brown, the company's namesake and founder. "It's about a boy and girl and a yoga mat, and they're caught in the middle of battling gurus."

"...the story, set in "YogAngeles," follows Frankie, played by Paul Mulder, who is running a yoga black market and still in love with his ex-wife, Sheila (Kim Lynn), who is now on the side of "good" yoga. The two are caught in the middle of an evil corporate plan to commercialize yoga, while gurus Danny (James Dale), and Jackti (Natosha Washington), fight for the right to practice "good" yoga."

"..."Musicals are so American," Brown said. " 'Yoga the Musical,' you know, is a bit of a joke. What does yoga have to do with a musical? But, you know, we poke fun at how yoga is sold today, and really [the story] is about America's ability to absorb anything."

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Vanity Fair does Yoga Justice

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Early May 2007 Vanity Fair posted this exceptional photo-essay of contemporary yogis and yoginis. It is the first time in recent memory that a mainstream publication has commented intelligently on our obsession with yoga as well as explored where it came from. Of course it's also glitzy and glamour-oriented, with a cast of usual characters - Christy Turlington, Sharon Gannon, David Life, etc - but it's also pretty great, with some lesser-known teachers like Kundalini's Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, teacher's teacher Dharma Mittra, plus Indian luminaries, BKS Iyengar, Sri Pattahbi Jois, and TKV Desikachar.Check out the entire slide show here and buy the issue of Vanity Fair to see the other remarkable images.

Mike Myers Kicked Out of Yoga Class

Canadian comedian Mike Myers was kicked out of yoga for laughing at a neighboring yogi's farts.... it's true.... as reported on contactmusic.com"SHREK star MIKE MYERS was kicked out of his favourite Los Angeles yoga class because he couldn't contain himself when a mat neighbour kept farting. The funnyman admits he couldn't concentrate and everytime his gassy pal let rip, he started giggling. The comic explains, "This guy kept farting and I am not very mature... I'm the youngest of three boys and if somebody farts, it's funny. "They were like, 'We're not here to laugh..' but then he did it a second time, louder, and did it a third time and it sounded like a machine gun and I could not stop laughing." Myers was floored when the farter then turned to him and said, "I had a bad Chinese."26/05/2007 15:00"