Encinitas has been called the yoga mecca of America. But when yoga started in five of the citys schools this fall, some parents believed the classes were promoting Hinduism. But heated school board meetings crowded with yogas supporters and detractors havent derailed plans to expand the classes to all nine Encinitas schools.

During the first period of each day at Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary school, Kristen McCloskey leads about two-dozen third graders through familiar yoga poses.

On one recent morning, some kids looked around the room as they moved through the sequences and others teetered as they tried to balance - but they were mostly focused and on-task. When McCloskey turned the lights off for the last relaxation pose, most of the kids lay still. She told anyone feeling fidgety to cross their arms over their chests and many did.

At the end of the half hour class, 8-year-old Jacob Hagen said he felt ready for the rest of his day.

Because you get to stretch out," he said. "And its good to be the first class because it wakes you up.

Schools across the country are focusing more on teaching students to make healthy choices. Encinitas Superintendent Tim Baird said yoga is just one part of the districts physical education curriculum.

We also have a nutrition program, we also have a life skills program where kids learn about perseverance and responsibility, he said.

The whole wellness program is supported by a $500,000 grant from the P.K. Jois Foundation. The Encinitas-based group promotes a kind of yoga called Ashtanga.

But, when Mary Eady visited a yoga class at her sons Encinitas school last year, she saw much more than a fitness program.

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Controversy Won’t Stall Encinitas Yoga Plans

Photo by Caroline Boyer. Enlarge photo.

Tierney Thompson, left, and Cece Williams stretch during the Dec. 12 Zen Friends yoga class at the Bonner Springs Family YMCA. Cece is a student in Thompsons special education class at Bonner Springs Elementary School. Thompson taught her students yoga last year and said it helped them learn self-confidence and focus.

At their second-to-last class before Christmas, young yoga students tried out a few poses renamed for Christmas-related symbols at the Bonner Springs Family YMCA.

When it came to the Star otherwise known as the Half Moon Pose a few of the young students took some time to figure out the correct placement of their hands and feet.

Youve gotta listen to your body, instructor Tierney Thompson told the young students who struggled. Youve gotta say If it hurts, then Im not going to do it.

But Cece Williams got the pose down quickly, and in a game at the end of the class, she chose it as her favorite pose. It was probably a little bit easier for Cece because she spent much of the 2011-2012 school year learning yoga with Thompson, who also is her teacher at Bonner Springs Elementary School.

Tierney Thompson, special education teacher at Bonner Springs Elementary School, discovered last year that yoga was a skill that really helped the students in her class. Now, she has created a class to make yoga available to all children. These photos were taken at the Dec. 12 class.

Thumbnails Gallery

Beginning next week, Thompson again will offer the Zen Friends: Yoga for All Kids classes Wednesday evenings at the YMCA.

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Yoga classes serve children of all abilities

London, January 2 (ANI): Even though yoga is a highly independent and personal practice for most fans, a new book has shed light on the emerging world of the yoga competition.

Though it may sound like an oxymoron, author Benjamin Lorr says that the concept is not an impossible one, and is simply a system for determining who was demonstrating a posture best.

In an article for The Daily Beast about his new book, 'Hell-Bent: Obsession, Pain, and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Competitive Yoga', Lorr explains that winning is not the goal as much as allowing others to inspire us to our best.

Indeed, at the yoga competitions that have been cropping up across the U.S., the atmosphere is not one of a typical contest, the Daily Mail reported.

As one might in another sporting event, each competitor is awarded points according to the difficulty of the pose they choose and the skill with which they execute it.

What is unique to yoga is the fact that judges also take into account "the degree to which it is instructive about human potential, destructive to preconceived notions, and indicative of mental-physical alignment."

According to Lorr, the champion is almost elected rather than a winner - an acknowledgement that he or she best represents the excellence in the room.

Lorr, who himself discovered yoga four years ago when he stumbled into a Bikram studio, described how he became hooked on the practice and fascinated by the U.S.-based guru, Bikram Choudhury, who came up with the hot yoga concept.

