Category Archives: yoga class

Yoga, Business and Government

Posted on May 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

Reprinted from YogiJBrown. This is the best article I’ve read regarding the recent flurry of news around taxes and New York City yoga studios. Everyone practicing or teaching yoga should read it so here it is!

Yoga, Business and Government

May 7, 2012
by J. Brown

With all the deserved criticism being leveled upon the yoga industry of late, it’s important to distinguish between the influence of corporate business and what is happening at the grassroots. There is no better example of the disparity between these two mores than the efforts of Yoga for NY, an organization of yoga centers and teachers that have banded together to see that their interests are represented in local government.

In 2009, faced with a decimated budget, the NY State Bureau of Proprietary Secondary Schools sought to re-interpret an old statute and fleece yoga teacher training programs by having them classified as vocational schools. The BPSS sent out 80 cease and desist letters to yoga centers throughout NY state threatening closure and heavy fines. The statute cited had an exemption clause for instruction in “dancing, music, painting, recreation and athletics.” Apparently, they didn’t think to include yoga when the statute was originally written in the 1940′s.

Had the BPSS been successful, the large majority of small independent yoga centers would have been forced to close. Fortunately, the NY yoga community rallied and formed Yoga for NY to challenge the BPSS assault. Yoga for NY was able to raise funds, hire lobbyists and ultimately solicit the support of then Senator and now, Attorney General Schneiderman, who ushered through new legislation that added yoga to the list of exemptions.

Recently, a new set of issues has arisen and, once again, Yoga for NY is being called to action. At a meeting last month, attended by representatives from 55 yoga centers and Senator Perkins, two topics of immediate concern were voiced:

1. Are yoga classes subject to a 4.5% sales tax?
2. Are yoga teachers employees or independent contractors?

When I opened a yoga center in 2007, I was informed by the Department of Taxation that yoga classes are a form of instruction, comparable to say a dance class, and are not subject to sales tax. However, several other centers who are currently under audit are being told something different. Upon further inquiry, the Department of Taxation referred to a vague notice on their website that includes the word yoga and is dated April 20, 2011. When pressed further on the lack of clarity in the notice, they returned that “the matter is under review.”

What I find particularly interesting here is that one of the reasons that yoga centers are being reevaluated for tax liability is the way that yoga is being advertised. There is a specific provision in existing law for taxation of “weight control salons.” So, those who have long lamented the superficialization of yoga in advertising have an even more legitimate gripe. Touting yoga as form of weight loss may well cause yoga classes to become newly taxed, which means that the cost of all yoga classes will go up. The added expense will most certainly be passed directly to the consumer. Smaller centers simply cannot afford to absorb the cost.

The second issue regarding the status of yoga teachers is even more alarming. If it were deemed that yoga teachers must be classified as employees, requiring yoga centers to abide by the corresponding regulations, most smaller centers would again be forced to close or operate illegally.

I made my living as a self-employed yoga instructor for over ten years before I opened a yoga center. In all that time, I never once received a W2. I was always an independent contractor with a stack of 1099′s. Many of the teachers working at my center have only one or two classes a week. Even those that do teach more still have classes at other centers. In order for a yoga teacher to make a living, they must teach at more than one center. Also, yoga teachers have their own websites and contract different pay scales and terms with different centers. Seems to me, yoga teachers are the very epitome of independent contractors.

Both of these issues are unresolved. Senator Perkins has made his office available to help Yoga for NY work through these matters. One important aspect that has become clear is that there is no official, government sanctioned, definition for what a yoga teacher does. From a yogic perspective, this is profoundly appropriate, but when it comes to the taxation of business, it is eminently problematic.

Whether or not a working definition for what a yoga teacher does can be formulated that will allow independent centers and teachers to do the small business of yoga in their local communities and still satisfy their civic obligations remains to be seen. However, these issues stem from the common misconception that yoga has become a lucrative career. In a recent study, yoga is listed as the 4th fastest-growing industry in America, just behind generic pharmaceuticals, solar panels and for-profit universities. From 2002 to 2012, the Pilates and Yoga industry grew an average of 12.1% per year and is projected to expand 5.1% in 2012. In the five years to 2017, industry revenue is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 4.8%.

What is lost in these statistics is the hard fact that little of this incredible growth has found its way into the pockets of independent yoga centers and teachers. In fact, the average pay for yoga teachers has not changed in the last fifteen years. These profits are being reaped by corporate entities who are capitalizing on the soul work being done by heart-felt practitioners who do it for love more than money.

I have often been highly critical of the NY yoga community. After attending the last Yoga for NY meeting, I felt proud to be a part of it. On the whole, the NY yoga community is not only earnest in its efforts to help people but is also doing its best to effect good governance. I sincerely hope that the state, and potentially federal, agencies charged with making the pertinent determinations will not simply play into the hands of corporate interests but do right by the constituents they are commissioned to serve.

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Posted in business, yoga class

Omtown Heroes

Posted on May 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

From Yoga Journal

In places without hospitals or high schools, without movie theaters or a McDonald’s, the dedicated gather—often in offbeat venues—to practice. Meet the American yogis who are bringing yoga home.

By Andrea Ferretti

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Cowboy Community

WHO CeCe Prince, Araya, Jamie Axelrod, Deb Phenicie,Marcia Suniga, Andrea Malmberg, Jagoe Reid
OMTOWN Lander, Wyoming
POPULATION 6,551

In the middle of Wyoming at the foot of the Wind River Mountains is a small but diverse town, which, residents say, is getting groovier by the day. Lander was once dependent on ranching and mining, but it is now the international headquarters for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), which means there’s a steady stream of young outdoorsy types and a growing interest in complementary healing, spirituality, and New Age thinking. “It’s probably more integrated than any other western town in Wyoming. You can go into Lander Bar and see a granola climber with long dreadlocks playing pool with a rancher in a hat, and they’re both throwing cowboy jokes around,” says local yoga teacher Araya (who uses no last name).

Jagoe Reid dreamed of upping the grooviness quotient with a yoga studio, but six months after its opening she found the rent too high and the turnout too low. Not to be deterred, Reid joined together with Araya and eventually created a co-op of seven teachers whose styles range from Ashtanga to Anusara to Iyengar Yoga.

