Hatha yoga provides millions of practitioners with valuable benefits ranging from improved physical conditioning to greater peace of mind; ultimately, however, yoga’s purpose is not physical fitness or relaxation. Yoga provides a philosophy of living, an ethical approach to life that any person—of any religion—can enjoy. [Click here to read full article]

The Union government of India is taking steps to protect its modern treasure trove of yogic traditions, according to an article in The Economic Times. The government is creating a digital database of 1,500 yoga postures and their therapeutic properties. The health ministry’s Department of Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Sidha, and Homeopathy will maintain the… [Continue Reading]

While hip-hop yoga programs entice teens and dance divas, Megan Garcia, a plus-size model and a yoga instructor for more than a decade, is reaching out to larger participants. “Yoga is for everyone,” affirms Garcia, who leads classes in New York City and has released a DVD titled “Just My Size Yoga.” [Click here to... [Continue Reading]

Americans spend $2.95 billion per year on yoga classes and products, according to the second annual “Yoga in America” survey, sponsored by Yoga Journal. The study reported that 16.5 million Americans, about 7.5% of the adult population, now practice yoga. [Click here to read full article]

The Bikram Yoga case settled out of court in May 2005, avoiding a federal court hearing to determine whether Bikram Choudhury’s copyrighted sequence of 26 poses and two breathing exercises could be legally protected. [Click here to read full article]

“Yoga is now popular in China, and more and more Chinese youngsters want to practice it as a means of relaxation, as well as to keep fit,” says Brian Zhang, director of the 2005 China International Yoga Show and Conference. As we go to press, this event is about to take place at the Beijing… [Continue Reading]

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, yoga teachers were among the many who hurried to provide aid. Amy McDowell, chief financial officer of YogaFit® Training Systems Worldwide Inc., based in Redondo Beach, California, made this appeal to 35,000 YogaFit-certified instructors: “In the spirit of helping our fellow man, cat, dog and other living beings,… [Continue Reading]

Leigh A. Milne, IDEA member, yoga teacher and personal fitness trainer, conducted a small study in Vermont to assess how older adults might benefit from a 12-week yoga class. Milne and her team recruited 16 female subjects with an average age of 78 to participate either once weekly or twice weekly in 1-hour Iyengar yoga… [Continue Reading]

Research on yoga shows encouraging evidence of its value as a treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), based on a review of existing studies on yoga and anxiety disorders. The review was conducted by investigators from the School of Integrated Health at the University of Westminster in London. [Click here to read full article]

A 12-week yoga program was more effective than conventional exercise or a self-help program for improving function and reducing chronic low-back pain, according to research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (2005; 143 [12], 849–56). Scientists at the Center for Health Studies at Group Health Cooperative, a nonprofit, integrated healthcare system with enrollees in… [Continue Reading]