"I am happy to be me." A group of sixth grade Ridgewood girls repeated these six simple but empowering words at a very special yoga class held at Flow Yoga Studio in Ho-Ho-Kus recently. Yoga instructor Karen Dillon was using the power of this age-old practice to help teach these middle schoolers how to turn inward to accept themselves for who they are, just the way they are. The class, a Mother/Daughter fundraising event, benefited Yogis Heart, an organization started by Ridgewood teacher Trella Dolgin, which offers yoga scholarships to young adults in financial need.

Yoga's mind/body/spirit connection makes it the perfect activity for pre-teens starting to feel the social pressures of both making friends and making the right choices. "Kids have so many more pressures growing up than we did," says Karen Dillon. "I have such empathy for them and in my class I want them to know truly and simply that they are OK just the way they are." The yoga practice Karen uses teaches mindfulness, she says. "In each of my classes I reinforce the idea of allowing yoga to help you be aware of your thoughts and to be mindful of your attitude and actions." And at this age, she says, it can help them navigate through an awkward and confusing time. "I teach them to come to their yoga mat for comfort, peace and strength. I create a safe space for my students to turn inward and be themselves, to not pretend and to not feel any pressures."

"I like yoga because it clears and relaxes my body and mind," says Julia Kelly, 6th grade.

The Mother/Daughter class was organized by Ridgewood's Lori Colin, who along with her husband David is a partner at Flow and a sixth grade mom as well. Also in attendance were Trella Dolgin from Yogis Heart and Bianca Valentini, 20, a scholarship recipient from Asbury Park.

"At this age they're starting to pull away from us," says Lori. "And I thought this class would be a great opportunity to turn off social media, log off of Instagram and learn some poses with their moms and their friends." The event raised money for future scholarships for Yogis Heart.

"Yoga gives me time to relax," says Danielle Poole, 6th grade.

Trella, a 6th grade science teacher at Benjamin Franklin Middle School and a yoga teacher herself, sees firsthand how pre-teens and teenagers, especially girls, often view themselves as less than perfect. "I see it every day at school. They sit in class, looking at everyone else thinking they must have it all together, when in reality everyone in the room is thinking the same thing about themselves." Seeing them struggle through high school and then with the pressures of college and knowing how yoga changed her own life, Trella helped form Yogis Heart, which provides yearly unlimited yoga scholarships to young people between the ages of 15 and 25 who want to practice yoga but need financial assistance. "Yoga helps you focus, it helps with stress and the pressures young people are dealing with," she says. "It transformed my life."

"Yoga showed me how to concentrate on letting all of the bad thoughts leave my head and I got to do it with my friends around," says Zoe Kay, 6th grade.

The goal that day was to let the girls have fun, give them some important tools and teach them that giving back to the community benefits everyone. But best of all is learning the empowerment that yoga brings, says Trella: "'When I move my body on my mat it's my place and I'm perfect exactly as I am, I'm OK in my body and I'm proud to be me just as I am.' That's something yoga automatically does. It's amazing."

"I like yoga because it inspires me to be better," says Cristina Formichella, 6th grade.

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Yoga for teens yields powerful and positive results

What comes to mind when you think of yoga? Probably pretzel shaped humans, twisted into crazy positions who appear to defy gravity. Or maybe a wild-haired, om-chanting hippie covered in jingly jewelery? Or possibly a lean, muscular, protein-fueled, exercise junkie? Well, just as there are many of those who do fit the stereotypes, there are just as many who simply practice yoga for the vitality, flexibility and peace of mind it brings.

Just as there are misconceptions about the people who practice yoga, the true purpose of yoga is also widely unknown. Yes, the practice/art form is bending, stretching and holding odd looking poses with equally odd sounding names. Although, what you are missing out on by only judging the cover, are all the subtleties that unfold and reveal themselves to the practitioner who regularly takes time to hit the mat. Subtleties such as actually feeling the breath flowing through your body, not just rushing through each inhale and exhale taking the miracle of breathing for granted. Or that glorious moment when that cue your instructor has been repeating class after class, finally clicks in your body and your mind and you simply understand.

When I encourage people to give yoga a try, I usually get one of two responses: Im not flexible, or even more popular, I cant shut my brain off. I chuckle inside when I hear these excuses because those are exactly the things yoga is for! Yoga encompasses mind, body and spirit. Every person struggles with something from one of those categories , or if you are like me, probably something from each.

