Fit and Youthful Life

Guest Author: Everett Sizemore


Yoga pertains to an entire group of spiritual and physical practices that date back as far as 3300 BC in India, an era in which anthropologists have uncovered statues depicting figures in yoga-like postures. As you can imagine, yoga’s influence on the Western world in general and here in the United States in particular, has taken place in a veritable blink-of-an-eye when you look at the whole history of yoga.

Nevertheless, there are a number of people from the past and present who have had a profound influence on the spread of yoga in the West, and probably few of greater significance than the five people listed below…

#1 Rodney Yee

Rodney’s Yoga: http://www.gaiam.com/category/yoga-studio/yoga-instructors/rodney-yee.do

Rodney Yee was once a gymnast, a ballet dancer, and a philosophy major. What do all of these things have in common? The helped him satisfy a deep hunger for knowledge and understanding of the human mind and body. This curiosity is what led him to begin learning, and eventually teaching, his own form of yoga. Rodney has appeared on several national morning shows, and daytime television talk shows like Oprah. He owns a major yoga studio in LA, and is probably THE most well known yoga personality in America, next to Bikram.

#2 Bikram Choudhury

Bikram’s Yoga: http://www.bikramyoga.com

Although he was born in India, Bikram began teaching his “hot yoga” classes in the California during the 1970s. This form of yoga, in which students perform mostly Hatha yoga poses in a heated room, may be the most popular type of yoga in the United States today.

#3 Shiva Rea

Shiva Rea’s Yoga: http://www.shivarea.com/about

Her name sounds Indian, but Shiva is actually an American-born yoga instructor, daughter of an artist/surfer. Shiva has released several award-winning yoga videos, and has traveled the world to appear at yoga retreats and international studios. Now a regular contributor for the Yoga Journal, Shiva has built a name for herself as one of the best yoga teachers in the Western world. She is widely known for her cultivation of Vinyasa yoga techniques into her own style called Prana Flow.

#4 Patricia Walden

Patricia’s Yoga: http://www.gaiam.com/category/yoga-studio/yoga-instructors/patricia-walden.do

While many Western yoga teachers are drawn to the temptation of creating their own, unique style of yoga, branding it and watching it flourish, Patricia has remained dedicated to her Iyengar yoga roots for over 25 years. She has co-authored The Women’s Book of Yoga and Health and starred in several award-winning yoga DVDs, including the best-selling Yoga for Beginners series.

#5 Seane Corn

Seane’s Yoga: http://www.gaiam.com/category/yoga-studio/yoga-instructors/seane-corn.do

The extremely beautiful, talented and charismatic Seane Corn teaches Vinyasa yoga, and is the star of the hugely popular Vinyasa Flow Yoga DVD series. She has been featured on the cover of the Yoga Journal three times, and has also appeared on the covers of Natural Health, Fit yoga, Yoga Life and Healing Retreat and Spa Magazine. Many are drawn to Seane Corn’s charisma and authentic messages of change and progress. She has worked with several political and social programs to bring changes to local and global communities, including a shelter that houses and educates adolescent prostitutes, and YouthAIDS. Born in New Jersey, Seane had her first yoga experience at the Life Cafe in the East Village area of New York.

Have we left out your favorite yoga teacher? Opinions differ widely as to who has had the most influence over modern yoga. But there is no denying that the five yoga instructors above, whether you agree with their teachings or not, are have had a major impact on the way yoga is practiced and taught here in the U.S. and around the western world.



The Real Youth Potion

Guest Author: Bertil Hjert


A yoga mat is useful for both beginners and experienced. It is the best accessory one can have when it comes to practicing yoga. There are several reasons for it.

A yoga mat works towards providing the best of grip to you when you require to perform certain complicated steps. Second, exercises that need to be done while lying down require good support. It provides you full back support and does not let you slip. It even absorbs a good amount of sweat that you tend to expel from your body when performing yoga.

A yoga mat is a must-have for those who are serious about pursuing yoga. Once you have decided to purchase a yoga mat, it is very important to learn certain things that would allow you opt for the best.

A) Here are certain steps to guide you on choosing the best yoga mat in order to facilitate you perform all the ‘asanas’ without any difficulty:

a) Avoid the cheapest

The most common mistakes people tend to make when purchasing a yoga mat is that they go for the cheapest. It is a blunder. Yoga supplies are not very expensive when you compare with expensive modern exercising machines. Don’t ever go for standard plastic yoga mats.

