2 Workshops with Leslie Kaminoff at The Breathing Project

Saturday, November 21 "Unlocking the Diaphragm: a hands-on, personalized experience"

Personal growth is the process of freeing ourselves from the patterns of self-protection that no longer serve us, and nowhere is this clearer than in habitual ways in which we manage our breathing spaces.

By working with our breathing patterns, we can access a complex history of internal responses to our experiences, both positive and negative. In this workshop, Leslie Kaminoff will guide you through a systematic series of hands-on techniques, self-practice and guided self-inquiry that will literally unlock the power of the body's most amazing muscle - the diaphragm.

Open to all levels, from beginning students to teachers and professionals.

Sunday, November 22
"Inversions: an Individualized Approach"

This is a workshop for anyone who wants to explore these challenging poses in a creative, supportive and educational environment.

The basic anatomy, physics and context of inversions will be covered using a variety of visual, tactile and practical methods, and carefully sequenced asana sessions are guaranteed to produce breakthroughs in your inversion practice.

For all levels.

Both workshops: 10am to 5pm

Cost: $180 each or $320 for both


Register for the Saturday hands-on workshop here:

Register for the Sunday Inversion workshop here:

Register for the FULL WEEKEND here:

Missouri is now collecting taxes from yoga classes - KansasCity.com

By JASON NOBLE
The Star’s Jefferson City correspondent

JEFFERSON CITY | Is yoga karmic or commercial?

Missouri insists that it’s the latter and therefore should be taxed.

The state Department of Revenue on Sunday began enforcing collection of a 4 percent tax on yoga and Pilates classes, upsetting instructors and studios who contend their practices transcend mere recreation.

And yoga practitioners aren’t taking the change lying down — or even in the corpse pose....

Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why.

WIRED MAGAZINE: 17.09
...It's not that the old meds are getting weaker, drug developers say. It's as if the placebo effect is somehow getting stronger.

The fact that an increasing number of medications are unable to beat sugar pills has thrown the (drug) industry into crisis. The stakes could hardly be higher. In today's economy, the fate of a long-established company can hang on the outcome of a handful of tests....

A fascinating article, well worth reading. I have a theory about this. I think that the general populace is more universally stressed-out than it used to be. Therefore, many of the ailments that these trails are studying are psychogenic to begin with, and thus will respond more easily to placebo treatment. If this is true, then it's good news for us yoga teachers. As I've often said: "Stress reduction is a growth industry."

Erica Heinz: Finding the Perfect Yoga for You

Erica Heinz Founder of Yogoer.com

People are always asking me what kind of yoga they should do, which studios I like, and who's the best teacher in New York. I've wandered around NYC studios for about seven years, so I guess I know a few proper nouns.
It can be hard to sort through the Sanskrit. Should you start Bikram to sweat out your toxins? Or Anusara to "open your heart"? Maybe Vinyasa, to get strong and flexible. Or Kundalini, to balance your glands! Iyengar, Ashtanga, Jivamukti, Sivananda -- what's right for you?Here's the secret: just go....

This is a great piece written by friend Erica Heinz, who also designed the new website for Yoga for New York.

David Hykes at The Breathing Project!

I never get tired of promoting the extraordinary work of my friend David Hykes. If you're familiar with his music, you know why - if you're not, you owe it to yourself to experience him in person.

David is graciously offering us a benefit concert with his Harmonic Choir and a Harmonic Presence Workshop at The Breathing Project, NYC on Halloween eve and Halloween this year. If you're anywhere in the New York area, I urge you to attend. I guarantee you'll be happy you did.

Concert:
Friday, October 30, 7:30pm
Come join us as the incomparable David Hykes joins us for a special concert to benefit The Breathing Project's Advanced Studies scholarship program. Along with a concert of his transformational music with his group The Harmonic Choir and percussionist Ev Mann, he will present his amazing live video mandala program, Harmonic Vision, which transforms Harmonic Chant, mantras, and words in real time into flowing geometric mandalas based on the actual harmonics. The evening will conclude with an audience-participation section, the Harmonic Meeting.

Ticket donations are only $35.00 each, and are tax-deductible.

Workshop:
On Saturday, October 31 from 6:00 to 9:00pm, David is offering an evening workshop based on his Harmonic Presence work. You will learn about the "Harmonics of Being"-- listening, sensation, breath, silence, resonance, compassion, healing, harmonization and visualization. You will be able to experience the Harmonic Vision system for creating visual mandalas of the voice, and can include the chanting of names of friends and loved ones to channel compassionate wishes for health and well-being. This is truly an experience not to be missed!

Workshop donation: $45.00


Also, for those of you on the West Coast, check out David's upcoming Esalen program - there's still a few spaces left: The Sound of One Listening: Harmonic Chant and Music of the Spheres
September 20-25, 2009

For a taste of what David has to offer, check him out on YouTube:
Harmonic Opening
Spectral Path
Brotherhood
Breath of the Lord

Pilobolus's SHADOWLAND: the "Transformation" excerpt

I have recently been honored to work with the dancers of Pilobolus. I never cease to be thrilled and delighted by the creative genius that they so beautifully embody, and their latest work is no exception. I'm pleased to share it with you here.