For two years, the Limber Body, Limber Mind studio survived because the teachers donated their time and satisfied themselves with the rewards of connecting to their students. Now the studio is almost profitable. “Small towns take longer to warm up to new ideas,” Reid says. “But those who’ve made a commitment to build our sangha [community] are steadfast.”

 

I ♥ the Heartland

WHO Kathy Chinouth
OMTOWN Lena, Illinois
POPULATION 2,622

Lena, Illinois, is the sort of place where you leave the car running when you slip into the post office, and where the grocery store will take an IOU. But there’s not much in the way of entertainment; the old farm town has neither a movie theater nor a rec center. As a result, the gym is a popular hangout—so Kathy Chinouth turned it into a yoga hot spot.

“Most people thought it was all about putting their leg behind their head,” she says, recalling the response when she posted a sign offering yoga (free to gym members, $2 for nonmembers). “I just told them to come to class and see.” Six or seven people did.

Over time Chinouth, who studied with a teacher in a nearby town, has drawn devotees-including local farmers—she never expected. Modestly, she chalks it up to word of mouth; no one wants to be left out, she says. But it’s clear that Chinouth, 56, knows her community well and has made people comfortable with the unfamiliar. She dims the lights to help with self-consciousness; she has first-timers come early to learn the breathing; and perhaps most importantly, she urges students to try three classes before deciding what they think.

Plus, she’s a great role model. One farmer, who admitted he almost laughed out loud during his first class, later noticed that his arm was quivering in Side Plank Pose as Chinouth, nearly 20 years his senior, demonstrated the pose with ease—while talking. He was sold.

Now her hatha class is consistently filled, and her students brim with enthusiasm. Not long ago, in fact, after she confessed she wasn’t altogether happy teaching at the gym, her students called landlords and real estate agents in a quest to find her a better space. “I was hoping there would be interest,” she says, “but never in my dreams did I think there would be this much interest.”

 

Gotta Have Faith

WHO Betty Wooten with Wendy Wilson
OMTOWN Georgetown, Kentucky
POPULATION 19,158

The senior minister of the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Georgetown, Kentucky, believes gays should have the right to marry, so he proudly displays a bumper sticker that reads, “Another person of faith voting against the marriage amendment.” That is no surprise to church member Betty Wooten, who says, “We always were a bunch of rebels.” But she was surprised—and scared—when the Reverend Wendy Wilson, an associate minister, asked her to teach yoga classes to members of the congregation. “My first reaction was, there’s no way I can do this,” Wooten says.

She was selling herself short. Although Wooten had discovered yoga just five years earlier, at the age of 56, it had had a dramatic effect on her life. After the death of her husband, she and her daughter, Vickie, went on a spa vacation to ease their grief. While there, the two stumbled into their first yoga class and have been smitten ever since. “Yoga did for us what it’s supposed to do,” she says. “I tell people that it saved my sanity and they think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not.”

Vickie pursued a teacher training certificate, but Betty never considered teaching until she was asked to. After ample prodding by her daughter, Betty decided to face her self-doubt. Equipped with her husband’s old neckties for straps and limited wall space (they have to take down a large cross to do inversions), Betty began to teach—and found her calling as a yoga teacher. Now a loyal group meets at the church every Wednesday morning to chant Om, do pranayama, and practice flow yoga. Wooten is pleased with the class size—nine students. “If it gets any bigger, we’ll have to start ripping pews out of the sanctuary,” she quips.

 

Onward Christian Yoginis

WHO Cindy Senarighi, Robin Norsted
OMTOWN White Bear Lake, Minnesota
POPULATION 24,453

Cindy Senarighi remembers feeling wary about going to her first yoga class because the church she’d been attending warned against any practice that stilled the mind, thereby allowing “evil” to enter it. After trying a class, though, she realized that she had experienced a new kind of stillness, and instead of feeling further from God, she felt closer. Her friend Robin Norsted felt the same.

“We decided to explore an alternative format for people who wanted to experience the benefits of yoga but who were concerned that it would clash with their Christian faith,” says Senarighi, who is currently a seminary student. So they started a company called Yogadevotion and began teaching in churches with the goal of building healthy congregations. To that end, they give a portion of their proceeds to the health ministries of each church that offers the classes.

The style is hatha flow, with generous helpings of Christian spirituality added. At the beginning of class, rather than chanting Om, students are encouraged to silently invoke a favorite phrase from a hymn or scripture, or a Christian mantra such as “Yahweh,” the Hebrew name for God. In class, Yogadevotion students might imagine grabbing the hand of God for support during an intense Warrior Pose or resting in God’s presence during Child’s Pose. A typical class ends with “Peace be with you,” rather than “Namaste.”

Now seven years old, Yogadevotion has built a healthy following and employs 10 teachers in 20 churches in the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs. Senarighi is delighted but not surprised. “Most people don’t have a problem incorporating their faith into the practice,” she says. “They learn that what’s at your center is what you’ll relate to in the practice. For Christians, that center is Christ.”

 

When Things Fall Apart

WHO Melissa Derbyshire
OMTOWN Port Clyde, Maine
POPULATION About 150

Since Melissa Derbyshire moved to Port Clyde eight years ago, she’s devoted herself to creating a stalwart yoga community in nearby Tenants Harbor. She finds that yoga helps people cope with the frigid weather and keeps them from going stir-crazy as winter’s chill drags into May. It also forges bonds; her students often sail and socialize together.

But she didn’t realize how caring her community could be until March 2003, when her son, 25-year-old Marine Brian Kennedy, became one of the first Americans to lose his life in the Iraq war. Soon after, her students gathered at her home, brought food, and held a small ceremony to honor Kennedy, planting a tree in his memory.

With 31 years of practice under her belt, Derbyshire finds herself leaning more on her yoga. “The practice gives you that inner strength,” she says. “Even when you’re falling apart, you discover you still have strength deep down.” And now more than ever she is conscious of motivating her students and herself to keep finding the value of yoga. “This has shown people what yoga can do, because it really does help in a crisis,” she says. “It gives me a chance to lead by example.”

