Yoga Insider

Welcome to The Yoga Insider, a monthly publication by Yoga Alliance® compiling the most current news about yoga. Browse the news by category and check out the archived editions to your right.

Edition 8 | January 2015

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Categories

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• Trending
• YA in the News

Business

When mat meets office

• • Huffington Post discusses the benefits of on-site wellness programs to workers and employers alike. Workers are boosting their morale and health while employers are attracting in-demand employees with these programs. New York Times reporter and "Mindful Work" author David Gelles: “One of the most surprising and promising trends in business today is…mindfulness in the workplace.” (January 7)
    
    
  • • Business Insider reports on rising sales at Lululemon child company Ivivva Athletica, an athletic apparel store geared towards 6- to 15-year-old girls. The company’s clothing is “substantially more expensive” than comparable retailers, with yoga pants clocking in at $64. Mirroring a recent issue faced by Lululemon, some Ivivva customers complain of pilling and sheerness in their leggings. (December 15)
    
    
• Multichannel News reports on Gaiam TV Fit & Yoga, Comcast’s newest on-demand offering, with a library of more than 100 fitness programs to stream on TV and the Xfinity TV Go app for $6.99 per month. Gaiam TV Chief Marketing Officer Jaymi Bauer: “Partnering with Comcast…enables us to reach millions of people who might be searching for ways to stay fit and balanced within their own home.” (January 12)

Community

Shining light on inspirational yogis

• CBS Detroit features in a video broadcast downtown Detroit’s newly-opened Citizen Yoga, owned by Kacee Must, E-RYT 200, a yoga practitioner of 20 years who at one point made her home in India for three years. The studio is designed with the working crowd in mind, outfitted with phone charging stations in the lobby and complimentary showers, and caters to all yogis. Must: “In one class we can offer the same attention to a beginner to a person who has been practicing for 20 years.” (January 11)

• CNN features a contributor article by creator of Radius Yoga Conditioning  and yoga trainer for numerous professional athletes Dana Santas, E-RYT 200, explains how yoga supports committing to New Year’s resolutions. Those looking to be happier, sleep better, travel, or even volunteer can make their resolutions stick with yoga. (January 12)
  

• Clarion-Ledger (Miss.) profiles Jacy Miller, RYT 200, who opened Connections Wellness Studio, the first yoga studio in her hometown of Madison. Miller originally found yoga and Pilates as solutions to obesity and fibromyalgia but now sees the two as a lifestyle. (January 14)

• Daily News (Calif.) reports on Healthy Balance, a new Pilates studio also offering yoga classes. Owner Theresa Wood, E-RYT 200, is a local resident of 30 years with “10 years of experience in the fitness industry.” (December 24)

• Huffington Post features Leslie Kazadi, E-RYT 500, a Santa Monica-based yoga teacher, as she shares her 20-minute restorative yoga sequence to help relieve holiday season stress. Kazadi: “Restorative yoga shifts you…into the relaxation response so you can deeply rest and rejuvenate.” (December 18)
  

Culture

Yoga happenings from around the globe

• Atlantic reports on India’s seemingly uphill battle to establish yoga as an Indian practice and why experts say Indian regulation “likely won’t happen.” One way to link yoga to India is through a “geographical indication,” or a formal recognition by a country’s trade office of a location’s importance to a certain item. Experts note, however, that international enforcement would be near impossible and that the many lineages of modern yoga would make it difficult to definitively link modern yoga practice to its Indian origins. (January 12)

• NBC News reports on the death of Hari Simran Khalsa, a 25-year-old Kundalini yoga teacher, who died on Dec. 30 from injuries sustained while hiking alone in central Mexico’s Tepozteco Mountains. Khalsa’s body was recovered from a “deep ravine” and he is reported to have “fallen, hit his head and died instantly.” The “devout Sikh” and his wife Ad Purkh Kaur were in Mexico for a yoga retreat; family, friends and supporters gathered to celebrate Khalsa’s memory across the country. (January 2)
  
  New York Daily News also reports on Khalsa’s death. Khalsa and wife Kaur founded the Raj Yoga Center in Sterling, VA, where they had been living for the past two years. Khalsa’s remains were cremated and a funeral was held for him in Virginia on January 5. (January 3)