Washington Post: Activists Aim to Make Yoga an Exercise in Accessibility

By Emma Brown

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 6, 2009

The desks had been pushed aside in a classroom at George Washington University on a recent afternoon, and 15 District high school students sat cross-legged on the floor with their eyes closed, breathing. For an hour, under the guidance of volunteer yoga teacher Jessi Long, they stretched and lunged, extending their hands toward the ceiling and folding into toe-touching forward bends.....

At the end, they lay unmoving on their backs in savasana, or corpse pose, drawing audibly deeper breaths as the minutes passed.

"Remember this feeling in your daily life," said Long, rousing them with her voice. "You can always come back to this feeling of relaxation and release."

The class, for students in Upward Bound, a program that prepares low-income youths for college, is part of a growing movement to take yoga beyond its reputation as boutique exercise for the well-to-do and use it as therapy for groups such as at-risk and homeless youths, HIV/AIDS patients and torture survivors.

In Media, Pa., Sprout Yoga teaches free classes to people recovering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and eating disorders. Yoga Hope in Boston serves battered women and recovering addicts.

"We're just trying to give people access to the true yoga," said Adrienne Boxer, executive director of Street Yoga, a Portland, Ore., organization that teaches homeless teens and victims of sexual abuse, among others. "It's a lot more than an asana, or a pose that you're striking. It's the way that you breathe and the way you relate to others and communicate."

Mark Lilly, who founded Street Yoga in 2002, said the interest in making yoga freely accessible grew steadily until two years ago, when it exploded. "Enough service providers -- social workers and nurses and senior staff at nonprofits and clinics and hospitals -- had done yoga in their own lives," he said. "It just hit in a big way for a lot of people at the same time."
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In the District, the effort is just beginning. In addition to Long's class for teens, there are a handful of other free sessions, including occasional classes at D.C. libraries. Another volunteer teaches political-asylum seekers through a Baltimore-based organization called Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma.

Jasmine Chehrazi, 29, who founded the nonprofit studio Yoga District three years ago in Washington, is one of the main people behind the "yoga activist" outreach effort in the area. She launched a Web site for volunteer teachers to reach nonprofit groups (and vice versa), and she invited Lilly to Yoga District's bare-bones Bloomingdale studio, a former pager store.

Lilly spent three days last week at the studio teaching 30 yoga instructors, social workers and medical students how to translate the language and movements of yoga into something approachable by a pregnant teen, an abused child or a recovering addict.

"Empowering people to meet their own needs is one of the biggest things we can do," Lilly said. "Yoga is just the context."

That attitude can sound Pollyanna-ish, and people who are dealing with pain or neglect have needs that have nothing to do with poses. But even some skeptics of alternative therapies agree that yoga is a tool people can use to feel better.

"Yoga is exercise, and it's pretty well established that exercise improves the mood and can reduce stress," said Steven Novella, a Yale University neurologist who founded the New England Skeptics Society and edits Science-Based Medicine, a blog that has been critical of what it calls "pseudoscience" done in support of alternative therapies such as acupuncture and herbal remedies. "These are pretty basic science-based claims."

Some participants in last week's training session said they don't need science to prove what they know from personal experience.

"I suffer from depression, and I think yoga really helps me," said Sasha Lord, a 27-year-old Girl Scouts field director. "It's an urban survival skill."

As part of her work with Girl Scouts, Lord has been visiting the Prince William County Juvenile Detention Center for two years, working with incarcerated girls to build self-esteem and communication skills. By the middle of this month, she said, she will start a weekly yoga class there.

"They need to learn coping mechanisms -- if they can do a sun salutation instead of having an anxiety attack, that's amazing," she said.

Despite their varied backgrounds, trainees expressed a common faith in yoga's ability to change lives for the better.

"People think yoga is for upper-class white people," said Monea Hendricks, 27, an African American doctoral candidate at Howard University who started practicing yoga to relieve stress during college. She said she wanted to bring yoga to at-risk teens, especially minorities. "It doesn't have to be an expensive, upscale, Northwest D.C. thing -- it can actually meet people exactly where they are."

Regan Gage, 31, a third-year medical student, said she wants to use it to prevent teen pregnancy. Sara Turner, 27, plans to teach HIV-positive patients in the hopes that yoga can deter the onset of AIDS. And Erin Heramb, 29, a social worker and therapist who has worked with emotionally disturbed and delinquent teens, said she would use yoga as a new tool.
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"If you're working with someone that has anger issues or someone with low self-esteem or someone who might cut themselves," Heramb said, "I think it helps, in addition to traditional therapy."

Back on the George Washington University campus, Upward Bound student Monet Tucker rose from savasana and grinned. "I used to think yoga was lame," said the 15-year-old, who lives in Southeast. "I thought it was for old people."

But now, after four weeks of classes, she has changed her mind.

"It feels so good," she said. "It's for everybody."

Yoga Therapy for relieving upper back tension and tension headaches

I highly recommend my friend Steve's upcoming workshop at The Breathing Project. It's a fantastic deal, because the cost of the 3-hour workshop includes a one-hour private session.
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Yoga Therapy for relieving upper back tension and tension headaches with Steve Rooney

Sunday August 16 from 10am-1pm $60

Yoga helped me eliminate life-long chronic upper back tension and tension headaches. My short daily practice relieved the aches and pains, and over time, taught me how to better manage my response to stress. Yoga classes are useful, but the deep work happens on your own time - in a daily home practice.