 

Cold Mats, Warm Hearts

WHO Diane Ziegner
OMTOWN Talkeetna, Alaska
POPULATION 860

Seven years ago, Diane Ziegner, 43, went to a class at the local primary school and found a small group diligently following the instructions of Iyengar Yoga teacher Patricia Walden on a much-used video. “They were so enthusiastic,” she recalls, “but most of them had never had a hands-on adjustment. I thought to myself, These people need a teacher.”

“These people” are residents of the remote village of Talkeetna, where there are killer views of Mount McKinley, but you have to drive 60 miles for major grocery shopping. The physically active community of fishermen, dogsledders, skiers, and climbers supports a local radio station, a community theater, a float plane service to carry people into really remote spots, and now a yoga studio in a yurt.

Ziegner regularly commuted two hours each way for a teacher training program with Iyengar Yoga teacher Lynne Minton. Then in 1999 she began teaching at schools and churches, and by 2003 found a permanent home in the yurt she’s named Studio Z. Her corps of students, ranging from 16 to 60 years old, is close-knit, even though they don’t all get to class regularly. “If it’s 20 below here or the fish are running, people aren’t going to come,” she says. “But I know they love it. They always come back.”

 

Sunshine State Salutations

WHO Mary-Alice Herbert
OMTOWN Sugarloaf Key, Florida
POPULATION Less than 1,000

It’s a dream vacation—morning yoga on a white-sand beach, your gaze drifting toward distant islands floating on the pale turquoise water. When class begins, the sun is shining, but as you lie in Savasana, a breeze picks up and warm droplets of rain dot your body, leaving you calm and refreshed. For Sugarloaf Key locals this trip requires no splurging or travel—they just head to nearby Sugarloaf Lodge beach, where they can join guests of the lodge and Mary-Alice Herbert, a self-described late-life yogini and certified Integral Integrative Yoga therapist, who teaches twice a week.

The rapid and at times extreme weather changes inspire Herbert, 64, to teach on the beach, even though she has her own studio, called Sugarloaf Key Yoga, or SKY. The weather nudges students to remember that just like nature, their yoga practice, emotions, and lives are always in flux. “There are days when it’s hot and sticky and you don’t want to practice. And then a breeze comes and everything changes,” says Herbert, who grew up on the island.

With a handful of regular students in their 80s, a group of teacher trainees, and children who sometimes come to the beach class, Herbert often has to adapt her lessons on the fly. Her solution is simple: “I teach the postures according to my students’ ability. I have an enormous repertoire of modifications.”

Herbert hopes to teach at a prison and is encouraging one of her teacher trainees to teach yoga to hospice caregivers. “At 64, it’s good to feel like I’ve really got my shoulder to the edge of the world,” she says, “and I’m helping to shift it the other way.”

 

Yogis Without Borders

WHO Desiree Kleemann
OMTOWN Point Roberts, Washington
POPULATION 1,308

If you’re heading to the Madrona Yoga studio from anyplace else in Washington state, have your passport handy—you’ll have to cross the border twice to get there. Point Roberts, with a population that swells from 1,300 year round to 3,500 during tourist season, is a five-square-mile peninsula that hangs off the coast of British Columbia. Call it an oversight or a governmental snafu—the land is just south of the 49th parallel, so when borders were drawn in 1846, it became U.S. territory.

The quirks of cross-cultural living include trips to Canada to go to the movies or shop for shoes, and crossing two borders to hit U.S. soil for school or work. In town, everyone accepts both forms of currency, and Desiree Kleemann, 44, teaches her own version of vinyasa flow to a mix of Americans and Canadians. “I have so many students who come from Canada that the Border Patrol is starting to recognize them,” Kleemann says. “They’ll say, ‘Going to yoga? Have a good time’ and wave them through.”

Like the town itself, Kleemann’s studio on her wooded property is a refuge from the stresses of modern living. “When you’re in Savasana in Vancouver, you hear traffic and smell exhaust,” she says. “Here the most irritating thing might be hearing a dog bark. It’s almost like being on retreat.”

Having lived in Vancouver, Kleemann, a former professional dancer whose own influences include Shiva Rea, Sarah Powers, and Judith Hanson Lasater, enjoys bringing in teachers from the city (45 minutes by car) for workshops. But she doesn’t regret her decision to teach small classes in a small town; she cherishes the relationships she’s developed with her students. “Small studios are doing important work,” she says. “We’re just as important as those with 400 people going through every week.”

 

Fungh-ky Yoga

WHO Alison Donley
OMTOWN West Grove, Pennsylvania
POPULATION 2,652

After 12 years as a nomadic yoga teacher—driving to and from rec centers, gyms, and colleges to teach—Alison Donley opened a studio in her southeastern Pennsylvania town of West Grove. At a meeting to obtain her zoning license, Donley found herself fielding questions about plans for a massage room—was it all really just a cover for an X-rated massage parlor?

Then she had to deal with an unappealing local phenomenon: manure. “Basically, it stinks—often,” she says with a laugh. West Grove is the mushroom capital of the United States, and the conditions that create great ‘shrooms can make for some foul-smelling days. “There’s nothing like asking people to breathe deeply when it smells like chicken poop.”

Nixing her children’s suggestion to name her studio Yoga Fungha-mentals, Donley invested in an aromatherapy diffuser, peppermint and lavender oils, and a sense of humor about malodorous moments. Less than a year after opening its doors, the small, mainly Ashtanga studio—called the Light Within, based on a quote from Swami Rama—is thriving. Donley and her colleague, Carol Murray, a student of New York-based Beryl Bender Birch, teach 12 classes per week and plan to offer Mysore classes soon.

Donley, 44, says she has “lived yoga” for about 10 years now and attributes her devoted following to her own love of both the practice and her students. “I might not be the most gifted teacher in the world, but I love these people,” she says. “I want them to see how incredibly amazing they are. And the mat’s a great place to start.”

 

Great Yoga on a Great Lake

WHO Sandra Carden
OMTOWN Leelanau County, Michigan
POPULATION 21,000

In 1973, Sandra Carden and her husband, Field, set off on a three-month road trip from Detroit to do some soul-searching. With the book Be Here Now (by spiritual leader Ram Dass) in hand, the couple cruised the countryside and practiced yoga wherever they could—at campsites, in motel rooms, on top of their VW bus.

Carden, who had run out of medication for her hypothyroidism, decided to focus on poses that would help with the condition. She says that she was “hooked for life” when after the three-month adventure, her doctor said her thyroid was back to normal.

