Why Do Some Yoga Studios Fail?

A local yoga studio, Om on the Range, recently announced that they’ll be permanently shutting down their Bucktown location. I just started taking classes at this studio, so I was especially sad to hear this announcement. Of course, this is not the first yoga studio to go out of business, and it certainly won’t be the last. … Continue reading →

Yoga For Men on Yahoo!

I just stumbled upon this goofy video on Yahoo! this morning. The title of the five-minute video is “Mansomest Stretch: Yoga,” and it seems to be part of an ongoing series called Mansome: The Guide to Being a Man, created by none other than Morgan Spurlock (director of Super Size Me). This particular video pitches yoga to … Continue reading →

Face Yoga

Yoga for your face! I don’t even know where to begin… Continue reading →

Lululemon Sues Calvin Klein

This story may be a few weeks old now, but it’s still very much alive and relevant. Lululemon, the hugely successful but controversial yoga clothing company, is now suing Calvin Klein. What seems to be the problem? Well, in my non-legalese, Lululemon thinks Calvin Klein ripped off their pants. Continue reading →

Yoga in Public Schools

There’s been a bit of controversy brewing over yoga being taught in some San Diego public schools. A group of parents is now considering legal action, because they feel that teaching yoga in public schools amounts to teaching students “eastern” religion. Continue reading →

Yoga Rave Chicago

So, I’m not sure what to make of this, but I’ve been seeing something called Yoga Rave Chicago being advertised all around town. I have a vague but growing interest in attending, especially since it’s going to be in Logan Square, where I currently live. After looking at the website, I discovered that the event … Continue reading →

Spiritual but not Religious

I read this thought-provoking piece on CNN.com the other day about people who identify as being “spiritual but not religious.” The author’s basic stance is that this growing trend is not a good thing. In his words, “…the spiritual-but-not-religious outlook sees the human as one that simply wants to experience ‘nice things’ and ‘feel better.’” … Continue reading →

Yoga & Taxation

Here’s an interesting article from last weekend’s NY Times about recent attempts by the government to tax yoga studios. On the one hand, I can’t see why yoga should be exempt from sales tax. Yoga is a business, after all. A multi-billion-dollar-a-year business, in fact! But some yoga studio owners claim that yoga is a spiritual/religious activity, … Continue reading →

Yoga Cults of Personality

I’ve been practicing recently at a studio called People’s Yoga in Southeast Portland. A few weeks ago, they sent out an email announcing that all their “Anusara Inspired” classes are being renamed “Hatha Flow”. The reason for this change, as you might expect, is the recent scandal surrounding the founder of Anusara, John Friend. I … Continue reading →

Who Should Regulate Yoga?

This timely piece in today’s NY Times discusses a recent trend of state governments trying to regulate yoga teacher training programs. This would involve a pricey certification process and fees, and would be conducted independent of Yoga Alliance, the current national regulatory body for yoga training programs. Personally, I think it’s outrageous for states to try … Continue reading →