These are very thin and do not provide the type of cushioning that you require for performing yoga. It will smell of chemicals and not let you breathe pure. These mats are made of phthalates. Leaving this mat inside a car is also harmful as it tends to expel harmful chemicals when hot. Additionally, plastic yoga mat is not environment friendly.

b) Jute mats

Cork or Jute yoga mats are environment friendly. However, these end to absorb sweat when you start practicing yoga. This result in a bad smell that may distract you while practicing. Additionally, these tend to get weak over a period of time.

c) Rubber yoga mats

This can be a real money saver and environment friendly yoga mat. It is available widely across the globe. However, if you are allergic to latex or rubber, you need to go for another option.

d) Pilate mats

These are also an excellent source for performing yoga. These are thicker and provide you the kind of grip that you require. It will prove beneficial in saving your hips, elbows, shoulders and spin from certain contact injuries.

B) When choosing a yoga mat you need to consider the crucial points provided below:

a) Carefully consider whether the yoga mat you are purchasing can hold up to repeated washings.

b) The yoga mat you purchase should lay flat on the floor.

c) An ideal yoga mat should be able to shake off lint and dust easily.

d) Make sure that the yoga mat prevents your feet from slipping.

e) The grip should be maintained in the same even when you sweat.

f) The yoga mat should be light weight and ideal for carrying around.

g) Cork for the durability

h) The length and width of yoga mat should suit you ideally.

i) Personal comfort level is the most important thing. You need to test whether you are feeling comfortable when lying or practicing on a yoga mat.

Keep the points mentioned above in mind and you will be able to purchase the best of yoga mat available across the globe.



The French Women’s Beauty Secret

Guest Author: anonymous


What’s next; will we have to pay a toll to meditate? How can it be morally correct to gain a US patent on a 5,000 year old system founded in India? Who should have the right to claim Yoga?

What about the “cultural heritage of the Indian people?” It is obvious to see, Yoga is definitely part of the heritage of Indian culture.

Most of us believe that the theft of intellectual property is wrong, but let us combine this wrong, with theft of someone else’s cultural heritage for profit.

According to the Times of India, “The US Patent and Trademark office has reportedly issued 150 Yoga-related copyrights, 134 trademarks on Yoga accessories, and 2,315 Yoga trademarks.”

As a result, the Indian government has organized a group to gather Sanskrit and Tamil texts, which will catalog Yogic techniques and Ayurvedic medicine in multiple languages, to prevent patents of Yoga and Ayurveda. This action would make information about Yoga, and Ayurveda, more accessible to patent offices around the world.

What can happen if corporations buy up every Yoga technique? It seems silly to think about, but would we be obligated to pay royalties, or negotiate rights, to perform an Asana or Pranayama sequence?

One Yoga teacher, Bikram Choudhary, copyrighted a 26 Yoga posture (Asana) sequence, which he claimed as his own. Yet, most “hot Yoga” teachers, and hot Yoga studios, around the world, perform the same sequence, without paying him a dime. How do you police an Asana sequence?

Consider this: If you buy the patent to Brahmari Pranayama, how do you manage to keep track of who is performing it in every corner of the earth? The idea is ludicrous, and the patent is not really enforceable.

Yoga is a complex subject and some people are still trying to grasp what Yoga is. Some people think Yoga is exercise. I suppose you could patent an exercise, but it has never been a successful business strategy to patent an exercise.

Every time you trademark an exercise, another person will label it as something similar, but not the same. You cannot stop everyone in the world from doing push-ups because you bought the trademark and patent.

However, Yoga is not an exercise. Yoga is the unity of mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional health, for the improvement of all mankind. Yoga is a philosophy, a science, a health maintenance system, and the “Mother of all self-improvement systems.” Yoga is just too vast a subject to try to own it.

The purchasing of Yoga patents is a lesson in futility. Should we buy patents for mantras, breathing, good posture, and eating right? Those are also valuable components of Yoga, but one component of Yoga is not all of Yoga. Yoga is composed of many parts. Maharishi Patanjali wrote that Yoga is composed of eight limbs in his Yoga Sutras.

According to Swami Ramdev, “Yoga can’t be owned and run like a company. Since there are attempts to patent this tradition (of Yoga) in America, the Centre and Yoga organizations should take measures to prevent it.”

He is not the only Guru who is disturbed by the patenting of Yoga. This is disturbing to most Yoga practitioners and Yoga teachers. So, what can the rest of us do about it? We can take action by writing, Emailing, and faxing our law makers.

Stop the foolishness – Say, “No,” to Yoga patents.

Copyright 2007 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications