A Yoga News Roundup

By Brooke Hewes, 5-23-08

From yoga-related law suits to resonating floors, these stories are worth a read…

1. Yoga student sues yoga teacher. A yoga student at the Northbrook YMCA in Northbrook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, recently sued her teacher after incurring what she called “severe and permanent injuries” from an adjustment.  According to Chicagoist.com, student Janet Weiss blames the YMCA for not adequately checking into teacher Wendy Sadler’s training, which took place at the Himalayan Institute in Pennsylvania.  Comments on the Windy City-based website include interpretations of the incident as a heads up regarding aggressive adjustments to a thumbs down (actually a “Dammit, Janet”) toward the plaintiff.

2. NIH First Annual Yoga Week. The National Institute of Health, an entity within the Department of Health and Human Services, is currently hosting its first annual Yoga Week. The event, comprised of classes, lectures and discussions highlighting the practice and science of yoga, started Monday, May 19, and ends this Friday, May 23. All sessions are held in Bethesda, Maryland, where NIH is headquartered. A schedule with exact locations and times as well as information about NIH can be found online.

3. Celebrities Design Yoga Bags for Breast Cancer Research. Bidding on eBay for a celebrity-designed yoga bag to support breast cancer survivors and patients ended last Thursday, May 15. The auction was organized by the Libby Ross Foundation, a New York City-based nonprofit dedicated to breast cancer research, education and eradication. Designers included Courteney Cox Arquette, Susan Sarandon, and Miley Cyrus among many others.

Also pertinent is the foundation’s “Yoga Program for Breast Cancer Survivors,” which offers free weekly classes and workshops for all survivors of “women’s cancer.” The classes take place at OM Yoga in the City and are supported by the Foundation, OM Yoga and Swarovski North America.

4. Yoga for At-risk Communities. Teenagers at the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center in San Leandro, California, are practicing yoga to relax in what ODE Magazine reporter Josey Duncan calls an “extremely stressful environment.” Classes are offered five days a week to incarcerated youth in the B2 Mental Health Unit and weekly to staff. The service is one of many initiatives of the Niroga Institute, based in Oakland, which also offers yoga to cancer patients and survivors, recovering addicts, seniors and at-risk and incarcerated youth. Additionally, Niroga’s year-old Integral Health Fellowships Program recruits and trains African American yoga instructors. ODE’s article was reprinted online at the Huffington Post; additional Niroga programs are detailed at niroga.org/programs.html.

5. Sound Resonance Floor Installed in Colorado. A sound resonance floor, the first in the country, was installed this winter in the Boulder Valley YMCA of Lafayette, Colorado. The hardwood SO Floor, designed by the local SO Sound Solutions, harnesses harmony from music streaming through speakers arranged on the ceiling that is then amplified by devices (the patent-pending SO SoundHearts) beneath the floor. In addition to the floor, SO Sounds manufactures Acoustic Resonance Therapy (ART) massage tables and therapeutic chairs.

6. Wii Fit Yoga. According to a product review on CNN.com, the newest in way to practice yoga comes with a Wi-Fi connection, interactive balance board, a T.V. and Wii. For those unfamiliar with Wii, it is Nintendo’s popular, high-tech, interactive-as-they-come version of a video game. The “game” Wii Fit offers 48 fitness activities spanning four categories: yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance activities. During any of the 15 featured yoga poses, one foot must be kept on the board at all times so, writes CNN reporter Wes Nihei, “Wii Fit can measures how centered you keep your body.” This may warrant its own story in the near future….

7. Ashtanga Guru Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois travels to Studio Opening in Florida. Finally cleared for travel, Pattabhi Jois (affectionately referred to by his students as Guruji) recently arrived in Islamorada, Florida, for the May 23 opening of his new yoga shala, the Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute USA. Classes will be held the 24 through 26 and cost $50. Guruji, who turns 93 next month, was forced to cancel planned visits in March of 2007 and 2008 due to health problems.

8. Yoga Boy Cartoons. OK, so this isn’t really news per say, but it’s neat (if not a bit nerdy). Check out the many adventures of yoga boy at Ashtanganews.com.

Reputable Online Resources for Yoga News:

• Yoga Journal’s Yoga Buzz
• Ashtanga News
• Yoga.com

I’d love to hear your comments on the stories above or see links to other yoga stories in the news. Thanks for reading.