In this workshop, you will experience Yoga practices suitable for your own home use and receive tips on developing your daily home practice and sticking with it. The workshop will be a mix of lecture and yoga practice.This workshop is suitable for those with no yoga experience, or for those who have some experience and are interested in making yoga more a part of their routine.

Enrollment includes a free one-hour private lesson that will help you develop your home practice.

Questions? Email Steve

To the New York State Yoga Community

This is REALLY significant.

Yesterday, I was contacted by Christina Mulligan, an attorney at the Institute for Justice. They are actively seeking clients for a suit they may bring against the BPSS (see info below). I have agreed to help them identify teachers in NY who have received the letter, and are willing to be represented in the suit. They are a 100% pro-bono law firm.

Respond directly to me at justice@iyea.us and I will pass along your info to the Institute. If you want to talk, call me at (413) 351-2304. Please forward this to anyone you know who runs a teacher training program in New York State.

Leslie

---------------------------------

From: Christina Mulligan

Subject: Yoga-Teacher Training Licensing Opposition

Date: July 28, 2009 10:44:23 AM EDT

To: leslie@iyea.us

Dear Leslie,

Good to talk to you on the phone today. As we discussed, the Institute for Justice is interested in helping out yoga instructors following New York’s decision to require yoga-teacher trainers to be licensed as proprietary schools. We’re looking to identify potential clients for a suit against the Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision asking for a declaration that yoga-teacher training licensing is unconstitutional. The cease-and-desist letter from the BPSS is enough to create standing, so potential clients need not have suffered any other adverse effects before bringing suit.

A little bit about the Institute for Justice: We’re a libertarian non-profit law firm based in Arlington, Virginia. Our financial supporters are primarily individuals and foundations from across the ideological spectrum which support our four pillars: Free Speech, Property Rights, Educational Choice, and Economic Liberty. We’ve litigated three cases in the Supreme Court, including the famous Kelo v. New London eminent domain case in 2005. All of our work is done without charge to our clients, as our goal is to promote and preserve individual rights and liberty for all. More about IJ can be found on our website, www.ij.org.

One of the areas we litigate in is “speaking professions” – vocations where the individual’s activity is expressive. A speaker is no less a speaker because he or she is being paid. Indeed, much important speech is sold, such as newspapers and books. Private teaching – including yoga-teacher training -- should be protected by the First Amendment even though teaching is also an occupation.

Very few cases have been litigated concerning “speaking professions”, however IJ has been involved in the area since the late nineties. IJ vindicated an individual’s right to give financial advice in print (Taucher v. Born) and is currently challenging a law requiring tour guides to be licensed in Philadelphia (Tait v. City of Philadelphia). We’ve eliminated regulations requiring people calling themselves “interior designers” to be licensed in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Connecticut and are currently challenging a similar statute in Florida. (You can read about all the interior design cases here.)

Challenging the decision to license yoga-teacher trainers presents an opportunity to vindicate the right of private teachers to share their beliefs, philosophy, skills, and knowledge with others. If you know of anyone interested in this issue or who might be interested in serving as a client, please feel free to pass my information along or put me in touch. Thanks so much for your time, and I look forward to speaking with you again.

Christina Mulligan
Staff Attorney
Institute for Justice
901 N. Glebe Rd. Ste. 900
Arlington, VA 22203

www.ij.org

Michigan Alert! Yoga dissenter wanted for video

I'm forwarding this to the list on behalf of Kathy Hoekstra of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market think-tank. If you or anyone you know is in Michigan and would be interested in her project, please contact her directly.

In case it isn't clear from her note, when she says: "who feels strongly about...licensing..." she means: "feels strongly against licensing.")

----------------------
Thank you Leslie,

It was great to talk with you as well.

Here’s the gist of what I’m looking for:

I’d like to find a Yoga instructor/school in Michigan who feels strongly about the licensing requirement imposed by state government, and is willing to speak out about it. My vision is to do an on-camera interview with this person, telling his/her story of how this forced-upon requirement is affecting the ability to conduct business, his/her relationships with students/clients and most importantly, his/her freedom to pursue personal and financial success without government interference.

This video would serve as a “wake-up” call to those who are not aware this is going on, and as a “warning” to others who are not yet regulated as such, but very likely will be targets in the near future (home inspectors, just to name one). I hope to be allowed to include video of the person “in action” (instructing students, practicing yoga…of course respectful toward people’s privacy wishes).

We would post the video on our website, and distribute links to you, as well as supporters, contacts, media outlets, bloggers and organizations such as the Small Business Association, NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) and others who believe in limited government solutions to policy issues.

Thanks again for your help…I look forward to seeing this project through!

Enjoy the day,

Kathy Hoekstra
Communications Specialist
Mackinac Center for Public Policy
1.989.631.0900
www.mackinac.org

I've had many inquiries about the August immersion, and for those of you who asked about other opportunities to study in-depth, here's a reprise of last year's very successful Omega intensive. Let me know if you have any questions about either program. I look forward to seeing you there!

