When I think of yoga, images of peace and harmony spring into my head. I think of slow, intricate postures performed with the goal of unifying my body and spirit. I think of serenity. What I don’t think of is competition – but that may soon change.

Oregon-based website OPB recently posted an article on “competitive yoga,” which has apparently been gaining in popularity in Oregon and around the world. Competitive yoga seems to be rooted in the unorthodox Bikram style, which is performed in a room heated to 105 degrees! Bikram, or “hot yoga” is also more aggressive than other yoga styles. (more…)

I know there are so many strains of yoga - and for the yoga purists it might seem overwhelming, daunting and just plain hokey. Well not to thousands of practitioners and students who take some of these more untraditional practices and call it there own.

Enter Laughter Yoga. Laughter Yoga (LY) is a relatively new style of yoga (more…)

Many of you might think I’m on a sexual tear or afflicted with spring fever after writing on the Orgasmic Diet and now how yoga can benefit your sex life, but the book on the market, Better Sex Through Yoga by Jacquie Noelle really got me thinking seriously about the topic, and after Googling the phrase, “better sex through yoga” I’m not the only one thinking about it. (more…)

As a yoga teacher in New York City, I teach a cross-section of people at various levels of fitness, yoga and other sports. However, a majority of my New York yogis are also runners. New York has a lot of runners: maybe it’s Central Park, maybe it’s the high level of stress in this city, maybe - like yoga - you don’t need a lot of money or stuff to do it — just grab your running shoes and hit the pavement. But all that running and hitting the pavement has taken a toll on a lot of my students who run and do yoga. Chief and often serious complaints are: tight hamstrings and tight hip flexors. So I’ve come up with a series of super quick poses geared to the runner, but that anyone can do to release tension in the hamstrings, hip flexors and glutes. (more…)