Mind Over Madness to draw thousands of yogis to Times Square in NYC

This looks like a wonderful event to be a part of. If you're in the eastern part of the U.S. on June 20, why not head over to NYC and join thousands of other yogis show the world how amazing yoga is. Read on for more information and please share. - Namaste, Marne

If you happen to be in New York City's Times Square on June 20, you might want to tote along your yoga mat. On that day, thousands of yogis will be seeking tranquility and flexibility in one of the busiest places on earth as part of the annual Mind Over Madness event.

The day-long free yoga event, sponsored by Lucy Activewear and held at Broadway between 42nd and 47th Streets, happens every year to mark the summer solstice. The event features musical performances, speakers, raffles, and free giveaways.

SHOULD YOGA BE AN OLYMPIC SPORT?

Last year, organizer Times Square Alliance streamed the event live on its website, and Lucy provided free yoga mats and gift bags to the first 1,000 attendees for each class. Stay tuned for offers available this year.

The day's scheduled free yoga classes are 7:30am-8:45am, 12:30pm-2pm (Bikram), and 6pm-7:30pm. 

Like your yoga in a more serene setting? Wanderlust's annual event in Bondville, Vermont, runs June 21-24, followed by an event in Lake Tahoe, California, on July 5-8.

Days are for downward dogs with more than 40 top yoga instructors; nights are hedonistic dance parties featuring musical acts and DJs. Sister events happen in Colorado on July 5-8 and Whistler, BC, August 23-26.

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Sound Yoga Positions for Someone with Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that develops from transformed cells originating in the mesothelim, which is the protective lining that covers many of our internal organs. It is usually caused by exposure to asbestos. This is a wonderful article that the folks from the Mesothelioma Center sent over on how yoga helps its patients and is a definite must-read. Please share and comment. - Namaste, Marne

Texts such as the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras describe the philosophy of yoga, while later yogic texts describe between 900 and 1,300 yoga poses, known as asanas. New yogis – including mesothelioma patients who turn to the practice as a form of alternative treatment or stress relief – may feel overwhelmed by the seemingly never-ending number of poses to understand. However, most yoga classes focus on a smaller, more manageable series of postures designed to restore the body rather than push it to its physical limit.

The best yoga classes for mesothelioma patients tend to be gentle, Hatha-style classes. These classes are excellent for beginner and experienced yogis, and incorporate postures such as:

• Cow pose


• Standing half forward bend


• Warrior 1

Most classes flow through a couple dozen poses over an hour-long practice. Instructors are able to help each yogi modify poses or adjust alignment whenever necessary. Patients are encouraged to back out of any pose that does not feel good for their bodies; yoga is intended to stretch and stimulate the body, but it is not intended to hurt it.

Specific Yoga Postures that Help Relieve Mesothelioma Symptoms

While all of the yoga asanas are designed to have a benefit on the body, some poses can offer mesothelioma patients relief from their specific symptoms.

Child’s pose help relieve neck and chest pain that may be experienced as mesothelioma tumors grown on the lungs. In this pose, yogis rest with shins on the floor and knees wide apart, then lean forward to rest their torso towards their mat. Arms may stretch out over the head if it is comfortable, or they may rest near the feet.

Shoulder lifts, in which yogis shrug one shoulder at a time to their ears, can help release tension that mesothelioma patients carry in their upper body.

Reclining bound angle pose is another simple yoga pose that helps open the chest and promote better breathing. Mesothelioma patients who experience frequent dyspnea or difficulty breathing may benefit from spending several minutes in this pose.

Cat pose – the complement to cow pose – helps bring awareness to the breath as well, allowing mesothelioma patients to feel more in control of breathing that may become erratic as a symptom of their cancer.

Author bio: Faith Franz is a writer for the Mesothelioma Center. She combines her interests in whole-body health and medical research to educate the mesothelioma community about the newest developments in cancer care.

 

 

Bow pose (with a strap)

Bow pose is a wonderful back bend and should be done after you’re fairly warm, nearing the end of a yoga class or session.  It’s nice to get a feeling for this pose on the floor first, abdominals down; and then try the standing version.  The floor pose keeps your hips aligned so you’re not lifting one hip higher than the other one in the standing version.

Start with these simple instructions:

• Get a strap.  If you don’t have one, you can find one at our store, click here.


• Get some extra padding underneath your ribs and pelvis if you need it.


• Lay on the mat, on your belly.


• Put the strap around your ankles and bend your knees.


• With your elbows in front of your face, grab the strap over your head fingers facing down.  (you can make a loop with your strap before you begin, otherwise you’re hanging onto two ends which won’t allow fingers facing down)


• Elbows are closer than shoulder width.


• Tuck Tail-bone


• Activate your feet and make sure they are parallel and not cocked to the side.


• Allow your knees to splay.


• Lift ribs forward.


• Inhale coming up.


• Let your head hang, relaxed neck.


• Move your arm bones away from your shoulder joint, slightly dropping armpits toward the floor, making space in your shoulder joints.


• You can raise your hands up if you like, elbows straightening, feet pressing up and away from the head.


• Breathe though the whole core, avoid resisting!

