This is a very interesting article from MSN health and fitness sent to me by my friend and fellow yogini, Janese, about yoga injuries. The author discusses suffering from a pinched nerve, which I can relate to since this also happened to me last year as a result of over-ambitious practice… and while it was horribly painful, it was nothing compared to some of the other stories in the article!

“As it happens, I’m not the only one feeling done in by my practice: Nearly 4,500 people ended up in the emergency room after yoga injuries in 2006, slightly fewer than the year before but still up 18 percent since 2004, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (which tracks sports injuries even when they don’t include equipment). Most often, the damage includes strained muscles, rotator cuff tears in the shoulders, exacerbated carpal tunnel syndrome in the wrists, torn cartilage in the knees, and lower-back and neck injuries such as herniated disks. “In my practice, I’ve seen a significant increase in yoga injuries in the past five years,” says orthopedic surgeon Jeffrey Halbrecht, M.D., medical director for the Institute for Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine in San Francisco and a specialist in knee and hip problems. And it’s not only those in the recent wave of newbies who are getting hurt, Dr. Halbrecht says: “I’ve treated more experienced yogis than rookies.”

Overall, yoga has far more potential to heal than to hurt: Studies suggest it can help relieve chronic lower-back pain, depression and anxiety. And students tend to think of yoga as gentle and healing, even when done rigorously. But the fact is that the most basic of yoga poses—as with dance, gymnastics or any type of physical activity that requires strength and flexibility—call for a certain amount of skill and training to do properly. And when strength isn’t a necessity, proper alignment is; sometimes the most benign-seeming poses, or asanas, can cause injury if hands, arms or legs are placed incorrectly. Devotees are even more vulnerable if they go through poses more quickly than their body can handle or push themselves too hard in an effort to keep up with the teacher or compete with other students. “Yoga is marketed as such an innocuous thing,” says Loren Fishman, M.D., assistant clinical professor of rehabilitation medicine at Columbia University in New York City. “But without care, injuries can absolutely happen.”

Click here to read the full article…. and please, BE CAREFUL!

Ready to unfurl into a new state of being? Join Tantric Yoginis Luella and Elizabeth for a fun exploration of asana, pranayama, and meditation – designed to align and open you to the fresh newness that is upon us!

Bow Street Yoga in Somerville (Union Square)

Sunday, March 21st from 12:30-2:30pm

YogaWorks SoHo ::: NYC ::: This Saturday 3/13

This is an awesome opportunity for us East coasters to practice with Seane Corne at YogaWorks beautiful SoHo location!!!

Workshop Details below

Vinyasa means to link movement with breath. In this unique and challenging all-day intensive, we will explore the multifaceted dynamics of Vinyasa Flow yoga, including focusing on proper alignment, pranayama, meditation, reflection and prayer. Through the integration of asana, proper breathing techniques and conscious intention learn how to experience the creative and powerful practice of Vinyasa Flow as a devotional expression of life -beyond the body. This meditative dance not only strengthens, tones and stimulates all the various systems of our bodies, but also initiates us to the knowledge that there is no separation of the mind and body, matter and consciousness, heaven and earth- you and I. This workshop is designed for anyone who is open in the journey of yoga beyond the body. It is a workshop that combines fact with faith and offers a unique and soulful approach to deepening both the individual practice, as well as, classroom experience. Experience with Sun Salutes A and B is recommended. Although each class will be a different routine and can be taken separately, the sequences build upon each other and it is encouraged to take both classes together.

Schedule Information :::
Saturday March 13th, 2010 – two classes
1:15-3:45pm and 4:45-7:15pm

Super fun activity for those of you in the NYC area!

Easy Street Gallery aims to bring glass pipe making to the forefront of the contemporary art scene. The gallery is a culmination of ideas between two creative business partners who know a thing or two about the glass sculpture scene. Ian Kerr and Nathan Purcell (formerly of Silica Galleries and Philadelphia Glass Works) are the minds behind Easy Street: the first-ever gallery of its kind.

Our mission is to present glass pipe-making in a new light in hopes to transform the perception of glass pipes as fine art. All artists represented at Easy Street work in the United States and are part of a small, yet growing, group of talented individuals at the forefront of the movement. It is our aim to showcase these artists’ work in the arena of a fine art setting, and deservedly so, as the concept, skill and craftsmanship of each piece is at the highest, most sophisticated level within the flamedworked glass community.

Easy Street Gallery Presents:

MR. GRAY AND TRISTAN

Studies From Nature

Opening Reception

Saturday, March 13th

7pm – 11pm

Both Mr. Gray and Tristan are east coast transplants leading one of California’s premier glass blowing workshops, Humboldt Glass Collective, in Arcata, CA. The original concept for Studies From Nature began with insects conceived by close friend, Abel Vicente, who passed away a few months ago. These artists expanded Vicente’s interpretation to include reflections of the nature thriving around them; then, took it one step further to lend an alternative view of otherworldly organic growing life. Patrons to this exhibit will be introduced to a depiction that concentrates the use of vibrant color, repeated shape, form and clustered groupings.