The yoga competition has existed in India for decades though, a practice endorsed by the most traditional and legendary of yoga teachers, BKS Iyengar.

According to Lorr, Iyengar has even made notes on how competition participants should be judged. ANI)

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Yoga competition 'to determine who demonstrates a posture best' on the rise

By Kate Lundquist on 01/02/2013 10:19 AM

As ladies start to file in at noon for Dao Flow for Women yoga class at the Asheville Yoga Donation Studio, they are met with a large smile and inquiries about their current emotional and physical state from the class instructor, Dr. Robin Saraswati Markus. An hour of asana, education about vitality for women and meditation soon follows.

But her education and guidance for women's health is not limited to the yoga studio.

Markus is a resource for womens health in Asheville. As a Chinese medicine doctor, yoga instructor and acupuncturist, she opens the communication for doctor and patient through several healing modalities. There is a bridge between creativity based on your experience of the world around you and what is patiently sitting in front of you, Markus says about her patients. The holistic gynecologist focuses on individualized medicine oriented to body energetics. We access energy in our own being, the practitioner says. How do we reel and harness the energy we possess to use towards our own betterment at all levels?

Though not a physician, she has a clinical doctorate degree in Chinese medicine and acupuncture. Some of my first patients were women who had infertility marked conditions and were told by conventional doctors that they would never conceive. Within six months, both women were pregnant, Markus says. We have epidemic of external hormones, pesticides found in food, water and pills. It is a swell of hormonal imbalance. Since moving to Asheville six years ago, Markus offers acupuncture, herbal medicine, lifestyle counseling, diet and sleep therapy. She recommends a nutritionally dense diet and stress reduction practices to help balance hormone levels. This is a platform for healing, she says.

As an athlete, gymnast and dancer she was naturally drawn to yoga. I was aware of energy systems through Chinese medicine. The channels and lines from yoga are the same as the meridians in acupuncture. I speak through the language of acupuncture.

Markus has spent the last 10 years formulating the holistic system she offers to patients through her integrative practice, Nourishing Life Center, which will open in Woodfin in early 2013. The center will have several practitioners, and plans to offer Dao flow yoga, Qi Gong, acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, integrative care for womens health and asana and pranayama (yoga poses and breathing practices).

Markus says this is because healthy aging is the whole life cycle, not just the menstrual years. As an example, she shares that she is working with a 72-year-old patient on vitality, cognitive ability, bone, heart and sexual health.

A lot of women dont realize the confusion that comes with menopause, Markus says. This is education, both in private fertility sessions and in the yoga class. We spend 5-10 minutes talking about a certain womens health topic to orient the class. Women are clamoring for information. They want to be inspired and find solutions that move in a healing direction.

She explains that women can get used to feeling unwell, and believe that it is not bothersome enough to do something about it. Her patients struggle with fatigue, low libido, weight gain, anxiety, depression, clinical headaches, food cravings and lack of impulse control all of which Markus says could relate to hormonal imbalance. We have to relearn what self care really is, the 48-year-old says. Women are in opposition with their environment. It brings a cascade of stress, skipping meals, not having restorative sleep, over-stimulation and overworking. Growth and nourishment is the basis for Dao Flow Yoga for Womens Health. In this class, students open the blood flow through the bundas (energy locks) and mudras (hand symbols) to create energy flow. They channel healing through pranayama and the energy lines, Markus explains.

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Yoga and holistic care for women’s health

Yoga iPhone apps to take your practice on the road

Posted January 1, 2013 10:30am by Kate Currin Tags: Health, Stress Relief, yoga, fitness, exercise

From work stress to pregnancy nausea, yoga workouts can help alleviate a lot of conditions. Finding the right type of yoga routine to fit your individual needs can also be difficult. Before you buy a bunch of yoga DVDs or invest in a pricey yoga studio membership, try some of these recently-released or updated iPhone yoga apps. They are much more affordable and you can do these yoga practices anywhere!

