Yoga with felines is “cat”ching on! By now we’ve all seen the cute pics and viral videos from around the globe of cats jumping in on our downward dogs. Perhaps kitties are trying to remind us that they are just as good for our soul as yoga is!
With so many cats in need of good homes, it’s an important reminder indeed. In an effort to Continue reading
Yoga isn’t just for grown-ups you know! Kids can reap all the benefits as well. The organization Yoga Foster is helping this happen in public schools.
Yoga Foster is a non-profit organization with a mission to empower public school teachers with yoga resources to make happier and healthier classrooms.
Their goal is to provide kids quality, accessible yoga directly in the classroom, during Continue reading
It’s easy to write a review about something when you’re really excited about it. In this particular case it’s the Yoloha Cork Yoga Mat.
It’s refreshing to see a company actually live up its claims of being eco-friendly and sustainable. Just because a company might call Continue reading
If you have a job that requires a lot of sitting, this stretch could be for you. LA-based yoga instructor Vytas Baskauskas demonstrates his reclining pose in this quick video to help relieve stress and tension built up from a long day.
What you’ll need is a yoga strap (or a long belt form a robe, etc), and a yoga block (or a rolled up towel). This pose can provide stretching and relief in the hip and leg muscles as well. As always, we suggest consulting with your physician before taking on any physical activity that is new to you.
Yoga and meditation score another point in the world of science and medicine!
A new pilot study conducted by the highly regarded MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital) suggests that yoga and meditation can provide relief to those suffering from gastrointestinal disorders.
The results of MGH’s clinical study showed that the practice of yoga and meditation had a significant positive impact on the symptoms related to IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and Continue reading
For thousands of years, people have been practicing yoga for its obvious benefits to the mind, body and spirit. But what has not been so obvious is how to quantify its health benefits.
According to the Harvard Medical School, it turns out that Hatha Yoga may be just as beneficial to your heart as aerobic exercise. Based on 37 clinical trials, research showed that practicing yoga lowered blood pressure, heart rate, LDL (bad) cholesterol, and other cardiovascular risk factors, in amounts similar to those seen with cardio exercises.
Dr. Larry Phillips, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York, told Reuters Health that yoga’s benefits had been long suspected. “I think what we’ve seen is with yoga and Continue reading
This story may not be directly related to Hatha Yoga, but is related to ahimsa, which is the yogic tradition of non-harm. It was too moving not to share.
Recently, Corinne DiLorenzo, founder of E.A.R.T.H. Animal Sanctuary, discovered her 9 month old rescued piglet, Bentley, in a post seizure state. It was determined he’d been afflicted with bacterial meningitis. He is currently being treated in the hospital, and has unfortunately lost his vision due to the illness. To help calm and comfort Bentley from all the noise in the hospital, Ms. DiLorenzo sang to him in her beautiful, opera trained voice. She posted the video and it went viral on her facebook page. Here’s the youtube version:
We hope the video and Bentley’s story help to raise awareness of how sweet and sensitive pigs are, and deserving of such care.
Proper breathing. Although you’re supposed to do it automatically, you don’t always. Or at least you don’t always do it properly. Most people are not even aware of their poor breathing habits. And poor breathing can take its toll.
Proper breathing is one of those things most people take for granted. Of course you need to breathe in order stay alive. But as if keeping you alive weren’t enough, breathing has additional critical job responsibilities.
According to Dr. Mladen Golubic, a physician at the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Integrative Medicine, breathing can have a major impact on many physical ailments and illnesses such as Continue reading
If you’d like to make the most of your physical yoga practice, it helps to know what your body is actually doing “on the inside” with each posture. Understanding how your body is anatomically reacting to each pose allows you to focus on the targeted muscles and increase the effectiveness of each move.
Yoga Anatomy (2nd Edition), a book by Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Mathews, is an incredible resource for this. In fact, if you Continue reading
photo by Terri