Sicky!!!!

Strala Yoga

That is the slogan for Strala Yoga a new yoga studio founded by former model Tara Stiles.  This new Greenwich Village spot is housed in a loft space with a laid back and easy going vibe.

Check out the review from Vital Juice or better yet just check out Strala Yoga because for $10 a class you can grow your practice while growing your bottom line.

Strala Yoga, 623 Broadway, 4th Fl., (917) 488-7195, MAP

We haven’t forgotten about you!!!

yezzzirp. that’s right fam, 13 years ago today Christopher Wallace, AKA the Notorious BIG was gunned down and murdered. The case is still unsolved. RIP Big, the game aint the same without ya…Check out this video of BIG doin his thang on the corner back in the day…

Ok, I understand that death-mediation is an important part of Tibetan Buddhism, and this is probably an area in which I need some help… but as a die-hard (no pun intended) sunshine and rainbows kinda girl, it’s a little bit terrifying that this is going on practically in my backyard!

This article is from the NY Times last week (sorry I’m a little late!)

“What happens to a funeral home when it’s no longer a funeral home?

For Ava Gerber, who recently bought the Robert F. Cranford Funeral Home near Fort Greene Park on DeKalb Avenue, the answer was obvious: turn it into a yoga studio.

Then, bring students to the embalming room and help them meditate on death.

“You couldn’t really do effective death meditation unless you were in a funeral home,” said Gerber, who has owned Lucky Lotus Yoga since 2005 and relocated from a location a few blocks away early this year. “Who would come to a death meditation in a regular studio?”

Early in February, during the studio’s second death meditation class, Gerber perched on a pillow in the darkened basement room, lit by a flickering candle. She reminded the class that the blood of hundreds — “maybe thousands” — of bodies had run through the room. Then, cutting through the still in staccato rhythm, she described a scene to a group of five students:

A little girl chases a ball. The girl runs onto the road. The girl dies.

Evangelos Pappas, who sat quietly throughout the class, said he was intrigued when he heard about death meditation on a previous visit to the studio.

“I showed up… not knowing what to expect, to be honest with you,” he said after his second class.

At times, the setting spooked Pappas, who works at Long Island University and does yoga for exercise. He also was skeptical, due in part to the gem-covered shrine, the offerings — which included a bowl of liver — and the chanting that followed the meditation.

A bowl of liver, YUM!

You can read the whole article here

Hey guys, just wanted to share with you some updates from one of my nearest and dearest teachers, David Hollander. David is an amazing yogi and artist, and I just adore him! If you live in NYC, please come check out one of his classes, or better yet, do his teacher training this spring at Ananda Ashram!!! Lots of Love!!!

From David:

“I want to let you all know about upcoming opportunities to study yoga and develop a daily practice that supports your body, mind and spirit as well as enhancing your creativity and focus.
I  am involved in many exciting projects these days including a nine month one weekend a month teacher training at Pure Yoga East starting this weekend! This Program is perfect for those who are too busy for most other programs but who are interested in becoming certified teachers. Please contact Pure at 212 360- 1888 or visit pureyoga.com for more details.
For those who are interested in a immersion experience I am directing the one month Teacher Training intensive at beautiful  Ananda Ashram in Monroe NY. You can check out that program at anandaashram.org or give them a call at  845-782-5575. I will send out another letter with details in the next weeks.

We have a thriving Mysore Ashtanga community at Pure East ( See below for details), I will also be teaching Daily Morning Mysore at the Telluride Yoga Festival July 8th – 11th in amazing Telluride Colorado as well as a number of special workshops.
We have fantastic dates for our Ananda Ashram retreat this summer – August 27 – 29th!! Which means we are having a Yoga pool party , with swimming, hikes and daily yoga and meditation.
For those of you wondering about art events, I am painting every day and making new work, but with all of the teaching have not had the time to organize a show in some time. I hope to have some posters and postcards ready for purchase also for those who are asking as soon as possible.

stay in touch and I hope to see you all in class!

Namaste-

David is now offering daily Mysore Ashtanga Yoga practice  at Pure Yoga East, on 86th st between Second and Third avenues in New York City. Hours are Monday through Friday  630 am – 930 am. A special Sunday session is also available to regular students.

it is going DOWN this friday people – Rockstar Yoga Practice + a very exciting trunk show featuring all of the new YOGANONYMOUS clothing will be taking place @ Dhyana Yoga (west philly) from about 6:00pm – 9:00pm.

