Yoga in the House!

If you read the last post, you’ll remember that yoga took over the Adams House mess hall during the optional winter activities week before classes formally commenced (this “House” that I live in is like a dorm, but older and fancier than most..)

Now that the semester has begun, the dining hall is an eating frenzy again, but yoga fortunately hasn’t been consumed. All semester, the house is hosting weekly yoga classes in one of the lovely common rooms. And it’s a lot more affordable than the local studios, at $15 for 5-weeks of class, equivalent to a single class at a lot of nice studios. If this isn’t a good deal for yoga, I don’t know what is.

I went on Wednesday and was very impressed! The class was well taught and welcoming to beginners, and it was great to see many friends trying yoga for the first time. I admit the class felt a little slow to me, but it was a nice change of pace from the hastiness of life at Harvard. And I couldn’t complain after the teacher massaged my back and shoulders at the end of class, helping melt away the tightness that has built up since coming back. My friends also reported good feelings after class and plan to go back.

Who’d have thought that yoga classes would ever take place in the dusty old study rooms of the oldest college in the country?  All I know is that now is an exciting–and intriguing–time for yoga at the university and in young people’s lives.

I’m glad to be a part of the movement and look forward to seeing where the practice goes and how it grows among college students and other young people realizing its benefits.

Harvard dining hall becomes a yoga studio for a week!

It’s true! This past week, during wintersession–a week devoted to optional supplemental programming–one of the upperclassmen dorms at Harvard transformed into a yoga studio. Adams House (we call our dorms houses!) exchanged the dark mahogany tables and chairs of its historic eating room for a rainbow of yoga mats and barefeet.

Students of all levels were welcomed to the classes, which took place three time a day and were taught by a Harvard student, Bethania Bacigalupe. A vinyasa yoga teacher, Bethania has practiced and taught all over Boston and beyond, and took take time off  school to study yoga (visit www.YogaInTheSky.com to learn and see full class schedule).

The turnout all week was surprisingly strong, which bodes well for more yoga on campus. I’m proud to see Harvard embrace yoga–literally clearing the way for it in the central social space of the building.

If yoga in the dining hall doesn’t pique students’ interest in yoga, I don’t know what will. Here’s to more yoga at Harvard in 2012…!

New York Times Sparks National Yoga Debate!

It’s been another big week for yoga in the national headlines. It all started last weekend, when the New York Times Magazine published an article entitled How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body. Shocked by this salacious headline? So was I–joining countless other yoga people who found it incendiary, inaccurate and flat out offensive.

That said, the article made some good points. The rise of the yoga workout and all sorts of extreme iterations of yoga for athletic and competitive people has led to injury; so is the nature of any intense physical activity. Overtraining or trying extreme moves without proper coaching and strength is–not surprisingly–likely to cause pain.

There are many styles of yoga, and not everyone is suited for or ready for the most challenging. Do what brings you satisfaction and enjoyment, not frustration and anxiety. It’s ok, most people can’t stand on their head either! It took me years to learn to do a chataranga correctly, and I only got there because a teacher worked with me closely and because I was committed to building the strength and focus to do it right.

Yoga, like everything in life, is a process; it doesn’t yield immediate results. That’s why yoga is referred to as a practice. It takes time and dedication over the long-run. To me, yoga is a way of thinking–of being mindful of one’s thoughts, physical and mental state, and impact in the world. I love how yoga makes me feel inside and out. Sure, it tones my muscles, but if that’s the only reason I did it, I could just lift weights.

Today, I was excited to see that the NY Times–after setting off a firestorm among yogis all week with the Magazine piece–decided to open up the conversation in the ‘Room for Debate’ section. Titling the conversation Me, Myself and Yoga, I again bristled at the headline. But this time I was much more pleased by the content. Each of the six essays, written by leaders in the yoga community, offered a much-needed counter perspective, highlighting the centrality of balance and self-respect that underlie yoga. It’s hard to come by these things in our crazy busy lives, but they’re more important than ever in our culture of instant gratification.

Let’s not let yoga become the source of injury and upset. Be careful, and think before contorting.

Yoga is for grandmas, too!

A few weeks ago, the yoga world was abuzz with news about Bernice Bates, the oldest American yoga teacher at 91. Impressive, indeed. But my 91-year-old grandma Marge is pretty impressive too!

Spending time with her over the holidays, my mom and I finally got grandma to do yoga with us. Every morning, after her coffee and shower (must warm up first, says grams!), Marge dons her sweatsuit for her series of stretches–beginning by placing her palms on the ground. Everything in her route can definitely be considered yoga, and rather challenging poses at that.

Instead of attending yoga class, she prefers to watch the Today Show–and, honestly, she admits she is not a fan of group activities in which she is the oldest by 50 years or is among a bunch of geriatrics who can’t keep up!

She testifies that her stretches reduce stiffness and tension and allow her to stay active; and that she does, walking on the beach everyday and still living completely independently in LA. In the past couple of years, lots of research and discussion on the benefits of yoga for seniors has emerged, and Marge is living proof of these findings. Plus, she looks fine in her plow pose!

With my family of YogaFiends (I recently profiled my vinyasa-loving brother), I am even more inspired to practice yoga and encourage others to do so, as it helps us all in different ways, no matter the age.