Boardroom Yoga

Are men sneaking out of the boardroom during their lunch hour to do a little yoga? One studio in Little Rock, Arkansas says “yes.” Cliff Riggs is a 70-year-old teacher at the Yoga Studio of Little Rock who teaches professional men during their lunch breaks. Since these corporate bigwigs face major decision-making challenges, it makes sense that they seek a clear and balanced mind before doing so. Riggs says that while these men typically start off gun shy about letting on to their office mates about their downward dogs, they eventually become the studio’s biggest advocates. Could yoga be an integral part of calming the corporate mind and should someone be telling them that it’s OK to practice and be proud of it? Read about it here in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Feldenkrais Is Still Around and Working Wonders

Chances are, you’ve heard about the Feldenkrais method but maybe you aren’t quite sure what it is. It began with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, a Russian physicist and engineer, born in 1904, who had a devastating knee injury and developed a method that would increase his awareness of how the human body moves, in an attempt at self-healing. The Feldenkrais Method was born and has continued to thrive. It involves slow, controlled, gentle movements designed to teach us about how our bodies relate to gravity. The method is said to improve balance, flexibility, and coordination. Many yogis, athletes, and dancers employ the Feldenkrais Method to enhance their practice. You can watch an introductory video about it at www.feldenkraisny.org.

Injuries as Blessings?

Western philosophy dictates that injuries are painful annoyances that we must rush to heal with as many methods as we can get our hands on. Anyone who’s had an injury from a poorly performed asana or just playing tennis knows the pain and the never-ending journey back to health. But this yoga blogger from “Reflections on Yoga” puts a different spin on the agony of injury. After suffering from a three-year neck injury from doing an inversion pose incorrectly, this yogi learned how to teach it correctly so students can avoid the same fate. What would happen if we decided to learn from our injuries rather than simply fight them? Injuries may be a sign to avoid a certain pose, pay more attention to a neglected area, or soften our approach. That would make them blessings in disguise. Read about it at www.reflectionsonyoga.blogspot.com.