Give it a shot during your practice (if you’re doing my mini series in the morning, please make sure to do this near the end after your warm.)

Let me know how it feels!  Please comment and share.

Namaste,

Marne

Woman, 93, is world's oldest yoga teacher

Let's talk about inspiring. And when we talk about inspiring, let's talk about this woman who is the oldest yoga teacher in the world at 93 years young. It might sound cheesy to some, but age truly is just a number. Please enjoy this great story and feel free to comment. - Namaste, Marne



Via New York Daily News

She's 93 years old, but that isn't keeping Tao Porchon-Lynch from striking a perfect pose. The yoga instructor and dance competitor is vibrant as ever and proves that age really is just a number.

She has lived a full life that includes marriage, acting, modelling, performing burlesque and even marching with Gandhi - twice. Now, she has another feather in her cap: Guinness World Records has declared her the world's oldest yoga teacher.

And she has no plans to stop anytime soon.

"I'm going to teach yoga until I can't breathe anymore then I'll just fly away to the next planet ... I just, I love yoga, it brightens my day and makes everybody smile," Porchon-Lynch said.

On Mondays, Tao teaches classes to a dedicated group of students at a dance studio in Harstdale, a suburb 25 miles outside of New York City. She pushes her students to find their deepest range in asanas and said she holds herself to the same standards.

"My doctor when he did the hip replacement said you won't be able to do this, you won't be able to do that. I said I don't want to know what I won't be able to do because I don't believe it.

"So I sent him a photograph in lotus lifting off the ground and he called me the miracle woman. I said it's no miracle, a miracle means only to see that which is inside of you. If it's inside, I can do it."

Tao became interested in yoga when she was eight years old. She observed a group of young boys practicing yoga on the beach in her hometown of Pondicherry in southern India. She said she decided then that she could do anything a boy could do.

She has been teaching professionally for 61 years, although it was only at age 73 that she decided to focus solely on being an instructor.

How Yoga Can Transform: Arthur's Inspirational Story

My assistant told me she started tearing up when she saw this video, so I had to check it out and share with you. It is very inspirational how this ex-veteran lost over 100 lbs. through yoga. Yes, yoga. He was also told he couldn't walk anymore, but you'll have to watch the video to get his inspiring story. It truly is remarkable. Enjoy viewing, please share and comment. - Namaste, Marne
http://youtu.be/qX9FSZJu448

China To Get First “Yoga College”

It almost seemed like a matter of time, didn’t it? Although there are many institutes where one can practice and become a certified yoga instructor, this is is taking it to a whole other level. China’s going to get to open the first “Yoga College”, an answer to yoga’s immense popularity among the country’s middle class. I wonder what type of electives they’ll be offering students! Definitely a must-read. Please share and comment. – Namaste, Marne



By Jing Daily

China’s growing middle class isn’t only becoming fixated on products that connote (or claim to connote) “the good life,” cars and luxury goods among them, it’s becoming obsessed with looking good both inside and out. As of 2010, China had around 3,000 health clubs, according to China Sports Business, with around 3 million active members paying annual fees generally ranging from 600 yuan (US$95) to 5,000 yuan ($793). And along with the usual spas, free weights and treadmills, rising demand from stressed-out middle class urbanites has been the popularity of yoga skyrocket over the past decade. Now, looking to address that demand by training qualified instructors, China is set to get its first official “Yoga college,” the brainchild of a former ELLE China editor and her yoga-teaching Indian husband.

Formally inaugurated this weekend in Beijing, the new yoga college is an offshoot of the Yogi Yoga Institute of China, established in 2004 by Yin Yan and Manmohan Singh Bhandari. Over the past eight years, Yogi Yoga claims to have trained over 10,000 instructors at its branches in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. With its new institution, Yin says, “We want to take yoga to a different level in China, as it has become immensely popular.”

According to the Press Trust of India, the new institute will offer a three-year course focusing on Hata Yoga, a popular Indian form, taught by a faculty from India and abroad headed up by Yin’s husband, Bandari. According to Yin, the entire 36 month course will cost around US$4,000, with its completion degree enabling graduates to become full-time yoga instructors throughout China.

Via the PTI:

Ever since it was established, Yogi Yoga has become vastly popular venture as its revenue touched USD eight million last year.

“It is an impressive effort by Yogi Yoga centre to spread yoga in China,” said [senior Indian diplomat Arun Sahu], who heads the cultural section of the Indian Embassy.

The institute appears to be very professionally run and the very Indian way with Vedic chants and Indian cultural practices, he said.

Over the years it turned out to be massive centre, he said.

As yoga took roots with many Chinese taking to it as a stress reliever, its exponents here also called for a more organised approach to it to provide qualified trainers as ill trained instructors could cause injury.

In recent years, we’ve seen a greater focus on health among China’s middle class build niche industries for products like organic vegetables and foods, vitamins and supplements, and even“luxury” bottled water. With the population increasingly concerned about the ill effects of urban pollution and food safety, health clubs have been keen to pounce. This new “Yoga College” is, then, a predictable development, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see copycats spring up in major cities throughout China before too long.