In our Yoga Blog we will report on yoga news, trends and happenings throughout the world.
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Caregivers for Alzheimer’s patients
typically experience greater levels of loneliness, exhaustion,
stress, and depression. A new
study from the University of California, Los Angeles, finds that
just 12 minutes of daily yoga practice (Kirtan Kriya meditation) over
eight weeks appears to improve mental health and telomerase activity,
a marker of cellular aging, among family dementia caregivers.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012 by Tosca Braun
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Ashtanga Yoga Branding Stirs Controversy
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Ashtanga Yoga, founded by the late and
esteemed Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois, affectionately called Guruji by his students, is famed for its intensity and
rigidity. A
simmering conflict between an affluent sponsor of Jois’s acclaimed
legacy, his successor and grandson Sharath, and longstanding Ashtanga teachers has
the community tied in some knots.
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In an inspiring
illustration of the power that one selfless act has to change the
world, one woman’s African vacation started a chain of events that
is changing the lives of schoolchildren, incarcerated
women, orphans, women
entrepreneurs, and others living in poverty in Kenya. In 2006, former
NYC yoga teacher, Paige Elenson, was on safari with her family when
she saw a group of kids doing handstands from her vehicle. She hopped
out of the car and joined in with her yoga practice. This simple act
of being playful and present in the moment eventually led to the
creation of the Africa
Yoga Project, whose
mission is “to
use the transformative benefits of yoga to empower vulnerable
communities in Kenya.”
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New York Times journalist William
Broad’s contentious claim that the origins of tantric hatha yoga
reside in “medieval sex cults” was crucial to set the frame for
his subsequent and inaccurate equation
of yoga with sex. This was explicitly rendered in
his assertion that yoga practice is responsible for the recent sexual
misconduct of Anusara founder John Friend and other philandering yoga
gurus. In a further misstep intended to provide credibility to his
questionable thesis, Broad provides little more than old and obscure research that allegedly shows yoga to increase sexual desire.
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No good scandal comes without important
lessons for those affected by it. In this case, the matter of
integrity takes center stage—the integrity of a leader, his senior
teachers, and the broader yoga community of which we are all a part.
The recent, very public outing of the questionable behavior and
business practices of Anusara Yoga’s charismatic leader, John
Friend is a gold mine of juicy lessons, timely reminders, and issues
that the yoga community should be discussing. With
the implosion
of one of the most profitable yoga empires ever, we are left with
the question, at what point are we required to admit our mistakes and
take responsibility?
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Saturday, February 11, 2012 by Amber Baker
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Anusara Yoga Sex Scandal Confirmed
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The stage has been set for the perfect storm: the charismatic leader, the devoted followers, the extensive trainings that require significant monetary investments to earn the right to claim your affiliation. The yoga community is once again abuzz with rumors, accusations, and worry over the integrity of a beloved guru.
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Thursday, February 09, 2012 by Amber Baker
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Should Yoga Help You Lose Weight Too?
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If you buy into some of the marketing
out there, it may seem that the purpose of yoga is to get thin and
flexible enough that you can contort your body in odd ways while
wearing little clothing and still look good. Certain brands even like
to claim that yoga is a cardio exercise and will help you lose
weight, essentially promising that you too can be that thin and look
good in spandex, if only you try. If you actually practice yoga,
hopefully you realize that is far from the point. As fun as it may be
to think that yoga can fix just about anything, do we really need it
to?
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Midterms,
finals, SATs: Most of us undergo examinations at some point in our
lives, along with the requisite increases in stress. Stress has the
unfortunate side effect of weakening the immune system, as many
sniffling students can attest. A recent study found a 12-week yoga
intervention to protect against the impairment of cellular immunity
and autonomic nervous
system changes
caused by examination stress.
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“Brain Wave Vibration Training” (BWV): It sounds like something from a science fiction novel. But BWV is part of the controversial Dahn Hak system, and refers to a practice comprised of flowing, meditative movements of the head, neck, and body. A recent study comparing BWV to mindfulness meditation training and Iyengar yoga found BWV to uniquely improve depression and reduce the amount of time it takes to fall asleep after lights have been turned off (sleep latency).
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Monday, January 30, 2012 by Amber Baker
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Meditation Shown to Help ADHD
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Recent research offers evidence that meditation may be more effective than medicine in treating ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Dr. Sarina Grosswald, a cognitive learning expert and pioneer in this research, explains that medications, such as Ritalin or Adderall, only temporarily suppress ADHD symptoms while in the bloodstream; yet, a regular meditation practice not only relieves symptoms, it can actually help address the underlying problem, a lack of neural integration. |
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012 by Amber Baker
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Could Yoga Help You Get A Job?
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Mental flexibility, patience, adaptability, and the ability to handle stress are often cited benefits of yoga and meditation. These are also some of the same skills many employers look for and hope to cultivate in their employees. People who have or are able to develop these practices may be seen as an asset to employers for these reasons, and they may even cost less to employ. Ohio State University researcher Maryanna Klatt led a pilot study which found that six weeks of guided workplace meditation and yoga can lower feelings of stress by more than 10%. She believes these findings are also significant in understanding and improving the way people handle stress in the workplace. “If they can’t change the external events in their life, they can instead change the way they view the stress, which can make a difference in how they experience their day-to-day life,” Klatt notes.
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Thursday, January 19, 2012 by Tosca Braun
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Is Spiritual Yoga Better for You?
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According to a recent study, Kripalu yoga that incorporates spiritual and ethical guidelines (integrative yoga) may be more effective at decreasing anxiety-related symptoms than yoga taught without these principles (exercise-based yoga). Integrative yoga also appears more effective at reducing levels of the hormone salivary cortisol, which is an indicator of stress. This is the first study indicating that yoga practiced in its original context may provide additional benefits over yoga that is divorced of its spiritual origins.
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Monday, January 16, 2012 by Tosca Braun
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Is Intellect an Obstacle in Yoga?
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A recent blog by Bhakti yoga experts Ed and Deb Shapiro contends that over-emphasis on the intellect in Western cultures inhibits spiritual growth. The Bhakti yoga tradition espouses the importance of love and devotion to the Divine through chant, prayer, storytelling, and meditation.
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