Yoga Anatomy & the Breathing Body a week-long intensive with Leslie Kaminoff
October 18-23, 2009

During this intensive, we use our breath to experience the deepest structures of our body and learn how these structures provide support, initiate movement, and promote healing. Through presentation and asana sequences specifically designed by expert yoga therapist Leslie Kaminoff, we discover the:

• Basic anatomy of breathing
• Mechanics of spinal movement
• Coordination of the three diaphragms (bandhas)
• Key structures of the breathing body and how to access, stretch, and strengthen them

Of particular interest to yoga teachers, this workshop is open to all; postures are tailored to each person’s ability level and ample time is devoted to individual concerns and questions.

Great Optical Illusion: The blue and the green

You see embedded spirals of green, pinkish-orange and blue, right? Incredibly, the green and the blue spirals are the same color!

They appear different because our brains judge the color of an object by comparing it to surrounding colors. (Note: not for the colorblind.)

Click here for a full explanation. Interestingly, the author of the linked-to Discover article recommends the two illusions previously featured on e-Sutra: The Spinning Dancer and The McGurk Effect.

Deborah Quilter gets elders to speak out about their yoga practice

Senior Yoga students “teach” future doctors about the benefits of Yoga, movement and elder care. A Yoga teacher polls her class, and the answers may surprise you.

By Deborah Quilter

Every year, I am asked to talk to first-year medical students at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City about Yoga. This year, I asked the attendees of my senior Yoga class at the hospital if they had any messages they wanted me to relay to the doctors of tomorrow.

The students’ answers were insightful and wise. Some were specifically about yoga for seniors and other activities, but others included broader suggestions, though most were still grounded in what they had learned about their bodies through movement....

One 81-year-old woman literally wanted to be seen. She said, "Before prescribing a hundred pills, the doctor should look at the patient, see how they walk and move their weight. They should look at the whole person."

The seniors also want doctors to be sensitive to their situation. "Doctors should imagine what it would be like if they were older and couldn't do certain things. It makes people feel inadequate," said C., another student.

"It can be frightening to see the doctor because something could be wrong with you, so they should do everything they can to make people feel comfortable," noted one 83-year-old man.

Not surprisingly, since the class focuses on balance, many spoke of the benefits of Yoga for seniors and exercise in general. "Balance is the most important thing because you can't do anything if you can't balance," said C.

N. who is 88, said, "I can get up from a chair without using my arms because of what I learned here. Changing directions is important." (Students learn to make abrupt changes of directions so they can get out of the path of a speeding bus or car when they are crossing the street.)

Though my students are supposedly retired, many suffer from stress, anxiety and insomnia. Said J., 67: "Relaxing and calming the mind reduces stress and anxiety and helped my blood pressure go down." Her thyroid function also improved after beginning Yoga.

They all enjoyed the health benefits of Yoga for seniors, but J.M., 78 noted, "Yoga is very useful especially in rehabilitation therapy."

E., 83, added that the Yogic breathing and meditation kept the mind, body and soul in harmony. "Yoga gives us the energy to do most of the things we try to achieve," he said. "Yoga helps movement, walking, general flexibility and circulation."

The students in my Yoga class urged the future doctors to encourage people to be physically active. "People need to know they can still do Yoga and Tai Chi, but at another pace," many said.

M., 67, urged doctors to encourage people to take up physical activity if they don't already do it.

"Teach them the right way to do it," added another student.

C.'s advice was simple: "Keep walking."

All the students enjoy the spiritual aspects of Yoga, which they describe as:

* peace
* meditation
* self-love
* a positive feeling about self and what you're trying to achieve
* self-awareness

When the medical students arrived for my class, I asked them if they wanted to hear the messages from my students. They did, and listened attentively to the seniors' words.

After experiencing the class, one med student said, "Everyone should do this every day. I would like to drop one lecture a day and do this instead."


Deborah Quilter is the Director of Yoga at the Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. She also teaches at H&D Physical Therapy in Manhattan, and presents regularly at the International Yoga Therapy Conference and the Rocky Mountain Institute of Yoga and Ayurveda. She is working on a book about balance, and can be reached through her website, RSIhelp.com.

NYTimes.com - Yoga Faces Regulation, and Firmly Pushes Back

By A. G. SULZBERGER

Published: July 10, 2009

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Ten years ago, with yoga transforming into a ubiquitous pop culture phenomenon from a niche pursuit, yoga teachers banded together to create a voluntary online registry of schools meeting new standards for training instructors.

But that list — which now includes nearly 1,000 yoga schools nationwide, many of them tiny — is being put to a use for which it was never intended. It is the key document in a crackdown that pits free-spirited yogis against lumbering state governments, which, unlike those they are trying to regulate, are not always known for their flexibility....

Well, it didn't seem like a good idea to everyone at the time. I informed the reporter of this when I was interviewed for the article, and gave him extensive background on the issues. I ended up being quoted as follows:

“We made it very, very easy for them to do what they’re doing right now,” said Leslie Kaminoff, founder of the Breathing Project, a nonprofit yoga center in New York City, who had opposed the formation of the Yoga Alliance. “The industry of yoga is a big, juicy target.”

Reading through the 130 comments is very interesting (mine is comment #100). The most pervasive stupidity that's in evidence is the absolutely false association of regulation with quality and safety. The government has done a very good job of selling its brand because it is clear that to the general populace, "unregulated" equals "unsafe." Also, it's clear most people have no idea of the distinction between certification and licensing - the terms are used interchangeably in many of comments.