Carden and her husband eventually landed on 10 acres in Leelanau County, on Lake Michigan, and have lived there for the past 26 years. And since 1989, Carden has been teaching at her studio, Union/Yoga. The studio has developed a healthy following of 100 students a week and offers small yoga teacher trainings, based on Carden’s blend of metaphysics and the chakra model.

Her philosophy on keeping things fresh is simple and wise. “My first approach is that we’re all students,” Carden says. “We are all beginners. We must remain open to what is, as we are always changing.”

 

Deep in the Heart of Texas

WHO Patty Williamson
OMTOWN Fredericksburg, Texas
POPULATION 8,911

In a small town in Texas, not surprisingly, it’s hard to make ends meet as a studio owner. That’s why full-time yoga teacher Patty Williamson decided against opening her own studio. The quaint town of Fredericksburg draws more than a million visitors a year, so the rents are comparable to those in Austin—a city almost eight times its size.

Williamson’s decision has proven wise. She’s found incredible success piecing together a schedule of teaching at gyms and other locations. In five years, the self-proclaimed “corporate dropout” has gone from teaching 6 to more than 100 students each week.

It wasn’t easy—early on, Williamson had to face fearful churchgoers and people who stereotyped her as some sort of strange hippie. “It happens when you’re a vegetarian in a cattle state,” she says. But at the same time, she has been amazed by how much the local residents have grown to accept her. Perhaps surprisingly, half of her current students are middle-aged men—including construction workers, doctors, and real estate agents.

Recently, Williamson caught the attention of the owners of Yoga Yoga, a large studio in Austin. Impressed by her accomplishments, they’ve asked her to share her secrets and help them set up pilot yoga programs in other towns and communities. According to Williamson, “This is the most exciting thing that’s happened yet.”

 

Smoke-Free in Dodge City

WHO Nathalee (Nat) Shriver
OMTOWN Dodge City, Kansas
POPULATION 25,176

One hundred and fifty years ago, Nathalee Shriver, a yoga teacher whose motto is “Leave a path of peace as you go through life,” might have been run out of town by a bunch of tough-talking gunslingers. Fortunately, Dodge City has come a long way since its lawless days in the 1800s. True, it’s still better known as the setting for the TV series Gunsmoke than for Nat’s Yoga & Dance Studio, but the local community has backed Shriver’s yoga teaching since she introduced it 10 years ago.

“Some people were afraid it was something mystical, but more believe it can really help put their life in order and give them flexibility, strength, and good health,” she says.

 

From Gridiron to Guru

WHO Kelli Slocum
OMTOWN Iowa City, Iowa
POPULATION 65,000

Iowa City is a college town, home to the University of Iowa. And like many other college towns, it offers the same things as big cities do: culture, good restaurants, and now, lots of yoga studios. Kelli Slocum, a lifelong resident and yoga teacher, has eagerly watched them pop up. Today she’s a regular instructor of both flow and hot yoga at the Studio, a space founded by Tim Dwight, an NFL player with the New England Patriots.

Dwight, Slocum explains, had a favorite yoga studio in La Jolla, California; when he returned to his hometown of Iowa City, he was determined to re-create it there.

“We believe he succeeded,” she says. As a teacher, Slocum encourages her students to challenge themselves but also to listen to their bodies. “The cool thing about yoga is that it’s vigorous and motivating and you can feel great and accomplished, but there is always that next level,” she says. “You can always challenge yourself to take it a little bit further.”

 

Wisdom Does Wonders

WHO Tracey L. Thomas
OMTOWN Greensburg, Pennsylvania
POPULATION Population 15,889

Many folks in this not-so-tiny town 45 minutes southeast of Pittsburgh don’t like to get too far out of their comfort zone. They turned down an offer to be the home of the first maglev (magnetically levitated) high-speed train in the country. “It would have made Greensburg a landmark,” says Tracey Thomas, a longtime resident, “but they panicked, shut down the idea, and built a Wal-Mart instead.”

And some were a bit suspicious when Thomas opened the city’s first yoga studio, suggesting it was part of a religious cult that involved brainwashing. Others have been more supportive of Wisdom and Wonders, Thomas’s yoga studio and child-care center; the number of students has risen from 8 to 68 in just six months. Even the kids at the daycare center do yoga; other specialty classes include senior, prenatal, and family yoga; candlelight meditation; power yoga; and even yoga for golfers.

Thomas believes that her training as an elementary school teacher informs the way she guides her students. “I never focus as much on content as I do on planting that desire to learn,” she says. “Your gift as their teacher is to give them something to carry with them forever—the yearning to learn more.”

 

A Refreshing Hit of Southern Comfort

WHO Rebecca Gatz
OMTOWN Paragould, Arkansas
POPULATION Population 22,000

If you wander into one of Rebecca Gatz’s classes in Paragould, Arkansas, don’t be alarmed if you hear instructions given in the local vernacular: “In Warrior II, don’t point like a coonhound or let your knee or toe go catawampus!”

In the heart of the Bible Belt, Gatz decided to bring yoga to her hometown once she discovered it helped with her asthma attacks. In fact, she went to her first class 12 years ago and hasn’t had an asthma episode since.

Gatz teaches Iyengar-style yoga and loves teaching all ages and types-from the local Senior Bees to a summer kids’ college program to leadership groups.

 

O Pioneers!

Responding to a call for submissions on the Yoga Journalwebsite, more than 150 yoga teachers wrote in and told us that, yes, yoga really is everywhere. You flooded our in box with passionate stories about thriving yoga scenes from Skagway, Alaska, and Fargo, North Dakota, to Frankenmuth, Michigan, and Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia.

You showed us how, teacher by teacher, yoga is making its way into America’s nooks and crannies—into farming villages, resort towns, through subfreezing weather, and onto dazzling beaches—and improving the quality of life for people who never thought they’d be doing the Down Dog. Most of you are pioneers; you’ve overcome immense challenges to offer classes, many of you volunteer your teaching time, week in and week out, and you are almost all women. (A few male yogis wrote in with stories of great enthusiasm and inspiration, too, but most were students, not teachers.) What really rocked our world was to learn that all the teachers we interviewed know each and every student by name-heck, they usually even know whose daughter scored the winning point at the basketball game last week.

