Iyengar yoga is an alignment and breath based style of yoga founded by Sri B.K.S Iyengar who is considered, along with Sri K. Patthabi Jois, one of the grandfathers of modern yoga. 90 and 93 years of age respectively and still going strong, Iyengar and Jois introduced and revolutionized yoga in the West. In 1966, Iyengar wrote the seminal yoga tome, Light on Yoga, and no self respecting yoga does not have a copy on their shelves, or like me, in my bag pretty often. This book breaks down 200 postures, breathwork, bandhas (locks) with anecdotes on deities, folklore, history, as well as the medicinal and therapeutic benefits of the poses. (more…)

ISHTA yoga was developed by Alan Finger and his father Kavi Yogiraj Mani Finger opening the first YogaWorks where ISHTA was taught in 1992. ISHSTA’s meaning is 2-fold: in Sanskrit it means to develop a yoga practice that meets your own needs. ISHTA also is an acronym for the key elements of the style: Integrated Science of Hatha (physical practice), Tantra (yoga philosophy recognizing the perfection in all Beings) and Ayurveda (the ancient India science of healing). This yogic system is also deeply entrenched in the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, the author of the spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi. (more…)

Integral Yoga® was founded in 1966 by the great Sri Swami Satchidanandaji Maharaj (Sri Gurudev), who passed in 2002 at 88. Sri Gurudev also created the worldwide Integral Yoga® Institutes, and Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville®, a thriving Yoga community. Sri Gurudev was a leader in the peace movement in the 60s and has gently led and guided through the principle of: “Truth is One, Paths are Many.” He is is the author of many books and is a blessed and revered figure in the yoga community. (more…)

Bikram Yoga was started by Bikram Choudhury when he founded the Yoga College of India in Beverly Hills in 1974. Born in 1946 in Calcutta, he and his wife Rajashree were both yoga champions in India before coming to the States and starting the phenomenon that is now Bikram.

What is Bikram Yoga?

Bikram yoga is based on 26 set asanas (poses) done in a precise order and sequencing in a room heated anywhere from 95 degrees up to 105 degrees. Bikram defines its yoga style as one of total wellness and rejuvenation with the heated room aiding in eliminating toxins and creating warm muscles that are more supple and inclined to deeper stretches. Hot Yoga is not Bikram. Bikram is it’s own registered and franchised entity. (See additional information section for more on Hot Yoga vs. Bikram.) (more…)

Anusara is one of the newer styles of Hatha yoga, developed in 1997 by John Friend, but no less steeped in pure yogic tradition. Anusara’s literal translations means to “flow with grace” or “following the heart.” According to Anusara’s website, Anusara is “…a powerful hatha yoga system that unifies a Tantric philosophy of intrinsic Goodness with Universal Principles of Alignment™…” What does that mean exactly? (more…)

Welcome to our new series on finding your best yoga practice. And since we are right at the start of Yoga Month the timing could not be better!  From my introduction, I really want to help debunk and demystify some of the more popular and readily accessible styles of Hatha yoga. And please note, there are tons of yogic experts, practitioners, teachers that might have a different interpretation of these schools of yoga. I will try and give the most researched description peppered with my own personal views.
(more…)

Trying to keep you informed on all the ways you can stay fit and healthy is what we do at beYOUmag.com - and we do it with pride. Aside from the fact that we have hundreds of exercise and wellness videos for you to chose from to keep you ever-inspired, I still was curious about Wii Fit - a new fitness product from Nintendo - as were my collegues.  So, some of us at beYOUmag.com took Wii for a spin. (more…)

As a yoga teacher in New York City, students and potential students, are always asking about the variety of Hatha yoga classes and what differentiates one from the other. In order to help make choosing a yoga class and a practice best suited to your needs, beYOUmag.com has developed an informative series and a companion break-out guide to easily understand this ancient yet highly approachable art. In this series we will take a look each week at the most recognized forms of Hatha Yoga. (more…)

“Genetically Modified Food…” You’ve heard the term, but what exactly is genetically modified food? According to ProQuest, a digital service that chronicles scholarly works: “…genetically modified foods or GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) …commonly refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using molecular biology techniques. These plants have been modified in a laboratory to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content….” (more…)

On August 9th, Whole Foods had to recall tons of tainted beef from their shelves and consumers from their freezers that was produced between June 2nd and August 6th. This saddened me greatly. Whole Foods is the arbiter of organic, natural products, using top distributors and taking food safety seriously. But organic and natural doesn’t mean 100% safe if there are chinks in the armor when it comes to keeping tabs on the plants and slaughterhouses. (more…)