The inevitable stories about being hurt by stupid teachers also get aired out, and are used to justify whatever the state wants to do to "protect the public." Thankfully, a few commenters show the absurdity of that notion by pointing out how in the HIGHLY regulated financial industry, government controls did nothing to stop the widespread abuses and scams that have devastated entire sectors of the economy.

It was, in fact, those controls that made the abuses possible in the first place (they could never have happened in a truly free economy), and have only led to an outright government takeover of our banking, insurance and real estate markets. Typical regulatory logic: "a lot of controls didn't work, so now total control is called for. After all, you can count on us to keep corruption out of anything we choose to oversee..right?"

What comments do you have? Let's hear them.

"A Declaration of Independence for Yoga Educators"

© July 4, 2009 Leslie Kaminoff and IYEA

This is an expanded version of an article I wrote for the Fall 2009 edition of The International Journal of Yoga Therapy, and it is being posted to the web on July 4, 2009 courtesy of IAYT. I urge you to join IAYT to receive a subscription to the annual journal, the tri-annual, "Yoga Therapy Today," other member benefits, and especially to have your voice heard by its leadership.

Until a month ago, I was prepared to write a perspective piece for the International Journal of Yoga Therapy centering on the IAYT-sponsored Council of Schools that I attended this March in Los Angeles. Those well-organized and productive meetings produced a richly textured dialogue surrounding issues such as certification standards, accreditation and definitions of yoga therapy. Unfortunately, I can no longer write about those issues because it has become clear that dialogue can no longer exist for us as a community - it has been obliterated by the regulatory agencies of several states' departments of education...

IYEA Launches on Independence Day, 2009

The Independent Yoga Educators of America is officially born on July 4th, 2009.

I have launched this initiative after many years of talking, writing and advocating for the freedom of my chosen profession: Yoga Educator.

This profession has come under attack by state regulators who wish to license the training of yoga teachers via existing vocational licensing laws. I have written an extensive article exploring these issues, which I am posting here, and also on our new website, http://iyea.us

Please feel free to comment on the article on this blog. If you wish to engage in a more serious discussion of these vital issues, I urge you to click here to learn how you can support IYEA's efforts.

Summer Immersion with Leslie Kaminoff

The Five Dimensions of Breath

Monday-Saturday, August 10-15, 2009


Since the publication of "Yoga Anatomy," I've been traveling to teach out-of-town workshops more frequently. By far, the most common question I get asked is "How can I get more intensive training in this approach to breathing?" The August immersion is the answer to that question. For people outside of the New York City area, this is the best opportunity to learn these unique and transformative practices. We already have participants enrolled from Canada to California, and greatly I look forward to working with the special group that's forming for this brand-new program.

This year, I'm basing the immersion on the well-known "panchamaya" model, which speaks of humans as possessing five "sheaths," or dimensions of being: physical, vital, mind/senses, intellect, and bliss. The principles that allow us to understand them all can be easily understood by observing the breathing body. Over the course of our six-day immersion, I will devote each day to viewing our bodies from the distinct perspective of one of these 5 dimensions. On the sixth day, we will seek to integrate them all through practice, discussion and meditation.

For out-of-town students, we will do our best to assist you in finding affordable, shared housing opportunities in NYC.

DATES/TIMES: August 10- 7, 2009

Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 9:30am – 6 pm
Tuesday and Thursday:
9:30am- 8:30pm
Saturday: 10am-5:30pm

COST: $750 if registered by July 11, $925 after July 11

TO REGISTER: $250 deposit

Pay your deposit now reserve your space:

Or Pay the full amount of $750:

e-Sutra Bulletin Board

This is the latest collection of items posted by e-Sutra members using Blogger's "comments" feature. Feel free to add your yoga-related lisitng! This Bulletin Board Post always remains at the top of the blog, and periodically I will send the full batch of Bulletin Board listings out to our 2,200+ members, with the newer ones at the bottom, and the expired ones deleted.

Discounted Registration for Yoga Therapy in NYC

I've just learned that Antonio Sausys is extending the Early Bird discount for his upcoming Yoga for Health Conference in New York City. When registering, simply insert (at the end of the registration process) the following code:

"Pure1" for a One Day Pass ($70 off the full price)
"Pure3" for a Full Conference Pass ($100 off the full price)

Full information follows. Hope to see you there!

From Antonio:

Much of what is presented about Yoga in our society represents the fitness-oriented media image of this ancient practice. What is less well known to the public is the idea of Yoga as a complementary component of an overall health care regimen. When practiced with a specific therapeutic intention - Yoga Therapy - it can help prevent and aid in the recovery from a variety of mental and physical ailments.

From June 5-7, 2009, NYC will be the epicenter for the burgeoning field of yoga therapy, as it hosts “Yoga for Health” – the 4th Annual International Yoga Therapy Conference at Pure Yoga. The conference presents internationally recognized yoga masters and other experts who in the course of three days will guide classes, workshops and lectures specifically intended to address the therapeutic applications of Yoga.

