Every month we round up all the most exciting happenings in the yoga community that you should know about or ought not to miss.
Health and Science
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- How often have you referred to twist poses as ‘detoxifying’? Well it may be time to stop that, due to a study that asked how much yoga affects the body’s natural detoxification process — and they don’t think it makes as much of a difference as we’d like to believe.
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Researchers are reporting that yoga has an effect on your DNA. Cancer survivors were monitored throughout a yoga regime and showed longer ‘telomeres’ (a component of the gene composition), which is linked to longer life and better post-cancer survival.
- This month showed evidence of the recent pledge to spend £600 million on wellness plans in the NHS, with hospital staff already reporting the benefits of these programs.
- Successful trainer John Kavanagh opened up about how he uses yoga in fight training:
“There are times when we mix things up; sessions will sometimes look like a dance class or yoga class, which give the guys a mental break from repeating the same techniques and bring in a more playful approach. Sometimes we do all sorts of crazy things.”
Business and Politics
- A group of Buddhist monks were called upon to share their thoughts on Salesforce’s new office building in San Francisco. Amongst their recommendations were “mindfulness zones” to be installed on every floor of the new high-rise. What do you think they’d say about your business?
- Preparations for the upcoming International Yoga Day celebrations are underway in Chandigarh as government officials visit the city for the first planning sessions of the newly minted day of recognition.
- Sensationalist yoga guru Baba Ramdev made comments this month about how those who do not chant “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” should be beheaded, followed by an international slough of complaints from irate yogis.
Social News
- A Korean tourist returning from holiday in Hawaii with his wife was grounded in Hawaii because he didn’t want to sit in his seat during meal service. Instead, he opted to do yoga and meditate in the back of the plane and got violent when cabin crew asked him to sit back down. He has since been given leave to return back home on the condition that he return to the US for his court dates.
- Metro posted a controversial article this month about Trill Yoga, a new ‘style’ of yoga for people who think yoga is “a tad too up itself.” This led many yogis to wonder whether Trill Yoga is actually a solution, or simply perpetuates the problem it’s claiming to fix.
- Slate released a fascinating piece of investigative journalism that looked into the sexual assault claims of a Jivamukti student against her guru in New York — at what point does a devotional practice become a cult?
- A group of yogis in China took their practice a little higher when they scaled the Shuangfeng mountain in order to capture some photos demonstrating their mutual trust and confidence in their practice.
Top Articles from YogaLondon
- Let’s Talk About the Yoga Teacher Training Workload — Many people embarking on yoga courses have full-time jobs, so it’s important to know what the teacher training workload is outside of the weekends that you’re in class with YogaLondon.
- 6 Tips to Avoid Burnout in the Yoga Industry — Many yoga teachers and students suffer burnout: the 21st century stress-related phenomenon that is becoming more and more common in our often hectic and demanding lifestyles.
- What London Can Learn from the Yoga in America Study — Earlier this year, YogaAlliance and YogaJournal teamed up to produce the 2016 Yoga in America Study: a comprehensive study of over 3,000 yogis and non-yogis across the country that produced some interesting results that we in London could afford to pay attention to!