My biggest struggle in yoga would definitely be in meditation, or the mental portion of yoga. My brain runs a mile a minute on a normal day, and I often suffer from anxiety. So when it was announced that a swami from the renowned Shambhava school in Colorado was going to visit us and give several workshops, one of which focused on meditation and the nurturing side of yoga, I jumped at the chance. Swami Devananda was everything you would expect from a yoga master. She had such a warm, calming demeanor. Her voice was soft and melodic, and as she talked us through the meditation portion, I could feel any reservations I had melting away. Normally when I practice meditation, I tense up from the idea of having to remain still. The swami allowed us the time to become as comfortable as we needed to be in a seated position. Between periods of silence, she encouraged us to calm our busy minds by thinking of things that made us happy: friends, family, flowers in the sunshine or lying on the beach listening to the waves breaking. Normally spending an hour meditating would sound like torture, but with Swami Devananda guiding me, I was so calm and relaxed I almost fell asleep a couple of times.

If you are like me and suffer from an overactive mind and would like to learn how to quiet the endless river of thoughts, I highly suggest guided meditation. Several studios including my own, Sri Yantra Yoga, has classes specifically for meditation. This Saturday, April 13, from 3 to 5pm at Sri Yantra, Swami Devananda will be leading another yoga and meditation workshop.

So if youve been tossing around the idea of jumping on the yoga bandwagon, just remember that yoga is for everyone and its not all about the crazy twisty, upside poses.

Until next time, savor a breath or two.

Namaste.

Bethany Traynor is a yoga instructor, longtime dancer and resident of Chartiers Township. She teaches Hatha yoga at Sri Yantra Yoga Studio in Houston.

Excerpt from:
Yoga is for everyone

11 April 2013 Last updated at 07:11 ET

The police force in Nepal has introduced yoga lessons in an effort to slim down some of its heavier members.

Officers at the Kathmandu HQ said they were concerned some staff were becoming too fat to carry out their duties.

Obesity is an issue for many of Nepal's male and female officers who, once qualified, often forego the daily physical exercise they had to take to qualify for the force.

Many get almost no exercise while working, as their jobs are desk-based.

Added to this is the popularity of eating large servings of white rice with every meal, as well as sweets loaded with sugar and milk.

Police spokesman Keshav Adhikari said almost all police stations in Nepal would start offering yoga to their staff.

"The police have become inactive because of unnecessary development of their body," he said.

Yoga classes have already begun in both Kathmandu and the east of the country.

In the eastern district of Jhapa, more than 70 police officers and constables have been enrolled in a three-week yoga camp.

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Yoga to 'slim down' Nepal police

Yoga mats are becoming a common sight in downtown Scranton as two yoga studios expand in the community of city shops and businesses.

Mission Yoga, in the Scranton Life Building on Spruce Street for more than a year, plans to double its size by expanding to the ground-level unit next door.

In May, Steamtown Hot Yoga will relocate from its current home on Moosic Street to larger, customized space in the Connell Building on North Washington Avenue.

Principals of both studios say they looked to the downtown to capture the commercial energy and tap the growing ranks of downtown dwellers and students.

After more than five years in operation, Steamtown Hot Yoga outgrew its Moosic Street space, said owner Laura Alexiou. She looked everywhere, but settled on the space in the Connell Building. Not only would the unfinished space allow her to customize the studio, it would be easier to install the heat and humidity infrastructure required for the Bikram yoga, which is practiced in humid, sauna-like conditions at 105 degrees. Also, it will shorten Ms. Alexiou's commute. She lives just five flights above the new location in the Connell Building.

She shares the vision of Charles Jefferson, Connell Building developer, to make downtown not just a place to live, but a place for life, with yoga among the other within-walking-distance amenities the city offers.

"He doesn't just want to fill a building with apartments, but also with places and shops that people want and need," she said.

The new studio will nearly double Steamtown's space from 850 square feet to 1,500. Steamtown Yoga offers unlimited classes for $99 per month, and student rates of $165 per semester.

Steamtown is a veteran of the local yoga movement, while Mission Yoga is a newcomer offering a more conventional Vinyasa yoga.

