In our Yoga Blog we will report on yoga news, trends and happenings throughout the world.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012 by Amber Baker
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Not Your Typical Rave
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Forget everything you think you know about raves—unless you
think of them as a conscious gathering of like-minded folks striving for
enlightenment. The new raves are drug, alcohol, and smoke-free yoga-oriented
dance parties, and they are gaining popularity as an alternative to traditional
nightclubs.
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Friday, May 18, 2012 by Tosca Braun
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Has Yoga "Lost Its Soul?"
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A
recent op ed in Forbes Magazine gives voice to several differing perspectives
on the topic of the evolving “soul” of western yoga. Centered in an ideologically
diverse culture that shares the primacy of physical appearance, it is more
homogenous (asana-centric) than the multi-faceted, rich tradition of yoga as
practiced in its motherland. Yet practitioners here are more heterogenous, and
yoga means something different to every person (sparking routine protests from
Hindu advocacy groups).
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Tuesday, May 15, 2012 by Kristin Andrews
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The Unlikely Yogi
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I'm not exactly your typical yogi. When I’m stressed out and
need to blow off steam, I grab a bottle of wine and a pack of cigarettes. I’ve
tried a few yoga classes over the years—any exercise involving a ten minute nap
at the end is my idea of a good workout session. But I’m the one in the class
who likely ate a cold piece of pizza for breakfast. It’s probably fair to say
that I’m an unlikely yogi. Basically I’m the Bridget Jones of the yoga world, and this is my diary.
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Monday, May 07, 2012 by Kristin Andrews
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Untangling the Drama at Diamond Mountain
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Geshe Michael Roach, spiritual director of Diamond Mountain University and Retreat Center, has broken his silence regarding the death of Diamond Mountain University student Ian Thorson. The incidents of which read like a Hollywood thriller--a three year spiritual retreat in the desert and a married couple dealing with issues of alleged domestic abuse said to be fueled by spiritual influence. Both are asked to leave the retreat grounds, their whereabouts are unknown for two months until an emergency phone call is made from a cave in the middle of the desert.
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Remember how it felt to be a
teenager—the hormonal fluctuations you didn’t understand, the
social pressure from peers, teachers, and family members, your
looming emergence into adulthood and the ultimate responsibility of
yourself? Whether you were the type to act out or to tow the line,
these years are often hard in a way that we can only recognize in
retrospect. Imagine if someone pulled you aside during this time and
taught you to meditate. In Brooklyn, a unique partnership is doing just that. |
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Tuesday, May 01, 2012 by Tosca Braun
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Yoga and Fashion: Common Ground?
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A recent article by yoga instructor and
fashionista Meghan Blalock sets out to establish the “shared
truths of fashion and yoga.” She argues that
“contrary to appearances, the two enterprises share a core truth:
they are vehicles by which one can both discover one’s core self
and endlessly re-shape one’s identity.” Blalock then describes
preparing to take a 5:30am hot yoga class during her teacher
training, for which she found the most crucial aspect of preparation
not adequate sleep, sustenance, or hydration, but finding the
“perfect outfit;” something that “helped [her] feel fierce,
strong, nearly invincible.”
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Sunday, April 22, 2012 by Amber Baker
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Oprah Interviews Ram Dass
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Listen to spiritual icon Ram Dass as he shares stories from life, talks about his new book, and continues inspiring people to live to their full potential. The author of the popular book Be Here Now will discuss his own spiritual journey, from working with Timothy Leary at Harvard to meeting his guru, Neem Karoli Baba. The special three-hour interview with Oprah Winfrey will include a full showing of Fierce Grace, the documentary that illustrates how his faith helped him recover from a massive stroke.
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According to a pilot study by Jessica
Noggle and colleagues at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard
Medical School, yoga
classes have positive psychological effects for high school students.
Given that mental illnesses often begin to develop in the teenage years, “yoga
may serve a preventive role in adolescent mental health,” shares
lead author Jessica Noggle, PhD.
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Muhammad Rashid, a prominent Muslim
community activist in Queens, has stirred
controversy in Muslim communities by publicly
extolling the benefits of yoga. Many of the immigrants in Jackson
Heights, Queens are first-generation immigrants who consider yoga to
be a Hindu (and forbidden) practice. Yet a fatwa issued by a council
of Malaysian Muslim clerics four years ago which sought to forbid
yoga on the basis of Islamic law was forced to amend the edict to
allow “yoga as exercise” and prohibit only the use of Sanskrit
and chanting, following
demand by the Sultan of Malaysia and popular outcry.
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A recent Hindu endorsement of Colorado
elementary schools’ inclusion
of yoga into elementary schools has raised questions
about yoga’s alleged status as a secular practice. Rajan Zed,
President of the Universal Society of Hinduism, urges “all
elementary-middle-high schools of the nation to incorporate yoga in
the lives of the students.” Colorado's inclusion of yoga into elementary schools vis a vis
“yoga themed recesses” and “brain breaks” is being
spearheaded by The Wellness Initiative, which offers yoga
classes for students and has partnered with 34 schools and
institutions in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, and
Jefferson counties. While Colorado may be the first state to
systematically offer yoga classes in multiple elementary school
settings, other states and programs have quietly been making
in-roads.
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Monday, April 09, 2012 by Tosca Braun
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It's Getting Hot In Here
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If there were a metaphor for the
driven, hectic pace of urban life in the twentieth-century it well
may be heat, produced by the friction of ever-increasing intensity,
mounting to-do lists, and competition that can characterize and
accompany “success” in these environs. Little wonder, then, that
hot exercise, including yoga, has taken urban regions NYC and LA by a
storm. A
recent NY Times piece cites a number of increasingly
hot upscale fitness classes formed to satisfy obsessive devotees who
prefer to exercise in sweltering temperatures. Why, pray tell?
Beliefs about the alleged detoxification of heavy sweating, increased
challenge and accompanied caloric expenditure of heat-based exercise,
and the appeal of heat melting muscular tension are all popular
draws.
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Friday, April 06, 2012 by Tosca Braun
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NYC To Tax Yoga Studios?
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New York yoga studios breathed a
collective
sigh of relief in 2010 when the “Yoga Bill” was passed,
which exempts yoga (including teacher training programs) and martial
arts studios from state educational certification requirements. But
they’re gearing
up for another battle, as the state has recently
audited them under the premise that they should be subject to same
kind of tax (4.5%) as fitness studios.
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While there are many excellent male
yogis in the US, a large portion of our society still views asana
as an activity mostly practiced by women. Thankfully, the imposition
of this gender-bias on yoga is breaking
down in many sectors of our culture, perhaps
most notably in the highly male-dominated armed forces. As the
therapeutic use of yoga has slowly gained acceptance from the
military over the past several years, it has repeatedly been shown
to help both active soldiers and veterans deal with the affects and
stresses of their profession.
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The smallest victories are often the
most profound—like learning to walk or blowing out your first
birthday candle all on your own. Accomplishments like these can
change a person’s entire outlook on life, yet many of us let
moments like these slip by without even noticing. We would notice if
they didn’t happen, as their absence would change the direction of
our lives. For children with special needs it may take years of
concerted effort to achieve these goals, so you can bet the moment
doesn’t go unnoticed. Thanks to a growing number of yoga teachers
dedicated to working with people who have special needs, more
and more of these moments being celebrated.
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