Andrea Ferretti, Yoga Journal’s lifestyle editor, is an Omtown yogini who hails from Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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Posted in personal yoga practice, yoga class

Yoga offers benefits for people with special needs

Posted on March 19, 2012 | 3 Comments

Calm, strength and stamina are among benefits seen

  • Yoga sessions with instructor Karen Fakroddin have improved mobility, strength and digestion for Erin Feeney, who has cerebral palsy.
Yoga sessions with instructor Karen Fakroddin have improved mobility,… (Chuck Berman, Chicago Tribune)
March 14, 2012|By Joan Cary, Special to the Tribune

Erin Feeney capped off her 19th birthday celebration with a huge accomplishment that still makes her smile.

For the first time in her life, she was able to blow out her birthday candle.

On Nov. 11 last year, when she turned 20, she did it again.

“Not two or three, but one, and one is way better than none,” said Erin’s mom, Louise Feeney of Naperville.

Erin has cerebral palsy, which alters all of her muscles, including her speech, but not her intelligence. Louise Feeney credits her daughter’s accomplishment with the birthday candle and other improvements in the quality of her life to yoga. A student at the College of DuPage, Erin spends an hour each week with Karen Fakroddin, a Yoga for the Special Child practitioner at Universal Spirit Yoga in Naperville.

Parents, educators and medical professionals are recognizing the benefits of yoga for young people with special needs, like Erin.

Three years of yoga have had a dramatic, positive impact on her daughter, Louise Feeney said. She believes that yoga has helped Erin with digestion, and given her more trunk control, less pain in her limbs, and more stamina, and helped with her breathing.

“The beauty of yoga is that it helps you wherever you are at,” said Fakroddin.

In Erin’s private yoga session, Louise Feeney helps move her daughter to the mat where Fakroddin cradles Erin in her arms, gently manipulating her constricted arms and legs to stretch out and to relax. She supports Erin, calmly encouraging her to use her neck muscles to lift her head for seconds. What to most are simple movements like putting her feet flat to the floor are slow and short-lived for Erin, but she is thrilled to accomplish them.

Yoga for the Special Child (www.specialyoga.com) is an international program designed by former Evanston resident Sonia Sumar in 1970 to help babies and children with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism, attention deficit disorder and learning disabilities. There are now six certified practitioners in the Chicago area, and many in 26 other states and 12 other countries.

“The knowledge of yoga for special needs is up, and there is more coming,” said Fakroddin, who points out that practitioners never work without a doctor’s clearance and a thorough intake assessment. “It helps the special needs children to slow down, to focus. They are able to accept their limitations and work through them. It’s a tough world. To be able to empower them, to give them the tools to help themselves, is wonderful.”

Jessica Wheeler, 16, and Ellie Martin, 13, are enrolled in Fakroddin’s group class, and their mothers have witnessed improved strength, balance and posture in their daughters, as well as the joy of being in a social but noncompetitive class.

“It’s good for Ellie to be able to do something that everybody else can do,” said Suzanne Martin, of Naperville, whose daughter has a neuro-muscular disorder. “This is kind of an even playing field. Ellie can just join in. She loves swimming, but this is her favorite.”

Diane Wheeler, of Winfield, said Jessica, who has cognitive anxiety issues, uses her yoga breath at home and in class at Wheaton North High School to calm herself down.

“She’s more coordinated and can follow directions better,” Wheeler said.

He cautioned that instructors need to be informed and thoughtful about moves and positions, recognizing in particular that Down syndrome can present spinal cord issues.

“But yoga is going to benefit these kids more than it’s going to be a detriment,” he said.

The common thread among parents of special-needs children is that they want their child to learn how to relax and focus, said Erin Haddock, a Yoga for the Special Child practitioner at The Discovery Clinic in Glenview.

“You have to take it very, very slow. Any improvement is a success,” Haddock said. “We work with autistic children, and it’s a huge thing just for them to be OK with something new. One of the intangible benefits for them is self-confidence, being aware of themselves and knowing that they can control their own body.

“It’s great if you can start young, with early intervention,” Haddock said. “But with every case, we start very slowly. Toe and foot exercises. Eye movements. Working on the core strengths such as breathing and speaking. We have a girl in her teens who is just learning to walk. When she started, her feet were tight and curled up. It’s not what you would picture as your typical yoga session. At first it was a matter of rotating the toes gently, rotating the ankle, working on some standing poses.”

Nick Statkiewicz, 15, of Glenview, was one of Sumar’s first students and now works with Haddock. Nick came to his adoptive mother, Chris Statkiewicz, as a foster child of 3 with multiple diagnoses including autism and cognitive issues.

“Sometimes Nick’s body and his emotions go in all different directions,” Chris Statkiewicz said. “They said he’d never ride a bike, but he rides a bike. He shoots hoops. Yoga has helped him control his movements and limber up. There are times when he’s all over the place, and I will see him use his yoga to pull it all together. I am still surprised, but I see him do it all by himself.”

Statkiewicz believes every child should start the school day with yoga. “Think of how their days start. Get up. Get dressed. Eat. Get to school,” she said. “The children are hurried from one thing to another, emotions flying, and then a teacher says to sit down and start learning.”

In Kimberlee Goldsmith’s class at Bogan High School in Chicago, her 13 special-needs students, including 10 with autism, begin each school day with 25 minutes of yoga.

Goldsmith added it to her class time three years ago after observing how schools in India use yoga. She also incorporates academics such as counting by fives into their yoga time, maybe holding a pose for 25 seconds.

“They are much more focused during their yoga, so whatever lesson we incorporate, they learn and remember better throughout the day,” she said. “I have had many people inquire about what I do. There is not much written about it.”

At Brown Elementary in Chicago, 30 students, including 10 with special needs, stay for an elective Wednesday after school hip-hop yoga program offered through Carla Tantillo’s company, Mindful Practices, in Oak Park. A former teacher, Tantillo and her staff work with 20 schools, offering after school yoga programs. They also train teachers and staff to use yoga methods to calm their classes.