The conference promises to be one of the most informative yoga events of the year. Topics will address issues from minor ailments to chronic illness, ranging from the common cold and back pain to the secondary effects of cancer treatment, as well as depression and many other conditions. Included in the list of presenters is Rama Jyoti Vernon, Mukunda Stiles, Sherri Baptiste, Leslie Kaminoff, Ellen Saltonstall, Deborah Quilter, Nina Priya David, Alison West, Rita Trieger and Antonio Sausys.

The 2009 International Yoga Therapy conference emphasizes the synchronicity of ancient yoga therapy and revolutionary modern-day science. Please visit www.yogatherapyconference.com for complete conference details and to register.

Damien Walters Showreel 2009

I just had to share this because it is so completely off the hook. Forget Yoga as a demo Olympic sport - my vote goes for Parkour.

In Memoriam: Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

I just got word from India that Sri K. Pattabhi Jois passed away this morning in Mysore after a year of declining health. He was just shy of his 94th birthday.

I was just speaking about his condition with Doug Swenson, Gary Kraftsow and others at Yoga Journal NYC on Saturday night.

My thoughts and best wishes go out to all my friends who's lives have been so deeply transformed by their association with Guruji.

As more details become available, I will post them. Please post your remembrances here using "comments," and I will make sure they get forwarded.

Yoga City Article: State Puts the Kibosh on Teacher Training

Please read this whole article, and the response by Mark Davis of Yoga Alliance which follows it. It's very important for every yoga teacher and student in every state to be aware of this issue.

State regulators have coordinated at a national level to specifically target yoga through existing vocational licensing laws. Once training programs submit to this control, the State will then be able to force the teacher trainers to be licensed, and from there it's an easy slide for them to demand that individual teachers be licensed.
If you care at all about maintaining your freedom to practice, teach and train in yoga, please forward this information to everyone you can think of.

Here in New York, Jo Brill has done a magnificent job of coordinating information on this page on her website (this info is required reading). The fierce Alison West has taken the lead in contacting state representatives and is meeting with them here in NY tomorrow. Today, at Yoga Journal NYC conference, my friend and attorney Len Easter spoke about this issue, and we took notes that I will circulate shortly.

These laws make no distinction between RYT trainings and Yoga Therapy trainings, so I have been in direct contact with the leadership of Yoga Alliance and International Association of Yoga Therapists. If you are members, let them know how you feel, but I will tell you this: Do not expect YA or IAYT to oppose these laws. Even if they wanted to, they are constrained by their non-profit status from direct lobbying. YA member schools should consider requesting that they de-list your program to hide it from the regulators, who are using the Alliance website to target TT programs.

Contact your state legislature. Make as loud a noise as you can to oppose this. We cannot let these draconian actions by the state regulators stand.

More will be posted soon.

Still Space in Two Upcoming Workshops!

Next weekend (April 25 & 26), I'll be making my first-ever visit to Pittsburgh, PA to teach a Weekend Yoga Anatomy Workshop at Yoga H'om.

The following week (May 1 - 4), I'm making my 6th annual pilgrimage to beautiful Portland, OR for 4 days of Yoga & Breath Anatomy Workshops at Yoga Shala of Portland.

Click here to see the rest of my upcoming teaching schedule.

Yogoer Blog Archive - Light on (the) Feet: Yoga Anatomy with Leslie Kaminoff

Class Reviews · Wed Apr 15, 2009 · by Scout

Another interesting day in Yoga Anatomy today… and of course I had to write about it 'cause Leslie (hi, Leslie!) pulled me out and changed my posture…
Today we learned about the feet, everyone’s favorite body part. The cool thing about Leslie’s class is that he focuses on the WHYs and HOWs of anatomy, instead of the WHATs.

Time Magazine - Psychotherapists Probe Mind-Body Relationship, Threaten Yoga Therapy ‘Career’?

By Alana B. Elias Kornfeld

Talk. Share. Cry. Stretch? Psychotherapy has historically been an exercise of the mind, but in the offices of more and more modern-day mental-health providers, emotional healing is taking place not just on the couch but on the yoga mat.

The burgeoning field is called yoga therapy, and its practitioners include psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers who incorporate yoga poses and meditative breathing into their sessions, as well as yoga teachers who want to learn how to address the emotions that bubble up in students during class or in private sessions. The idea, say yoga therapists, is to allow yoga to empower people while priming them to access their deepest emotions....

...The practice is quickly gaining popularity. There are now close to 50 schools of yoga offering yoga-therapy training in the U.S. And the International Association of Yoga Therapists has more than tripled its membership from 2003 to 2009, to about 2,500 members. "Now we have more licensed health-care providers, including psychologists, coming in who are interested in using yoga in their work," says Kelly McGonigal, the editor in chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy.

Who Is Your Yoga Teacher?

State: Yoga schools must be licensed -The Detroit News

Jennifer Chambers / The Detroit News

Rochester Hills -- Yoga may be a 5,000-year-old art, but it's under new scrutiny in Michigan as the state seeks to license schools that teach future instructors.

Yoga school operators across Michigan are scrambling to file paperwork with officials at the state Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, who put them on notice last month that programs that promise to certify yoga instructors for a fee must be licensed with the state.

