“It makes sense to have a membership at a place where you can get all your wellness needs,” YMCA senior program director Sandra Franks said.In 2000, Brooke Boon opened Studio Om on Mountain Parkway and Chandler Boulevard with the former Foothills Athletic Club owner. Two years later, she said, she left the studio for personal reasons. The studio later closed.

Boon said it was hard attracting students in Ahwatukee, where many “extremely active” athletes don’t have time for it.Several Ahwatukee Foothills freestanding yoga studios have closed after fewer than five years in business.

Some teachers and students say it’s because yoga is free at area churches or included in local health club memberships that also offer residents other classes and services. Several Valley yoga studios charge $10 to $25 per class with discounts for monthly memberships. An adult membership at the Ahwatukee YMCA is $48 a month.

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In addition to the 10 City Yoga Health Festival Tour, global grassroots events were held in honor of Yoga Month. Local Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCA chapters across the US partnered with Youth Health Alliance to offer at-risk youth free yoga classes and information sessions on preventive health care. Yoga studios participated in the awareness campaign by either hosting free yoga class , yoga mat or donating proceeds from paid classes to Youth Health Alliance. Health conscious individuals in Germany, Italy, Australia, Nigeria, Japan and other countries celebrated Yoga Month by hosting local yoga events in their communities.

The Yoga Health Foundation reached millions through the national awareness campaign, the 10 City Yoga Health Festival Tour, local events, and national media coverage. “Overall, we are quite pleased with the number of people affected by National Yoga Month, the tour, and Youth Health Alliance,” stated Fisslinger. “We look forward to working with our sponsors in 2009 to further extend the presence and impact of preventive health care in underserved communities.” Read the rest of this entry »

Some say the how-to’s strike the perfect balance between calm and convenience. Others say you should ‘exercise’ caution.

When Sherri Holman hits the yoga mat she stretches her body and her soul.

Sherri heads to the studio weekly. But now, she also lets go by logging on to a virtual yoga class.

This year, nearly 16 million people will hit the yoga mat.

Some will strike a pose in a yoga studio. Others in front of their very own computer.

That’s because yoga instructional videos are popping up all over the Internet.

She said, “It’s convenient because I can actually tune into a specific yoga class at any given time.” Read the rest of this entry »

Seven other people bend and move around me, all positioned on purple mats on the grass. City of Midland Recreation Superintendent Ben Telesca stands facing us, walking the group through several yoga poses before putting them together in a series for all of us to repeat at our own pace.

Telesca, who has been a fitness instructor for several years, began doing yoga on a yoga mat when he was in college.

“Yoga helped me relax, stretch better and be more aware of my body’s needs,” he explained. “Although I have not been consistent with my practice, I still utilize aspects of it daily.”

The “here” is the grassy lawn at Centennial Plaza next door to the courthouse. The “now” was noon Oct. 30. I exhale and look up at the sun shining through the trees. Leaves are beginning to change, but with temperatures in the high 70s, it hardly feels like fall. Read the rest of this entry »

Pinch A what?? I was showing the pose to Morgane and that’s what she asked. She’s definitely got pinching on the brain lately, and I unfortunately have been on the receiving end of this quite a bit (we’re working on it). I told her to call it “pinch a peacock”, which I think is a fun blend of Sanskrit and English. Here’s me doing my best pinch a peacock under the Big Sky.

I woke up on the uninspired side of the bed, and wondered how I was going to plow through a morning full of activity, including teaching my weekly yoga class at Be The Change. However, I’ve been in this position many a time before when having to teach, and it forces me to be present and open to the energy exchange between student and teacher.

On a day like today, I look to receive energy from my students if possible. And the universe presented me with a lovely, lively group of women this morning. I felt SO good after class, re-energized and inspired. We had so much fun breaking down pincha mayurasana, feathered peacock pose, or more simply, forearm stand.

 What do you think? Should yoga be taxable?According to King 5 News, “The owner of 8 Limbs says she could be forced to pay back taxes totaling tens of thousands of dollars.”