“The most powerful way to make a difference for special needs in a school setting is to train the auxiliary staff as well as the classroom teachers in calming methods, so everyone works as a team,” she said. “Every teacher is telling kids to calm down, be quiet, not be hyper, in a different way. Special-needs learners require continuity. They are often not given the tools besides medication to control their behavior. A calming program that is the same from class to class can give them those tools.”

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Posted in Children, Health, Research, yoga class

Yoga, art classes help girls on probation in Dakota County

Posted on December 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

From Twin Cities.com

With olive oil facials and downward-facing-dog poses, girls on probation in Dakota County are learning new ways to cope with impulsive behavior, anger and trauma.

During two-hour yoga and art classes, the Twin Cities-based Purusha Project teaches at-risk girls how to make better choices, manage their anger, become accountable and find healthy emotional outlets, said Jennifer Mohr, 29, the group’s executive director.

“It’s a different type of therapy,” Mohr said.

The gender-specific classes are tailored for girls ranging from 13 to 18 years old. In the two years since the 16-week course began in Dakota County, 29 girls have graduated.

Next week, Dakota County Juvenile Services will begin its second year contracting with the Purusha Project, said Jim Scovil, the department’s director. Probation and court can order the classes as an alternative to anger management and community service.

“There are limited resources available to high-risk girls involved in the criminal justice system,” said Traci Pence, the county’s gender-specific senior probation officer, in a statement about the program. “This new curriculum has had an overwhelming response from the girls, their families and the staff within Dakota County.”

The Purusha Project tailored its classes after The Art of Yoga Project, a program that piloted its curriculum in 2002 and introduced it to the California juvenile justice system. More than a dozen groups

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across the country, like the Purusha Project, have adopted the classes since.

But counties are finding it more difficult to finance the classes because of budget restraints, Mohr said. Scott County used to offer the classes for girls in juvenile detention, but after more than a year, the county eliminated the courses from its budget in March.

“We’re finding that the budget cuts at the county are causing us to lose our place,” Mohr said. “We have got ourselves established. We’re hoping to find a way to be sustainable.”

The Hennepin County Home School, a state-licensed residential treatment center, also orders the classes for its juvenile offenders through a yearlong program, Mohr said.

The Purusha Project allowed Dakota County to pilot the classes in 2009 for free. Scovil said the county wanted to be sure the classes had positive outcomes before buying them. This year, the county replaced its traditional therapy for girls with the yoga courses.

The poses and art projects give “the girls something else to be doing while they’re talking, as well as teaching them how to calm themselves through yoga,” Scovil said.

Dakota County did not reveal the identities of the girls involved in the program because of Minnesota Data Practices laws that protect their privacy, Scovil said.

The Dakota County classes meet weekly and cost $150 per session for up to 15 girls, Mohr said. The price includes art supplies, an instructor, worksheets and journals.

The classes include a trained instructor from the Purusha Project and require a county staff member – usually a probation officer – to help monitor the group.

Along with 40 minutes of yoga, the girls journal and create an art project that focuses on a theme for the day, such as nonviolence, gratitude or positive body image, Pence said. Girls sometimes create sculptures, jewelry, collages or other artwork.

They also learn about healthy hygiene and how to be kind to themselves and others with affordable self-care projects, such as pumpkin and olive oil facials and aromatherapy.

This year, 11 girls graduated from the class. In 2009, 18 graduated.

Girls “came really begrudgingly and they ended up enjoying it,” Mohr said. “Some of our toughest gals are the ones that don’t want to leave.”

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Posted in Art, Children, yoga class

Yoga Gets into Med School: Students learn to relax patients, and themselves

Posted on December 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

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Posted in Health, yoga class

Can yoga and meditation help bring peace to Afghans? Amandine Roche means to find out.

Posted on December 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

From Reuters

As the Afghan government’s Western backers pour in cash, and tens of thousands of foreign soldiers patrol the country, a French human rights activist is trying a new way to break the cycle of violence in Afghanistan: yoga and meditation.

“In thirty years of war, we’ve tried everything and nothing has worked,” said Amandine Roche, who believes it is better to try to rid the mind of vengeful thoughts than to disarm a fighter at gunpoint.

Her organization, the Amanuddin Foundation, aims to promote nonviolence by teaching techniques of calm.

Volunteering since February as she searches for funds, she has given classes at which she demonstrates yoga and meditation to men, women, children, police officers, soldiers and former Taliban insurgents.

“It’s a new solution to an old problem. War starts in the minds of men, so peace starts in the minds of men. You cannot bring peace with the means of war, it’s as simple of that.”

The most recent conflict, which started with the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban government in 2001, has killed thousands of soldiers and civilians, and cost tens of billions of dollars. According to United Nations figures, 2011 is the most violent year since the war began: all signs, Roche argues, that the Western military and diplomatic effort isn’t working.

“My project might look crazy, but what is more crazy?”

Key to her work is the idea that peace cannot be imposed from outside, but must come from within an individual, she said.

“I’ve become firmly convinced that nonviolence is not the best way for Afghanistan, it’s the only way.”

The young Afghans who have tried yoga and meditation have been receptive.

“When I do yoga exercise I forget all of my pains and I feel comfortable,” said Masoda, a 12 year old schoolgirl at one of Roche’s classes for children in the capital Kabul.

INNER SHOWER

It might be quite a leap from working with children to bringing that same peace of mind to the gunmen of Afghanistan, but Roche, who was detained by the Taliban in 2001, says they are human too.

“My vision is to teach meditation to all the insurgents, to organize vocational training for them to become mediation teachers, so … they can go back to society, they have a job, they can reintegrate, and they will become peaceful.”

“Meditation is like an inner shower,” she said. “You feel dirty when you don’t take a shower for one week, you feel the same with your mind when you don’t meditate. It helps you to purify your mind, be rid of all the negativity, frustration.”

On Monday, the German city of Bonn is hosting a major international conference about the future of Afghanistan, at which the West will signal its long-term support for the country.

But evidence of the damage done by the cycle of attack and revenge is everywhere in Afghanistan. This week, in reaction to a NATO raid along the Afghan-Pakistan border that killed 24 of its soldiers, Pakistan pulled out of a major international conference on the future of the country.

“You look at the story of Afghanistan — from the British to the Russians to the Mujahideen, the Taliban, now democracy — it’s always revenge for the past war,” Roche said. “It’s never ended. If once, one day someone says ‘I stop, and you stop, and let’s stop together’ … let’s see.”

