So, You Say You Want to Do the Splits?

Advertisement If you’ve ever harbored the desire to do the splits, this desire probably left you around age 13, eclipsed by equally brutal preoccupations like romance or acne. But the breakout success in Japan of “Even the Stiffest People Can Do the Splits: A Four-Week Stretching Plan to Achieve Amazing Health,” a book published last […]

Why Yoga Pants Are Bad for Women

Advertisement It’s a new year and I’ve got a new gym membership. I went the other morning. It was 8 degrees outside. And every woman in there was wearing skintight, Saran-wrap-thin yoga pants. Many were dressed in the latest fashion — leggings with patterns of translucent mesh cut out of them, like sporty doilies. “Finally,” […]

At a Yoga Retreat in India: Beach Walks, Body Treatments and Healing

Advertisement Motoring along the mouth of the Aghanashini River, our torsos stuffed inside bulky, bright-orange life jackets, we passed a fishing village and a patch of sandy shoreline called Paradise beach. “There! There!” shouted a woman from the back of the skiff, pointing to a dolphin she spotted in the distance. Our young local captain […]

Rebuilding on the Beatles, an Ashram in India Hopes for Revival

Advertisement A meditation pod atop an ashram in Rishikesh, India, where the Beatles went to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1968. The mural by Miles Toland complements a planned new museum on the grounds dedicated to the band’s tenure there.CreditThe New York Times RISHIKESH, India — In 1968, the Beatles and a crew […]

In Pakistan, Yoga Rises Above Its Indian Origins

Advertisement KARACHI, Pakistan — I first heard of yoga while I was growing up in Pakistan in the 1980s, with the arrival on the Karachi scene of a colorful personality called Professor Moiz Hussain. He had trained at the Yoga Institute in Mumbai, then branched out into alternative stress-reduction and healing techniques like reiki from […]

Hearing Denied for Yoga Teacher Convicted in Dancer’s 2005 Killing

Advertisement An effort to win a new trial for a yoga teacher convicted of slashing the throat of a young dancer from Ohio in 2005 ran into a wall on Thursday when a State Supreme Court justice in Manhattan denied a request for a hearing. A jury convicted the yoga teacher, Paul Cortez, of murdering […]

9 Ways to Live Healthier in 2018

Advertisement We all should eat better, exercise regularly and get more sleep. We hear those three pieces of advice so often it can be easy to drown them out. But there’s a reason this advice has become so cliché: Combined, they truly can result in a healthier life, physically and mentally. But where should you […]

Namaste, Museumgoers

Advertisement Nearly 150 people sat in the maroon seats of the auditorium at the Rubin Museum of Art, with their feet planted on the floor, their backs straight, and their eyes closed, just as they had been instructed. On the stage, Tracy Cochran spoke of impermanence. Projected on the screen behind her was a ceremonial […]

Open Your Heart with Locust Pose – Salabhasana

Type of pose: Backbend, heart opener Benefits: Strengthens the back. Opens the chest. Improves spinal mobility Instructions: 1. Lie down on your stomach. Placing a blanket under your hips for padding makes this pose a lot more comfortable, but you can skip it if you are doing the pose in a flow. 2. Bring your […]

How to Do Bow Pose for a Big Heart Opener

Type of pose: Backbend, Heart opener Benefits: Stretches the chest, abdomen, shoulders, and quadriceps. Improves spinal mobility. Bow pose is a deep backbend and should be considered an intermediate to advanced pose. There’s no reason why beginners can’t start to work on it, however, since it takes time to figure out how to harness the […]

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