Yoga is a great way to unwind and relax especially after a hard day or life-altering event. Yoga helps you slow down your breathing and connect with the world around you. You breathe in and breathe out all the negative thoughts floating around in your head while stretching your hard-working body. Whether you do yoga every day already or have never even tried one yoga pose, take a chance with the Let It Go Yoga app for iPhone ($1.99). This calming app will have you chilled out in no time.

Are you yoga lover on the go? Then you will love to take the free YogaWorkout.com PRO app for iPhone with you wherever you strike a yoga pose. This yoga app is perfect for fitting in a quick yoga break in your office or in your hotel room while traveling. The Detox Flow is just the right yoga workout to get you back on track after a long night out with friends. Try the Gentle Hatha Sequence when you wake up to get the day started on a positive note.

Download the Appolicious Android app

Are you behind on your yoga practice? The Simply Yoga app for iPhone ($2.99) offers two levels of yoga routines with three length options. The 20, 40, and 60 minute yoga workouts give you the ability to fit in a yoga workout every day. The app offers six prepared yoga routines or gives you the ability to customize your own yoga workout. The in-depth pose descriptions make the Simply Yoga app perfect for beginners to use along with a studio yoga practice. Impress your yoga teacher with at-home learning on your iPhone!

Tired of the same old yoga practice? Think you can come up with a better flow? Try your hand at creating your own yoga flow practice with the Yoga Creator app for iPhone ($4.99). Yoga gurus and teachers will love this app to customize new classes on the go. Teachers can send new yoga routines to students via email using the Yoga Creator app.

Are you pregnant and looking for a gentle way to stay in shape? The Pregnancy Yoga with Ayala Gill app for iPhone ($2.99) will help you embrace your changing body and prepare for child birth through gentle yoga routines. This yoga app includes routines to help support nausea and fatigue as well as enhancing connection and love.

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Yoga iPhone apps to take your practice on the road

NORTON Its that time of year again, when well-meaning people ask whether youve made a New Years resolution. Much as I hate to admit it, the clichd idea of getting back to the gym after a whirlwind of celebrating usually makes my list.

The warm glow of family hearths fades quickly under those fluorescent lights, so this year, Im thinking about yoga. The stretching and breathing go easy on the spirit while challenging the body as much or as little as you need.

I tried yoga for the first time not long ago. Before that, I had taken Pilates for a couple of years, but I didnt know a lot about yoga. I decided to give it a try at the Norton Parks and Recreation Center.

The class was billed as vinyasayoga. Before I went, I did a little reading. If, as I did, you read from multiple sources, you may feel as if there are as many styles of yoga as there are instructors.

Womens Healthmagazine lists 14different styles on its website. Other sources, such as Yoga Journal,name even more. Some are proprietary methods developed by particular teachers, while others are general terms.

Dayna Macy,an editor at Yoga Journal,said hathayoga has become an umbrella term for physical yoga practice that focuses on postures and breathing. Hathayoga includes many sub-types ashtanga,hot yoga, Iyengar,and vinyasa,just to name a few. Traditional yoga also includes mental and spiritual discipline, but classes for fitness tend to focus on the physical, with elements of meditation and reflection.

Gail OLearyof Nortonteaches vinyasayoga at the recreation center. Her class links breath with movement in a flowing, moderately paced series of postures.

A longtime fitness instructor, OLearygot into yoga partly as a way to cope with the physical wear and tear of years of high-impact fitness. She tried yoga with a friend, and was hooked. My body was telling me it was good, she said. Before long, she was taking a certification course.

The class meets in a converted house owned by the town. The room is small, but it has glass doors overlooking the woods behind the house. The cost is $10per class for drop-ins, or $9.50if you sign up for an eight-weeksession.

OLearywelcomed the group of about a dozenwomen and led us through the series of poses she calls the vinyasa flow,including downward-facing dog (hands and feet on the floor, bent at the hips, knees straight, in an A-frame shape), upward-facing dog (body stretched the opposite way, hips near the floor), plank (a push-up like pose, arms straight), and chaturanga(similar, with arms bent).

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Yoga: A mind and body resolution for the new year