Still, Roche, who has worked on peace-building projects in Asia, Africa and South America, knows there are no easy fixes for the troubles of Afghanistan.

“I’m not a prophet, I don’t want to convert people. It’s not even a solution, it’s a tool. I don’t pretend I’m going to save Afghanistan.”

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Posted in Compassion, travel, yoga class, yoga philosophy

Yoga a Growing Trend Among Youth

Posted on December 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

From Daily Herald

Count kids among the people joining the yoga craze in the United States.

Yoga-loving parents are signing up their kids at yoga studios, Ys and park districts to learn the practice.

Whether it is an “Itsy-Bitsy Yoga” program for toddlers and their parents, practicing Kundalini or reciting Indigo affirmations, youngsters are developing muscular strength and learning good posture and breathing that can help them to find peace in their over-scheduled lives.

“Yoga should be about showing them the proper way to move and balance, about learning how to have proper body mechanics and alignment,” said Pam O’Brien of Greenleaf Yoga Studio in Geneva. She has taught yoga to children in the past, and intends to start classes again in January. She may also start teaching yoga to the children enrolled in an after-school care program at the Geneva Park District.

She adopts a different tone with children.

“To me, it is like you have to be playful,” she said. For example, to illustrate a point about breathing, she may place a stuffed animal on a child’s stomach. Back-to-back poses and buddy breathing are other favorite exercises, she said.

Besides yoga studios, many park districts offer yoga to young practitioners, including the Naperville, Lisle and Fox Valley districts. A Naperville studio, Universal Spirit Yoga, offers an extensive list of classes for children from infancy on up.

Juanita Monaghan teaches a family yoga class on Saturdays at her Fusion Mind Body Studio in downtown Elgin.

She emphasizes fun, taking advantage of children’s natural tendency toward pretend play. “Let’s be like snakes!” Monaghan tells the class, hissing during a snake pose, and she barks, “Arf! arf!” during a downward-facing dog. Children crawl under their parents during bridges.

“I hope what they do together they can do at home,” she said.

Monaghan sees yoga as an alternative to the competition-oriented sports — and something that can help children who aren’t interested in those sports.

Monaghan also wants kids to get a break — “a break from the rigidity at home, a break from the expectations,” she said. And because children are naturally more flexible (because their egos haven’t grown so much they get in the way, she said), they “feel good knowing they can do what their parents can’t,” Monagahan said.

She worries about the increasing rate of obesity among youth, and believes yoga’s practices can help with that, by teaching children to be mindful of what they put in their bodies and why, as well as the physical exertion. They learn “to make choices based on what is better for your body,” she said.

Fun is the key to getting children to focus in class, Monaghan said. If you give them something fun to do, they will become absorbed, according to Monaghan.

And she also believes children model what they see their parent doing, so if the parent is practicing yoga, the child will be interested.

Except for her own teenage daughter.

“My daughter won’t touch it,” Monaghan said, laughing.

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Posted in Children, personal yoga practice, yoga class

Pandora Debuts Workout Stations

Posted on September 13, 2011 | 1 Comment

From PR Newswire

OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Pandora P +0.39% , the leading personalized radio service, today announced a genre addition of workout stations. Genre stations on Pandora are stations seeded with artists and albums specific to a certain type of music, mood, event or holiday. After adding a genre station each individual listener can further personalize and refine the station by providing thumbs-up and thumbs-down feedback. The twelve new Pandora workout stations are accessible via http://www.pandora.com/ #/genres/workout.

Vice President of Corporate Communications, Pandora, Deborah Roth said, “People have been asking for stations designed specifically to get their blood pumping during workouts. We created twelve great stations from various starting points across the music universe, everything from 80′s to country to hard rock, all geared toward giving people energizing music to listen to while they’re exercising.”

The new Pandora workout stations include:

80′s Cardio – The 80′s were a decade full of aerobics videos, step madness and Flashdance. On 80′s Cardio, you’ll hear a mix of fast-paced Pop, Modern Rock and R&B 80′s hits from artists like Billy Idol, Michael Jackson and Journey, guaranteed to keep you moving.

Alternative Endurance Training – Tune in to a steady pace of alternative and indie rock songs from the hottest bands from the 90′s, 2000′s and Today including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rise Against and Sublime. Recommended for running, cycling and endurance workouts.

Classic Rock Power Workout – Power your workout with the biggest tracks from the iconic Classic Rock bands of the 60′s, 70′s and 80′s like AC/DC, Aerosmith and Queen, featuring legendary anthems and guitar riffs.

Country Fitness – Enjoy a mix of Country hits from the past two decades from the hottest stars including Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum and Jason Aldean. You’ll hear upbeat music perfect for walking, light jogging, warming up or cooling down.

Dance Cardio – Get in the groove with today’s biggest dance hits produced by popular artists remixed by Deadmau5, Tiesto and David Guetta. Power your cardio routine with four on the floor dance music, epic build ups and breakdowns.

Electronic Cardio – Take the biggest electronic hits from the club directly to your mobile device, while at the gym or working out outdoors. You’ll hear beats from Daft Punk, Skrillex and Diplo, recommended for all types of cardio activity to improve endurance.

Hard Rock Strength Training – Pump up your strength training and intense workouts with this playlist of today’s hardest rockin’ bands like Linkin Park, Three Days Grace and Disturbed.

Pop and Hip Hop Power Workout – Power your workout with the hottest Top 40 songs from today’s charts and the past decade, featuring artists like Ke$ha, Black Eyed Peas and Beyonce.

Pop Fitness – Get motivated while walking, light jogging or exercising with a mix of the biggest Pop artists of the 90′s, 2000′s and Today including Katy Perry, Maroon 5 and Train.

Rap Strength Training – Hear big beats and rap jams from iconic artists like Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and Eminem to help motivate while lifting weights or performing the latest muscle confusion training routine.

Yoga – Listen to a variety of music infused with Indian, New Age, soundscapes and ambient electronic sounds from Deep Forest, Deepak Chakra and Brian Eno to help focus your mind, body and spirit and increase flexibility.