Some Washington State yoga studios might be forced to charge sales tax, reports King 5 News. “The state says yoga is physical fitness and is subject to sales tax under the law.” 8 Limbs Yoga Centers in Seattle recently started charging 9 percent sales tax.

> A breakdown of her classes: In Nalle’s yoga class, the instructor will show the mothers infant massage techniques and how to stretch out the baby’s arms and legs, put their legs to their noses and even do modified baby yoga poses. “For the yoga portion that we do, we’ll hold them if they’re OK with that and you just modify your yoga poses accordingly. So you’ll have a baby on your hip if you’re doing warrior,” Nalle said. In her Pilates class, Nalle says the moms hold the babies in their laps to do the exercises, a lot of which are modified sit-ups.

> Preparing for the big day: While Nalle’s delivery ended up being a Caesarean section, she said: “I do think all the workouts I did leading up to that made a huge difference in my recovery. I healed incredibly quickly. I was back to walking within a couple of days, and I actually started running again three weeks postpartum.” Read the rest of this entry »

”We know from published medical literature that if you have 40 breast cancer patients and 20 take yoga and 20 do not, the people who take yoga on yoga mats have a far better outcome,” said Dr. Elizabeth Tan-Chiu, an oncologist and director of Florida Cancer Care in Davie. “When you are better able to manage stress, you breathe good endorphins and are able to calm your body, which makes the medicines work better.”

Tan-Chiu, a celebrated cancer researcher and founder of the Florida Cancer Research Institute, has embraced alternative medical treatments such as meditation and yoga classes.With each stretch, each breath, the women concentrated on yoga poses to release their anger and quicken their healing.

But this was no ordinary yoga class, and the women, all breast cancer and ovarian cancer patients, had more at stake than traditional stress reduction.

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OmPass is a community whose members are dedicated to yoga as a lifestyle to create their own mind, body, spirit harmony and hopes to help get more universal citizens involved in yoga through its member rewards program. OmPass is in the process of expanding their rewards services and green card benefits to include organic restaurants, businesses and eco-friendly hotels and shops. OmPass City (OmPassLA, OmPassPortland, OmPassDenver) are social networking websites in each city; like mini myspace for the green lifestyle goers. Website launch date is set for Spring 2009 at OmPassCity.com which wholesale yoga mats.

OmPass an online yoga lifestyles community and national yoga rewards program that specializes in making yoga affordable and accessible for Americans, arrival of “Mobile Om” in San Francisco.

For a small annual fee of $19.95, OmPass members receive downloadable free yoga class coupons called, OmCoupons, to use at affiliated studios in their area. Members also receive a personalized Travel Pass to take their yoga on the road and good for up to 30% reduced yoga class rates and VIP savings at all eco friendly partner stores. Currently, OmPass has over 350 nationally affiliated studios with a few international locations in England, Costa Rica, Australia and Canada.

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1. You’re worried about the state of the world. You can make an impact simply by setting an intention, taking care of yourself, and emitting a positive energy into the universe.

2. Two words: Yoga Butt. You can be of “those people” who look fabulous spandex. And even if you’re not, a regular yoga practice will bring out all of your most beautiful features—inside and out.

3. You noticed your shoulders creeping up toward your ears . . . again. Yoga helps manage physical, mental, and emotional signs of stress with yoga mat.

4. Your yoga mat really brings out the color in your eyes.

5. If someone gives you one more thing to do you feel like your head might explode. Yoga lets you slow down, take deep breaths, and encourages you to do one thing at a time.

6. It will make you more popular. Trust me. People will like being around you more when you’re calm, balanced, serene, and uplifted from your postyoga buzz.

7. A Monday yoga class will set the tone for a great week! It takes just an hour to align your body, mind, breath, and spirit.

8. If you ever want to touch your foot to the top of your head, you better start practicing now.

9. You ate pizza and popcorn for dinner last night. The increased awareness yoga class brings will spill over into other areas of your life—just like the soda you spilled onto your keyboard while you were checking your email.

10. A yoga studio is the perfect place to pick up girls. (If picking up girls isn’t your thing, it’s also a really great opportunity to make new friends.)