NYTimes: The Claim: Nasal Irrigation Can Ease Allergy Symptoms

From The New York Times:

REALLY?: The Claim: Nasal Irrigation Can Ease Allergy Symptoms
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

Can a "neti pot" help to reduce suffering during allergy season?..

Kaminoff to present at Yoga Journal NYC - May 15 - 18

Join me at The Yoga Journal New York City Conference on May 15-18, 2009.
Register by Friday, March 20^th
Save up to $145.

In addition to my Main Conference class, Demystifying the Bandhas, I'll also be leading the Sunday Morning Pranayama (open to all.)

For more information about the conference, including registration, visit www.yjevents.com. Information about my class is online at yjevents.com/ny09.

Some Suggestions for Individualized, Breath-Centered Yoga Practice

Presented to 170 students at 7am practice on Saturday, March 7, 2009 at Symposium for Yoga Therapy and Research, Los Angeles.

© Leslie Kaminoff
Please feel free to use and share these ideas with as many people as you wish. However, please respect the original language, and preserve proper attribution when forwarding.

10 teaching points:

1. "OM" at your own pace.
Everyone's breath is a different length. Let's honor that with 3 comfortable, non-competitive OM's to start and end the class.

2. Vinyasa yourself.
A salutation done in group synchrony is a powerful experience for sure, but because the breathing pace is everyone's, that means it's actually no one's. It's shocking how many experienced group-class students have never done a single vinyasa at their own pace.

3. Function over form.
Give functional suggestions instead of form-oriented instructions. Promoting the idea that there's an ideal form to the poses neglects the context that asana doesn't exist unless expressed by the unique body of a single individual. Pursuing an unattainable, ideal form only leaves the student wondering what they've done wrong.

4. Be an opener, not a poser.
Even some of the most seasoned teachers make this mistake. A student's experience is never wrong as long as it's THIERS, not yours. Class is the time for students to have their own, unique experience, rather than being told what they should be feeling. Students are very vulnerable and suggestible in class, so instead of telling them what should be going on inside, just point them in the direction you want them to look, and be open to surprises. If they have trouble feeling anything, then that's exactly what they need to notice.

5. Honor dyslexia.
The most useless and confusing words in yoga class are "right" and "left." Does it REALLY matter what side you start a pose on? All the traditional justifications for starting on the right side can be countered with equally persuasive counter-arguments. Given the freedom, most people will do their easy side first - even if they don't consciously know which side that is. In the right context, this is very revealing.
When giving instructions for any pose, try saying, "choose a foot (or hand) and start with that one - we'll get the other one next. Now, you can refer to the limbs as "first" or "front" or "back" or "other" and everyone will be much happier.

6. Try free-form counterposing.
Instead of teaching thee usual counterposes to intense asanas, give the students a few minutes to do whatever their bodies need - based on what they're feeling. Prepare to see some people do the expected just out of rote habit, which they should recognize. Be also prepared to see the unexpected and counter-intuitive. For example, some people want to go deeper into a backbend after wheel, rather than into child's pose.

7. Try free-form krama.
Krama means steps (for more advanced students). Assign your class a challenging "target" pose, which they will do after a series of self-selected, progressive preparatory practices. Afterwards, see #6.

8. Disassociate your breathing.
One of the strongest patterns exhibited by experienced students is the simultaneous initiation of breath and movement. The deepest practice of vinyasa-bandha is most easily revealed when breath and movement are consciously DIS-connected. Try starting the breath before the movement, or vice-versa. Simple idea, big topic. Buy my next book.

9. Take a stand for freedom.
Let's try to banish the words "correct" and "proper" from discussions about asana, and especially breath. Either the goal of yoga is to be free, or the goal of yoga is to get it right - choose now, because you can't have it both ways.

If you just chose freedom, you've divested yourself of that crazy idea that you had to get it right. Stay with that, and...

10. …Congratulations. Welcome to YOUR yoga.

Enjoy! Feedback welcome.

Presenting, Blogging and Twittering at SYTAR

I'm currently at 40,000 feet on a Virgin America flight to LAX. I'm on my way to the third annual SYTAR event, and 3 days of pre-meetings with the "Council of Schools," wherein we will be discussing certification and regulatory issues relating to the field of Yoga Therapy.
At the main event on Friday morning, I will be one of 3 case presenters at the panel called "As a Yoga Therapist, This is What I Do." Along with Eric Small and Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa, I will do a live, unrehearsed one-on-one session with a new student.
I will be Twittering as much as possible during the event and sessions, so now would be a good time to start following me on Twitter. My most recent tweets will also show up in the right-hand toolbar of e-Sutra. Once you sign up for Twitter and follow me, I will also follow you, so it will be easy for you to respond and ask questions.

India to launch cow urine as soft drink

At least there's one piece of India's cultural patrimony the West won't steal:

"The bovine brew is in the final stages of development by the Cow Protection Department of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India's biggest and oldest Hindu nationalist group, according to the man who makes it.

Om Prakash, the head of the department, said the drink – called "gau jal", or "cow water" – in Sanskrit was undergoing laboratory tests and would be launched "very soon, maybe by the end of this year".

"Don't worry, it won't smell like urine and will be tasty too," he told The Times from his headquarters in Hardwar....."

If the RSS group sounds familiar, they are the Hindu Nationalists who brought us Nathuram Vinayak Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.