At first, owners Alex Dubois and Kelly O'Brien had a feeling Mission would be either wildly successful or a complete failure. The pay-per-class option, it turned out, resonated with students and yoga explorers with the end result positive enough to expand.

Original post:
Yoga businesses expand to downtown Scranton

The bendy brilliance attained by practicing yoga regularly has become a treasure sought after by many Americans. Hindu monks brought the 5,000-year-old practice to the West in the late 19th century, and by the mid-1980s, yoga was heralded as a way to cultivate strength, mindfulness and calm. And as yoga has gained popularity, newfangled ways of practicing have emerged.

Love the ocean? Had a few too many Appletinis last night? Want to be surrounded by "bro" energy? There's a yoga class for you.

It seems only natural that people who practice yoga will combine it with other interests.

"Yoga is constantly evolving," said Kaitlin Quistgaard, editor in chief of Yoga Journal. "Variety gives people an opportunity to approach yoga from different perspectives."

Here's a look at a few bends and twists from traditional yoga.

Hip-hop yoga

Want to hold side crow to some classic Notorious B.I.G.? At YogaHop, with studios in Santa Monica and Pasadena, you can do just that.

Blaring hip-hop, rock and pop music combine with a high-energy vinyasa flow practice. With a lightning bolt as its logo and brightly colored walls and TV screens, the studio is not what one might imagine as the neighborhood yoga class.

Nevertheless, co-owner Matthew Reyes, 44, has practiced yoga for 15 years, but he has taught spinning to booming pump-it-up music. He began to wonder, "How can I make a class so efficient that it has an element of all of these things?"

Six years ago, Reyes founded YogaHop, a practice that combines traditional poses, mainstream music and an intense workout.

Original post:
Yoga has more to offer than traditional classes

As you stretch into warrior pose and inhale and exhale, you're not just stretching those hamstrings and lungs; you're also doing good for your brain with a practice that can stave off or relieve problems such as stress, depression and anxiety.

Yoga "gives some sense of sanity," says Sat Bir Khalsa, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "You're no longer washed away by the avalanche of your emotions. You are more in control."

Yoga practice can also lower heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure, and may make people less sensitive to pain.

In some cases particularly for anxiety, depression and stress yoga might be more effective than medication, though this hasn't been proved, says Dr. Murali Doraiswamy of the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. While it won't get rid of whatever is causing you distress, it could make it easier for you to deal with the issues. Doraiswamy compares learning yoga to learning to surf: Once you've got the skills, you can ride the wave instead of drowning underneath it.

To find the right sort of yoga practice to calm your mind, it's best to shop around, says Khalsa, a certified yoga instructor and author of the recent ebook "Your Brain on Yoga." Studios and teachers have different styles. Although there's no rule for which practice best addresses the mind, Khalsa suggests seeking out traditional routines that include meditation. Yoga schools with a more physical focus, such as Bikram or power yoga, may provide less mental benefit.

Managing your breath is an important element of the practice, says yogi Cameron Alborzian of Los Angeles, author of the recent book "The One Plan" and host of the reality TV series "A Model Guru." Regulated breathing is where control of the mind begins, he says. In fact, the word "yoga" refers not to the postures alone but to the union of mind and body. Without the breathing and meditative elements, you're just having a nice stretch.

Some people may benefit from visiting a yoga therapist, who typically combines an understanding of yoga with medical knowledge. The therapist can create a custom practice for physical and mental needs. Therapists typically work with one patient or a small group at a time. Make sure your therapist has the right training to address your concerns.

While yoga is an ancient practice, science is starting to take notice of its mental health benefits. Doraiswamy balanced the evidence for yoga and mental disorders in a January review in the journal Frontiers in Affective Disorders and Psychosomatic Research. He and his coauthors found more than 100 scientific studies on yoga and mental health but focused on 16 they identified as high quality.

"Overall, most studies seemed to indicate a benefit," Doraiswamy says. "If this were a drug in the early stages of development, every company would be drooling over it."

However, since yoga is not a medicine that drug makers stand to make millions selling, no company has funded large, extensive trials. Therefore, science cannot offer many firm recommendations on yoga. Doraiswamy is not ready to suggest replacing medications with yoga, though it could make a good addition to treatment. And he cautions that even people with mild depression or anxiety should still visit a medical doctor. The symptoms could be due to an underlying condition that no number of sun salutations will relieve.

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Yoga might help boost mental health