Be one of the first Philadelphia area yoga junkies to be rocking the new gear – flyer info below…unfortunately we can only take cash or check for the clothing as of now, supplies are limited – get it while it lasts! See you on the mat – booo-yah!

…and we cannot wait to see Dharmaji cruising down Park Slope on his segway wearing skinny jeans and horn rimmed glasses!

Well maybe not so much, but we are excited for the amazing community based donation classes that will now be offered everyday!

Check out the new site and full schedule of classes HERE

..:: be receptive ::..

Hey all, happy Monday! I wanted to start this week’s action of on a more serious note. One of my best friends Mothers has been battling with a rare progressive chronic blood disorder, called Essential Thrombocythemia since 1990. I grew up with her son, Michael, and spent countless hours in their home causing all sorts of mischeif.

JoAnn is a kind, warm, and great lady with a loving family, please open up your hearts, and perhaps open up your wallets, and help create some good in the world…full info below…thanks for your support!

Please check out the site for youself by clicking HERE.

my boy Mike with his mom JoAnn

In 1990 JoAnn was diagnosed with Essential Thrombocythemia, a rare and progressive chronic blood disorder. Since the original diagnosis she has been treated at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

In January 2010 her condition worsened; she was diagnosed with Myelofibrosis (the final and potentially fatal stage of this blood disorder). Her doctors told her that a Bone Marrow Transplant was her only hope for survival; the Transplant involves a five week hospital stay followed by up to a one year recovery period. 

JoAnn, 55 years old, has refused to give up on life. She would like nothing more than to see her children, Michael and Jaime marry and be a grandmother to their future children.  Her determination to survive is unwavering.  

JoAnn and her family are concerned about their inability to afford the help she so desperately needs. Even with health coverage, JoAnn faces significant out-of-pocket medical expenses and very costly follow-up care to ensure her body accepts the new Bone Marrow.

You can help – please click on the link HERE for simple ways to make a donation.

- THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMPASSION -

Although there has been a little bit of controversy surrounding The Yoga Loft, which is owned by Richard Gere and his wife, Carey Lowell, as a part of the Bedford Post Inn just outside of New York City in Bedford, NY… I certainly wouldn’t mind rolling out my mat next to his The below article is from YogaCityNYC.

Iyengar meets The Celebs

A new form of celebrity yoga has popped up in Westchester at The Bedford Post Inn where owners Richard Gere and his wife Carey Lowell have set up a studio called, The Yoga Loft.

Would it really be possible to do serious yoga with one of People Magazine’s “Sexiest Men of the Year,” chaturanguing next to you, I wondered on the hour-long train trip from New York City to Bedford; land of horse-farms, organic haricot verts and houses large enough to land a plane in.

A die-hard Vinyasa “Flow-er” by nature, I was on my way to experience my first-ever Iyengar class, the mere thought of which set me slightly askew.  The idea of spending 90 minutes working on ‘precision alignment’ was not something I was looking forward to and no matter how many times I attempted it, I couldn’t help wishing I was really going there to just ‘go with the flow.’

Entering the studio, my reservations began to melt, right down to the buttery-soft floorboards beneath me.  Simply put, the architectural details surrounding me were nothing less than idyllic.  Rusticly-chic, the studio possessed a light, infinite aura thanks to three sides of floor to ceiling wood-paned windows and a high-beamed skylit ceiling.   A simple outdoor meditation garden completed the picture gracefully, providing a tranquil point of focus from any vantage point in the room.

After loading me up with more blankets, straps, blocks and bolsters than I thought humanly possible, our teacher Judi Friedman began class by introducing herself and asking the usual round of questions about previous injuries and physical limitations.  Noticeably absent was that age-old inquiry regarding yoga-position requests.  Clearly, this was going to be a carefully constructed journey with no unplanned rest stops along the way.  Already along for the ride after traveling all that way to get there, I decided to go with it and gave myself over.  I rooted my sit bones down and began doing just as I was told, which was to close my eyes and “Meditate on Haiti…”

Throughout our practice, Judi skillfully educated us about the origin and nuances of Iyengar, acknowledging there were others like me who avoided it for all different reasons.  “If you’re new to Iyengar Yoga…” she said, “treat yourself to its intelligent precision by allowing a reframing from your regular flow practice.”  As class went on she talked a lot about a fascinating and recently-proven theory that changing your routine can actually help strengthen your brain power.

Before long, I became completely transported as I moved through the postures and visualized the development of all sorts of new neuro-pathways for myself.  As Judi intoned, “let’s get out of our brains and into our bodies,” I accepted the idea that maybe the Japanese had it right all along.  Their philosophy of Kaizen talks about how, over time, even a small series of adaptations can yield significant incremental improvements.  Regardless of where these ideas originated from, I thought, I definitely wanted to know more.