Chanting with Krishna Das at Town Hall, NYC Feb. 4, 2009

KD told me that if you go up to him after the show and mention e-Sutra, he'll give you a big hug (unless such displays of affection violate certain house policies at Town Hall).

Seriously, if you've experienced Krishna Das - and especially if you haven't - this is not to be missed.

NYC Asthma Clinic - Take Two

If you've been following me on Twitter, you know that the taping of the asthma clinic for ABC news didn't actually happen last month. It's been rescheduled for next Friday, Jan. 23 at 10:00am at The Breathing Project in NYC.

I'm looking for a handful of asthma sufferers who would like to learn techniques to improve their breathing. This is an actual 2-hour clinic that will be taped by ABC-TV Eyewitness news and their medical correspondent, Dr. Jay Aldersberg.

If you or anyone you know would be interested in participating, please contact me directly.

NYTimes- Yoga Classes Play Up the Lighter Side

I got a kick out of this article for a bunch of reasons:

• I've never gotten my youthful summers in the Catskills out of my system, so I've been known to use humor quite a bit when I'm teaching.
• The article begins and ends with great quotes from friend Kelly McGonigal, who ironically thinks she's "probably one of those earnest spiritual types they poke fun at."
• The ever-enterprising, charming and light-hearted Sadie Nardini got a featured link to her "Bon Jovi Chant," which I informed her is a direct descendant of my wife Uma's groundbreaking penchant for playing Metallica during her window-steaming classes in the early days at Jivamukti.

" Yoga Classes Play Up the Lighter Side" By Abby Ellin

MUST the road to enlightenment be paved in sincerity? Can only the super-earnest attain spiritual salvation?

Some yoga teachers have been pondering these mysteries with the gravity of an economic summit. And they are chanting in unison, “Nooohhhhm.”

“I do think there’s a trend toward lightening up in the yoga community,” said Kelly McGonigal, 31, the editor in chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy (found at iayt.org). “Mostly around the rigidity and humorlessness of doing things ‘the one right way’ — always having to get better, feeling like every yoga practice has to be one big self-improvement project....”

New Yoga Anatomy Trimester begins January 7, 2009

This Wednesday marks the last 2008 session of my Yoga Anatomy and ABC's fall trimester.
After the Holidays, we will take up our study of yoga and the human spine beginning on January 7, 2009. The lecture is "A Brief History of the Spine," and in it, we explore the evolutionary and developmental origins of this amazing structure. As is our policy, we invite anyone who's interested to attend the class for free for the first time. The course is designed to be modular, which allows students to begin their studies the start of any of the trimesters.
If you would like to attend, please e-mail Edya Kalev, our director of education. I look forward to seeing you there!

Volunteers needed for asthma clinic to be broadcast on ABC-TV News

I'm looking for a handful of asthma sufferers who would like to learn techniques to improve their breathing. This is an actual 2-hour clinic that will be taped by ABC-TV Eyewitness news and their medical correspondent, Dr. Jay Aldersberg.

The clinic will take place this Friday morning, December 19th from 9:45 to 11:15am at The Breathing Project studios at 15 West 26th Street (10th floor) in New York City. To sign up, contact me directly.

Yogoer Blog Archive • Yoga Anatomy with Leslie Kaminoff

One of my advanced studies students is the creator the wonderful yoga blog "yogoer." I'd say it was wonderful even if she hadn't posted these two very nice pieces about her experiences in my Yoga Anatomy course: Yoga Anatomy with Leslie Kaminoff at The Breathing Project and You're Here for the Experience.

The site is a well-designed compilation of writing, information and inspiration centered around the practice of yoga in general, and New York City resources in particular. I've linked to it in the e-Sutra toolbar.

Iyengar to Head New Indian Yoga Association

PUNE: Yogacharya BKS Iyengar has been appointed as the first president of the Indian Yoga Association (IYA). The association has fifteen of the nation’s top yoga centres. The first general body meeting of IYA chaired by BKS Iyengar will be held in Mumbai on January 5, 2009.
Yogacharya Iyengar, who will complete 90 years of age on December 14, said, “Yoga should be made compulsory in all our schools and colleges. I had begun teaching yoga to school and college students in Pune in 1937...”

AND, from International Yogalayam:

India Bends Toward Yoga Regulation
The formation of the Indian Yoga Association signals recognition of the need to create global standards in yoga education.

After years of consultation with eminent yoga experts, India’s Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddhi and Homeopathy (AYUSH), along with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has overseen the establishment of the Indian Yoga Association (IYA), a self-regulatory body responsible for establishing standards for accrediting yoga institutions, yoga curriculums and yoga therapy...

38% of Adults Use Alternative Medicine

An estimated 38 percent of U.S. adults and 12 percent of children use some type of complementary and alternative medicine, a new U.S. government survey finds.
The U.S. News & World report article takes a positive view of this trend, which includes "...techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, massage therapy, and yoga..."

This is in sharp contrast to The Washington Post article which seems designed to scare the alternative crap out of you with quotes like this: "..."They are either unproven or disproven," said Wallace Sampson, founding editor of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine. "Acupuncture is a placebo. Homeopathy is one step above fraud. It goes on and on. The fact that they are so widely used is evidence for how gullible large segments of our society are."