Is Yoga Back-Breaking Work?

...not exactly, though the Times piece from Jan 8th may lead some readers to believe otherwise. After receiving the "How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body" article from about 10 different people, I'm putting my two cents in for both teachers and students:

Teachers:

1) Avoid giving "mixed level" classes if you can: You have a woman balancing on one foot in a standing split while the guy next to her can't get into child's pose because his quads are too tight. It's really tough to cater to both experience levels at the same time.

2) Unless you're working one-on-one with a student, avoid headstands altogether. The cervical spine is way too fragile. You only have two eyes and they're unable to carefully watch the ten necks simultaneously trying to attempt this pose during class.

3) Incorporate a bit of Pilates into each class. By helping students safely strengthen their core (both abs and lower back), you are placing more emphasis on alignment (think possible better posture) rather than flexion / extension (think potential spinal surgery).

Students:

1) Attend class with a teacher that is more concerned about joint alignment, awareness through movement, and breath work than with the guru who's encouraging scary-looking poses they'll gladly demo for anyone who will watch.

2) Be honest with yourself about which class level you should attend -- and if it is unclear to you, err on the side of caution. After 12 years, I still take a basics class from time to time, as there's always room to enhance your foundational understanding of each pose.

3) Resist the temptation to mimic the superstar on the mat next to you. It sounds super cheesy, but yoga is about understanding where you are in any exact moment on the mat; not where Sexy McFlexy is as she wraps her ankles around her head.

This newsletter design created with Smilebox

Some 1984 for your 2012

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Raquel Welch's "Total Beauty and Fitness" yoga video, why not start this new year off with 90 minutes of hangover healing Hatha. Check out those classic 1980's swimsuits!

Legal Ease

Check out my holiday stress-busting tips in the most recent issue of Legal Management.

Mind-Body Exorcise

The question is often posed: Is yoga a religion? According to the Vatican's former chief exorcist, it's actually the work of the devil. "Practicing yoga is Satanic, it leads to evil just like reading Harry Potter," Father Gabriele Amorth recently stated at the Umbria film festival, which screened Anthony Hopkins's new film, "The Rite." According to the 86-year old priest, yoga leads to Hinduism, a polytheistic perversion of anti-Christ idolatry.

Yikes.

It's understandable how the relationship between Hinduism and yoga may lead people to wonder about where all of those deities and re-incarnated lives fit in, but to say it's because of Satan? I'd say it's more closely aligned with seitan -- a delicious vegetarian substitute for meat.

Please enjoy this delicious seitanic recipe:

Barbecued Seitan
(Serves 4)

Cold leftovers of this dish are great, too.

Vegetable cooking spray
1 medium onion, diced
8-12 ounces seitan cutlets, cut into strips
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
4 whole wheat buns, optional

Spray a skillet with cooking spray. Add the onion and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes, adding water 1 tablespoon at a time if onion begins to stick. Cook until onion is translucent. Add the seitan strips and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Add barbecue sauce and stir to combine. Sauté until barbecue sauce is hot. Serve on whole wheat buns, if desired.

Total Calories per Serving (without bun): 69

Fat: Less than 1 gram

Make a free newsletter

November Pose

Newsletter design created with Smilebox

Bundle of Joy

Congratulations, World, it's a brand-new, bouncing baby billion. And baby billion makes seven as of today, according to the UN's Population Division. Earth hit a global population of one billion in 1804. Two billion in 1927. And less than 100 years later, we've torn through another five billion people.

That's a whole lot of living and dying. Here's to even longer lines at the DMV, plenty more fish in the sea, and less overall wiggle room on at least six of the seven continents.

Going the Distance

Fauja Singh began running eleven years ago. Over the weekend, he completed the Toronto Marathon in under 8.5 hours. Not too shabby for a man who turned 100 last spring. He revealed his secret for going the distance in one recent interview: I don't eat cauliflower, rice, or kheer (pudding). Simple, yet powerful words to live by!

Greetings From Muladhara

After the recent spate of articles citing yoga's sexiest secrets, it might be wise to quickly go over the three Bs for a bigger O: Breathing, Bandhas, and Baddha Konasana (or any hip-opening pose). While spontaneous yogasm (as it's being called) in the middle of your lunchtime Vinyasa class is unlikely to occur, certain techniques can certainly harness one's sexual energy and allow for more intense orgasms when the occasion arises.

Breathing is the key ingredient for any activity in life, and few people know that better than yoga practitioners. By deeply inhaling and exhaling slowly, one is able to activate his or her parasympathetic nervous system which induces a relaxation response both in the body and mind. This calm state can certainly open up the right channels for the big moment, especially if someone is prone to distracting stress (a sexual deterrent in and of itself).

We have three Bandhas (Sanskrit for "locks") in the body and during yoga class at least two of them are often encouraged for core strength and greater muscle control. The mula bandha is the most popular lock when it comes to better sex through yoga as it strengthens the PC muscles that make up the pelvic floor (also known as the "root chakra" or muladhara). Both men and women can engage their mula bandha on and off the yoga mat and, in turn, experience more intense orgasms. This ancient technique is very similar to the Kegel exercises often recommended by MDs for a host of problems including urinary and prostate issues.

Baddha Konasana--or any hip-opening stretch or pose--helps to increase blood flow to all the right spots while also allowing for greater flexibility during sex. And you won't need to perform like a Cirque du Soleil acrobat to experience more fun in bed--just a teency bit more range of motion could make all the difference in discovering a whole new sensory world.

So there you have it. As for the woman in the recent Daily Beast piece who claims to have had a yogasm during her class on the Upper East Side, there certainly is enough evidence she aligned these three Bs to have experienced the Big O. A piece of advice to avoid that next time? Picture Gandhi naked.