Following class, during a light meal with Judi at The Barn, the Inn’s more casual of its two restaurants, I had the opportunity to do just that.  Along with everything from the teachings of the late renowned Iyengar teacher Mary Dunn and a recent Martha Stewart episode about the benefits of yoga, I learned a lot about how sometimes the best way to wrap your brain around something is to just let your yoga do the wrapping for you.

The Yoga Loft’s weekly schedule is still evolving so if you’re planning on making a visit make sure to check the website for the most current class information.  In addition to Anusara, Integrated Vinyasa, Hatha Blend, Kundalini and Tai Chi classes, there are also a number of upcoming workshops if your schedule and wallet can accommodate them.  Another option is to just show up for the weekly Buddhist Meditation, a delicious experience which the ‘American Gigolo’ himself has been known to frequent.

PS – how AMAZING is the space?!

Such a wonderful Saturday – the sun is out…finaly! (if you live on the west coast, then consider yourself an outsider from our east coast excitement)…

To celebrate the sun – pick your poison below – Bill Withers’ hit “lovely day” or my main man Ice Cube’s “Today was a good day”…whatever floats your boat – turn it up and dance like no one is watching!

Seems like YAMA Talent (for those of you who don’t know click HERE) has been turning heads left and right these days, earlier this week we posted YAMA mama Sadie Nardini’s interview from YogaDork in which, among other things, she praises YAMA and shoots down any arguments about a “Yoga management agency” being “unyogic”.

Well, straight from the horses mouth, Well + Good NYC pinned down YAMA Talent’s founder & president Ava Taylor to shed some light….the article is copy and pasted below ::

It’s hard to imagine Ava Taylor screaming at her assistant to bring her a soy chai latte or to get her Shiva Rea on the phone lickity split. Yes, Ava Taylor’s an agent. But she’s a breed apart from Jeremy Piven’s egomaniacal Ari Gold on Entourage. Taylor has essentially pioneered a new profession—the yoga talent agent. And YAMA Talent, which stands for Yoga Artists Management Agency, is her one-woman CAA. But with her ebullient personality and winning smile, Taylor could take Gold to the (yoga) mat. As Diane Hudock, an LA based yoga teacher and one of YAMA’s first clients, said, “Ava is seething with enthusiasm.”

The notion of a talent agency exclusively for yogis would have been unimaginable even just five years ago. “Yoga has entered the mainstream, though we’re just at the very, very beginning of it,” predicts Taylor. Hudock says the number of Americans practicing yoga has doubled since 2005. Sports apparel companies didn’t used to think it necessary to cast real yogis when shooting yoga apparel ads. But America’s 15 million yogis asked for authenticity. For example, the public balked at American Apparel’s ridiculous campaign of a model doing yoga when she clearly didn’t know her ass from her asana. These days, when an ad campaign or a movie features a yoga teacher, they’re more apt to use a real one. “It just makes sense,” says Taylor. “And so many yogis are great teachers, which on one level is all about performance.”

Taylor, a Pepperdine grad, starting practicing yoga while working in marketing and public relations at Lululemon’s Beverly Hills store. She got transferred to New York City to help open the spate of city stores. Along the way, she met dozens of A-list yogis on both coasts. One thing they had in common besides Vinyasa flow? Problems with cash flow.

“A lot of the teachers were struggling to make a living or to follow up on all the opportunities coming their way,” says Taylor. Agustin Aguerreberry, a NYC-based Hatha instructor, started plying Taylor with questions and he was amazed at her savvy career advice. “He asked me to be his manager. It just sort of clicked.” Heady conversations at Wanderlust with Kula founder Schuyler Grant  and her music manager husband Jeff Krasno cemented the idea and YAMA was born. Signing up clients was no problem. Hudock says, “Ava also has a vision. She’s also a yogi, and lives yoga herself.”

YAMA’s only officially been in business for two weeks. But Taylor’s already accomplished a lot: she organized touring schedules for teaching gigs that make good logistic sense for her clients, booked TV deals, and magazine covers. She landed Hudock, who’s about to have a baby, the cover and a four page spread inPregnancy Magazine. She got Sadie Nardini a deal with Body and Balance, a television network that’s prominent in Europe. And she’s also stirred up a fair bit of controversy for making yogis celebrities, a critique primarily lobbed by anonymous people on the yoga-related message boards.

Behind the brouhaha is the simple conceit that yogis shouldn’t have to take a vow of poverty when they become instructors. Like others who teach for a living, yoga instructors should have good health insurance and should be able to send their kids to college. So we’re a little baffled as to why many people on the sidelines of the yoga community are taking aim at YAMA.  For today’s yogis who count on teaching as a career, Taylor is more of a yogi’s advocate than an agent.