• Press-Republican (N.Y.) reports on the inaugural Up North Yoga Conference, hosted by Michelle Maron and Robin Shafer in October in Essex, New York, which drew yogis from the entire region to “breathe, stretch, connect, and grow.” The 60 attendees explored sessions on yoga, philosophy,  Ayurveda and Kundalini yoga led by teachers including Justin Wolfer, E-RYT 200, RYT 500, and Lynda Garrand, RYT 500. (January 11)

• Times of India features an article on Rishikesh, India, a town nestled between the Ganges River and the Himalayas with a culture steeped in yoga. The town became a tourist destination after the Beatles visited in 1968 for a transcendental meditation course. Rishikesh is home to The International Yoga Festival.  (January 11)

   

Education & Children

Helping today's youth prepare for a future of mindfulness

• Juvenile Justice Information Exchange reports on the growing trend of yoga and mindfulness for at-risk youth. David Emerson, E-RYT 200, director of yoga services at a Mass. trauma center and founder of Black Lotus Yoga Project for PTSD patients, works with at-risk teens and finds their improvement consistent with that of other trauma victims he has worked with in the past. (December 18)

• Needham Times (Mass.) reports on Needham High School’s six-week yoga course, part of the school’s mandatory wellness program. Yoga teacher Samantha Martyn and Wellness teacher Timothy Walsh hope to prepare students with relaxation practices to use throughout their lives. Senior John Kelly feels it is a worthwhile “paring with senior year… having yoga at the beginning of the year helps [students] take a break.” (January 8)

• News Virginian (Va.) profiles Ellie Laliberte, a high school teacher who incorporates a seven-minute yoga break into her classes to reinvigorate students midway through class and “relieve the pressure of sitting.” Destiny Dolin, a student of Laliberte’s: “We look forward to it every class.” (December 30)

Health & Research

A mantra a day keeps the aches at bay

• • Reuters reports on yoga’s impact on reducing heart disease risk factors, as reported in a study recently published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology. NYU Langone Medical Center cardiologist Dr. Larry Phillips: “with yoga…there is a benefit to all patients, but especially those with heart disease.” (December 26)

    Forbes covers on the same study, which reviewed 37 previous studies on almost 2,800 participants, who were assigned a regimen of yoga or some other cardiovascular activity, with both groups seeing improvement in heart health markers, including BMI and cholesterol. Study authors: “We believe that these findings have important implications for the acceptance of yoga as an effective therapeutic intervention.” (December 17)
    

Inspiration

Back to the heart of the matter

• Needham Times (Mass.) reports on Needham High School’s six-week yoga course, part of the school’s mandatory wellness program. Yoga teacher Samantha Martyn and Wellness teacher Timothy Walsh hope to prepare students with relaxation practices to use throughout their lives. Senior John Kelly feels it is a worthwhile “paring with senior year… having yoga at the beginning of the year helps [students] take a break.” (January 8)

• Contra Coast Times (Calif.) features an article on San Francisco Bay Area yoga instructor Linda Burkhard and how once she found yoga, meditation and Ayurveda on her road to addiction recovery she was able to find herself again. She plans on sharing her passion for yoga and knowledge of mental health and substance abuse with others seeking recovery. Burkhard: “We shouldn’t just survive addiction; we should thrive in recovery and live our lives to the fullest.” (January 13)

• Huffington Post features an interview with Dena Samuels, RYT 200, Director of the University of Colorado Matrix Center for the Advancement of Social Equity & Inclusion and yoga teacher, who offers yoga to those recovering from trauma or addiction. Samuels says she finds great inspiration in watching students in detox retain their “willingness to engage in their yoga practice” despite painful withdrawal symptoms. (December 29)

• Orange County Register (Calif.) reports on 15-year-old Skyler Dearen, RYT 200, who is known by students as “mature beyond her years.” Skyler was just a young girl when, after fleeing an abusive husband, her mother, Darlene Dearen, E-RYT 200, and owner of Radiant Hot Yoga, RYS 200, introduced her family to yoga to help find peace. Skyler Dearen: “[Yoga] taught me not to dwell in the past or on people or memories...it taught me to love myself.” (January 12)

