Yoga Roundup XVIII: Feb. 23 – Mar. 1, 2014

The Week’s Top Yoga News, According to the People at Tula Software

If Yoga, Paint by Numbers and Twister Had a Baby…

You would get Yoga by Numbers, a new yoga mat created by Elizabeth Morrow that helps take the “guesswork” out of where to put your hands and feet during a pose.

In 2012 after suffering from blood clots that caused a partial lung collapse, she was put on blood thinners, which limited her physical capabilities. So, she created the Yoga by Numbers mat with Jade Yoga and put out online tutorials that guide your poses by telling you what numbers to place your feet and hands on. The videos have found success with people who have disabilities, are far away from a yoga studio or just need very thorough direction. Morrow hopes to have a DVD out in the near future.

The Yogi is in
Thanks to countless studies (you may have seen them on this blog before) on the health benefits of yoga, courses on the practice and how to integrate them into patients’ health routines have become an approved way for doctors to gain needed credits to retain their licenses. NPR writes about Economist Rajan Narayanan one of the founders of the nonprofit Life in Yoga, which has helped train more than 145 doctors and nurses to learn yoga and pass its benefits on to their patients. 

Video: The Yogis of Wall Street
Bloomberg TV anchors and New York’s Ashtanga Yoga founder Eddie Stern discuss the “influence of yoga” on predominant businessmen, bankers and the like and how yoga helps bring out their best qualities and why such powerful figures are turning to the practice. They also discuss how to keep the practice a part of your daily life.  

‘A Model Guru’
Looking to improve your practice? (There’s only one answer here). Self interviewed Yogi and celebrity trainer Yogi Cameron this week to get answers on how to grow your practice and keep it strong. His advice is sound, and he wrote the magazine his answers on the morning of his wedding from a forest in India. Too legit to quit.

What’s in Your Yoga Mat?
After Subway’s fiasco a couple weeks back (see here) a lot of you are probably wondering what the heck your mat is made of. Website Now Toronto breaks down the most popular kinds of yoga mats and grades them. See how your mat chalks up. 

On falling out of practice

I keep falling out of my yoga practice.

I prefer to go to yoga about 4 to 5 times per week, and I've learned that for me, this seems to be the optimal number of practices each week. Its where my happiness seems to be maximized, and I have yet to experience diminished returns. The difference between 6 practices in a week and 7 is pretty small, but I can really feel the difference between 3 classes in a week and 4.

But the last few weeks I've only been going about once per week.

Why is this? 

100% of the time I go to yoga I feel great, and I'm happy I went. I regret going to yoga 0% of the time, and as implied above I'm keenly aware of how my mind and body react to a regular practice.

So how does this happen? 

I have one possible explanation.

Back at the start of January I started the 30 day yoga challenge Maile has each year at her studio. I kicked it off strong and even made it through Days 12 and 13 when I was on a trip out to San Francisco.

I missed day 14 though and fell out of the challenge. Shortly after that my practice slowed and ever since the middle of January I've only been making it to practice once a week.

I think maybe these two events are related.

Maybe by failing to finish the challenge, it made subsequent practices less important. As the individual classes became less important, my weekly number of practices became less important too. (I only went twice last week, it doesn't matter if I only go once this week)

The thing is though, this happens not just in yoga, but in life.

You're saving money, but slip up a few times, and so then slip up some more because hey, you already slipped up anyway. We haven't talked with our friends in a while, and so we don't call them until we have time to talk for a lengthy conversation. And of course it's harder to find an hour than 10 minutes, and so the calls remain unmade. The same can be said for diets, workouts or business goals.

The antidote then seems to be a combination of forgiveness, intention and effort. Forgiveness for falling out of practice in the first place, the intention to get back into practice, and the effort required to do so. 

No matter what practice we've fallen out of I think the above steps are required, but they don't necessarily have to be difficult.

Being aware of what's happening is often enough.

Yoga Roundup XV: Feb. 2 – Feb. 8, 2014

The Week’s Top Yoga News, According to the People at Tula Software

Super Om

Super Bowl champs Seattle Seahawks (this Coloradan’s still crying) convincingly won Sunday’s game and yoga may have a part to play in the victory. The team regularly practices yoga, meditates, and their star QB Russell Wilson is a major proponent of the practice. And as The New York Times was kind enough to point out, Broncos Defensive End Von Miller expressed his desire to get away from yoga, to focus more on football. Later and possibly consequentially, Von Miller tore his anterior cruciate ligament and was unable to play in the big game. Excuse me while I go look for some tissues…

You Gonna Finish that Yoga Mat?

In the world of weird (and gross) yoga news, sandwich chain Subway has promised to remove an ingredient from their bread called Azodiacarbonamide that is also used to make yoga mats. After more than 58,000 people signed a petition asking Subway to ban this chemical (that's already illegal in many other countries due to respiratory issues), the fast-food chain agreed to remove the “ingredient.” Even though, “it is USDA- and FDA-approved ingredient.” And if you think that’s Subway’s only gross factor, think again.

Too Hot to Handle

Yoga is a fantastic way for expectant mothers to stay healthy and calm during their pregnancy, but a new study out of Canada is warning mothers to be wary of Bikram yoga. For people who don't know, Bikram yoga is a heated yoga class where the room is usually around 105 degrees and at 40% humidity. At the end of class, you pretty much feel like you just got out of a pool because you are soaking wet. The yoga part of Bikram yoga isn’t dangerous to mothers, but the heat is. Hyperthermia (a higher than normal core body temperature) is dangerous to fetuses and they may experience growth problems if being exposed to this higher temperature. So stick to normal yoga classes throughout your pregnancy to keep you and baby happy and healthy!

New Beginnings

Still trying to get yoga into your daily routine? No matter how many times we’ve said yoga is for everyone, it’s hard to not be intimidated by the practice. With beautiful women touching their feet to their head, decked out in Lululemon, who wouldn’t be? HuffPo blogger Lita Smith-Mines (who has been practicing for about 8 months) shares with us her best advice on how to have a successful relationship with yoga.

Waking Up on the Right Side

Are falling asleep and waking up feeling rested some of the toughest parts of your day? Us too. Yoga Journal has put together some great tips on how to rise and shine, and how to wind down.