Email a Friend
Print Article
This article is from the WebMD Feature Archive
Yoga Finds New Twists in the U.S.
They're bending, stretching, toning bodies, quieting minds -- and reaping some unexpected benefits from the ancient practice of yoga. One friend met her fiancé at yoga class. Another friend credits yoga for the speedy birth of her first child -- just four hours. That's amazingly fast for someone over 40, her obstetrician says.
If you don't know a Tree Pose from the Shiva posture, it's time to get with the program -- the yoga program, that is. Yoga studios are everywhere, even in small towns in Idaho.
But that hasn't always been the case. Just eight years ago, New York's Himalayan Institute of Buffalo was struggling to build a base of students. Now there's a waiting list, even with three more classes added. "All the classes are full before they start," says Rolf Slovik, the Institute's director.
The legions of yoga fans are, well, stretching out across the country. Today, the practice boasts 20 million followers -- more than triple the 6 million enthusiasts in 1994, says Trisha Lamb Feuerstein. She is the head of research for the Yoga Research and Education Center, part of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, based in Santa Rosa, Calif.
"In the 1960s, yoga was an attempt to get a drugless high," she tells WebMD. "Now it's mostly about stress reduction. Also, a lot of the boomer population is hitting an age where jogging is too hard on the body. People are looking for a form of exercise that is gentler."
In Manhattan's trendy Jivamukti Yoga Center, infant-and-mom yoga classes are big, says spokesman Valerie Sicignano. "I'm talking about little babies ... they watch their mothers, try to mimic with legs and arms what their mothers are doing."
There are yoga classes for toddlers and teens, even students in their 70s, "something we'd never seen before," Sicignano tells WebMD.
"We've become a social center in many aspects," she says. "Mothers want to meet their peers. People have met people; there have been romances, friendships forged. Since Sept. 11, we're seeing people we haven't seen before, people coming for the spiritual aspects of yoga, people feeling they need a whole-body approach to health and exercise."
New Twists on an Ancient Practice
Women still dominate yoga classes (most classes are at least 80% female). But men are slowly coming around. The more savvy men realize they can meet "great women" at yoga class, says Slovik. Others are looking for a new style of workout.
"Hot yoga" or "Bikram yoga" (started by Bikram Choudry, the yogi to the stars) is trendy on both coasts, and it appeals to men in a big way, says Feuerstein.
Hot it most definitely is -- sauna-style hot, in a room heated past 100 degrees Fahrenheit, she says. "It's supposed to make the muscles more flexible, thereby reducing the possibility of damaging muscles. But any type of exercise in 100-degree heat is difficult on the body. If you're 20 or 30 you can probably do it, but if you have undisclosed cardiovascular disease like a lot of boomers do, it can be dangerous."
del.icio.us
Trends-
1.
-
2.
-
3.
-
4.
-
5.
-
6.
-
7.
-
8.
-
9.
-
10.
-
11.
-
12.
Guided Meditation: Personal Insights
Learn from Dean Ornish and Anne Pearce Ornish, how to allow guided meditation to show you the way to personal insights.
