Iowa State has taken to hot yoga in the offseason since Fred Hoiberg arrived in 2010. (Eli Hamann/Ames Tribune)

Iowa State will begin official team practices in just a few days, but the lead-up to the preseason for the Cyclones has involved something new-age. Forty-minute weekly sessions of steaming, hot yoga, something the program has taken to doing the past three summers.

You have to wonder how a horde of hoopsters could embrace something so unalike to basketball prep. The Ames Tribune dug in and endured the heat and humidity for a recent sesssion with the team -- inside a reported 100-degree room.

Mark that down as what might be a first in human history: comparing a Yoga session to winning a mid-season game against Kansas State or the like. However little impact it may or may not have, you can't say the Yoga's hurt ISU. Since starting it two years ago, ISU has made two straights NCAA tournaments and won 23 games in each of those years.

But the Cyclones will be challenged this season. Although Kane is a one-year grad transfer from Marshall who will definitely help Fred Hoiberg's team get points, ISU lost approximately 53 points per game from last year's roster. The most notable losses are Will Clyburn and Tyrus McGee. Ejim, Niang and Kane will be the big three responsible for making it three straight NCAA trips for the Clones.

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Iowa St. preps for season with hot yoga classes

25 September 2013 Last updated at 20:16 ET By Tim Mansel BBC News

Very little research has been done into the value of yoga and meditation in prisons - but many prisoners have found they help overcome the stresses and strains of life behind bars. Prison authorities too are waking up to the possible benefits, providing classes in the hope of fostering a calm and positive atmosphere.

The precision of the poses is remarkable - and for Nick, a man in his early 40s, apparently effortless.

We're in a small yoga studio above a pub in west London, daylight filtering in through slatted blinds. Nick holds Warrior 2 - arms stretched horizontally, one knee bent, one straight behind him Then he offers to demonstrate a handstand, and lifts himself on the palms of his hands, knees and feet together.

He is a model of balance and control.

"That's six years in prison," he grins.

Prison was Villa Devoto, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

"It was the worst place I had seen in my life," Nick says. "They don't have cells, they have open wings, where you can have anything from 100 to 400 people per wing. There were no beds so you'd literally be like sardines sleeping on the floor."

He demonstrates this, lying on his side on his yoga mat, his head propped on his hand.

Nick was no innocent. Together with a friend, he'd run a highly successful business smuggling cocaine supplied from Colombia to Europe. They were multi-millionaires.

Link:
How yoga is helping prisoners stay calm