Yoga Workout – If one of your goals in a Yoga session is to sweat, than this station is for you. While capturing the mood and essence of Yoga, the music on this station features music with tempo and rhythmic grooves by artists like Cheb I Sabbah, LTJ Bukem and J-Boogie’s Dubtronic Science.

For more information on how the new Pandora workout stations were created or to speak to a Pandora representative, please contact press@pandora.com.

ABOUT PANDORA

Pandora P +0.39% gives people music they love anytime, anywhere, through connected devices. (OK, we’ve added comedy as well so we’re also up for playing some jokes you’ll love.) Personalized stations launch instantly with the input of a single “seed” – a favorite artist, song or genre. The Music Genome Project®, a deeply detailed hand-built musical taxonomy, powers the personalization of Pandora® internet radio by using musicological “DNA” and constant listener feedback to craft personalized stations from a growing collection of hundreds of thousands of recordings. Tens of millions of people in the U.S. turn on Pandora to hear music they love. www.pandora.com

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Posted in yoga class

Helping Wounded Warriors at Fort Campbell

Posted on July 26, 2011 | Leave a comment

From News Channel 5
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – Wounded soldiers returning to Fort Campbell are limited. Many can’t run, can’t lift weight, and can’t even do a single push-up.

But some injured vets are taking up an unlikely practice on post in place of the gym. It’s not only helping repair their bodies, but also their minds.

In a yoga room, more than just an afternoon workout takes place. With a mat and the soothing words of their instructor, some Fort Campbell wounded warriors are given an hour to escape.

Brooke Neeley is a physical therapist for the wounded warriors who return to Fort Campbell.

“It seems like a lot of the warriors that come in have the mentality of feeling broken, like they are not a soldier anymore, that they will not be able to do it again,” said Neeley.

That’s why she urges them all to try yoga classes on post. She has watched soldiers like Christopher Malloy achieve that impossible push up.

“I have noticed an improved difference in my flexibility, my movement including my hand,” said Malloy.

She has also watched them overcome one of the most challenging obstacle: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“With the PTSD they have and the experience that it’s helping that as well when they didn’t think that it would have any affect at all in the beginning,” Neeley added.

The program is being tested at Fort Campbell. It’s already been so successful that the yoga classes will likely be offered at other military posts in the near future.

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Yoga sweeps Lebanon as people seek inner calm, combat stress

Posted on July 23, 2011 | 1 Comment

From The Daily Star

By Alex Taylor

BEIRUT: Up dog, down dog, vinyasas, asanas – to many the vocabulary of yoga may as well be an alien language, but slowly more people in Beirut are getting down with their downward facing dog and giving yoga a shot.

Pioneering Beirut yogi Danielle Abisaab, who teaches classes out of her home studio in Mar Mikhael, has witnessed the growth of the trend since she moved from New York City back to Beirut to open her studio six years ago: “There are maybe 30 teachers now and [six years ago] there were less than 10. My classes grew from five people to 30 people and it keeps on growing.”

When Hiba Saab, until recently a teacher at the Shiva Lila studio in Clemenceau, first attempted teaching in Beirut three years ago, people “would either have all these misconceptions about what [yoga] is or they would just blow it off or not really be interested.”

But Saab is finding new studios and new teachers all the time. Now when she says she is a yoga teacher, Saab gets a very different response from people. “They’re immediately interested,” she says. “It’s just a very different energy around it – that’s how yoga is, wherever it starts it will just exponentially boom.”

Beirut has a number of formal yoga studios including Shiva Lila, the Clemenceau Yoga Center and the Beirut Yoga Sivananda Center in Gemmayzeh. But yoga has also taken root in many nooks and crannies of Beirut. Yoga classes are popping up in home studios, converted living rooms and balconies across the city, feeding off of the growing curiosity surrounding the 5,000-year-old practice.

According to Catherine Chidiac who teaches out of her family’s living room in Tabaris, many of her students decide to try yoga because, “people started hearing about it in the media – this star and this actress are doing yoga,” or they hear about it as a way to get in better shape.

“Most of the students come to me to lose weight … this is one of the reasons why they start but once you start your awareness changes,” she added.

It can be difficult to find an entry point into the Beirut yoga scene. An important resource is the website yalayoga.com, which lists teachers, studios and events in Beirut and the region.

Abisaab recommends that first-time yogis call a teacher to talk about their class, but “as much as you can talk about yoga the best way to really grasp it is to experience it.”

Whether beginners are seeking to tone their body or just calm their mind, yoga can have many benefits.

Health experts have long heralded the positive impact of yoga, from improved flexibility and posture to reducing blood pressure and managing chronic health problems such as arthritis, cancer, pain and insomnia.

But the most common benefit that most yoga practitioners talk about is stress reduction.

Yoga actually prepares you in practical ways to deal with the stresses of a chaotic city like Beirut, says Chidiac – including road rage.

While stuck in traffic, the calming lessons of yoga “help you take a step back and a deep breath in and think shall I react this way or not … Yoga postures are actually designed for you to act the same way you act in them, in real life,” she says.

Abisaab, who sought yoga to help her manage her high stress architecture job in New York, believes that yoga’s growing popularity reflects a desire to find better ways to manage stress.

“The ambient anger [in Beirut] is so strong that you cannot but be affected by it. That’s also a reason why people, whether they recognize it consciously or not, want something that’s going to calm them down, they need all the tools that they can get,” explains Abisaab.

Abisaab is on a mission to change this reality of Beirut through yoga.

“I always say that if I can change one person around me by being an inspiration to them and they can in turn change another person – that’s how it works, it always starts with one.”

Change your body, change your mind, change the world? It might sound like an ambitious agenda, but Abisaab is realistic: “I’m not overly ambitions, I don’t want to change the world because that’s a stupid concept, you cannot change the world, you can change yourself. By changing yourself you can inspire others into doing the same. That’s my mission.”

However, her secret dream to accomplish her goal is to gather all of Lebanon’s political figures for a “kick a**” yoga class.

“I was thinking how awesome it would be if I could do it on Martyrs Square, just imagine …”

For more information visit the following websites: Yalayoga: http://yalayoga.com/. Abisaab’s website: http://danielleabisaab.blog.com/. Chidiac’s website: http://www.catherinechidiac.com.

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Posted in Health, personal yoga practice, travel, yoga class