• Today profiles in a video broadcast Tao Porchon-Lynch, E-RYT 500, the “Guinness-certified world’s oldest yoga teacher,” as she discusses how she stays positive in life, which includes dancing and looking for the good in the world. The 96-year-old is described by students as having “the most positive attitude” and a “magnetic feel.” Porchon-Lynch: “There’s nothing you can’t do when you just get up and enjoy life.” (December 22)

Sports

Improving performance the mindful way

• District Sports Page (DC) reports on the emergence of yoga in the NHL and its role in the Washington Capitols training routine. Capitals Head Coach Barry Trotz hosts team yoga multiple times each month to help players recover from time on the ice and Capitals forward Brooks Laich says he is a huge believer of yoga and has had a regular personal practice for years. (December 16)

• Philadelphia Inquirer covers a Philadelphia high school wrestling team’s weekly hot yoga class at Anjali Power Yoga, RYS 200, taught by Lisa Duffy, RYT 200. Coach Dechlin Moody says he got the team into yoga as a supplement to their daily training.  Duffy: “It’s important for them to have a grounding force, a centering...Their energy is amazing.” (January 11)

• Vancouver Canucks reporter Derek Jory reports on Yoga on Ice, which drew over 300 yogis and raised around $9,000 for the Canucks for Kids Fund. Team forward Shawn Matthias spearheaded the event and yoga instructor Alex Mazerolle led the hour-long practice. Mazerolle: “All athletes should be doing yoga as a counter balance to everything they’re doing.”

   

Trending

The hottest news from the mat

• BBC reporter Phil Mercer, while suspended in mid-air, profiled in a video broadcast Australia’s “growing and profitable business” of aerial yoga, a practice touted for relieving joint pressure and accommodating yogis who are unable to practice on the mat. Many people are drawn to aerial hammocks for a weightless sensation, and Aussie aerial teachers are excited to offer this practice and attract those who would not normally come to yoga. (January 13) 

• Business Insider features a video of Julie Sygiel, CEO of lingerie company Dear Kate, in which she discusses the brand’s “yoga pants of your dreams,” the first pair to be designed for wear without underwear. The pants began as a Kickstarter campaign, meeting its $15,000 goal within an hour and earning over $150,000 within a month. Sygiel’s background in chemical engineering led her to design the pants’ special 3-layer fabric for ultimate leak protection, setting Dear Kate apart from other athletic wear brands. (December 20)

• New York Daily News reports on Snowga, “the marriage of yoga and snow sports,” and its recent popularity boom. Washington yoga teacher Lynda Kennedy, E-RYT 200, teaches Snowga combined with snowshoeing, which she says is a gentler transition into yoga than when combined with more extreme winter sports. (January 1)
  

• USA Today ranked the best airport amenities to be unveiled in 2014, with yoga rooms making the list. In 2014, this trend took flight at San Francisco International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport. (December 17)
  

YA in the News

Celebrating yoga internationally

• • Yoga Journal features a guest blog by Yoga Alliance, which outlines our role in fighting against government regulation of yoga teacher trainings. The blog highlights Yoga Alliance's actions taken against "burdensome regulation" thus far in Colorado and Arkansas, the two most aggressive states currently targeting yoga communities. (January 14)

  • • KARK-4 (Ark.) reports, in a video broadcast, on how Arkansas yoga teachers and Yoga Alliance are pushing back against state legislation attempts. Arkansas yoga teacher Sherri Youngblood, E-RYT 500, opposes regulation because imposing a $2,100 yearly licensing cost for schools will “pass that cost on to the consumer.” The reporter notes Yoga Alliance’s collaboration with Catlett Law Firm to draft legislation to exempt yoga schools from licensure. (January 13)

• KFSM (Ark.) reports in a television broadcast on the increasing number of gyms offering yoga classes for cancer patients and their caregivers. The broadcast references Yoga Alliance’s Directory of Registered Yoga Teachers (RYT®s) and Registered Yoga Schools (RYS®s) for those interested in finding a teacher. (December 27)