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If nerds who play role-playing games represent a low form of intellectual life and yoga practitioners seek the highest level of consciousness, what happens when the two converge in a Namaste moment?

Downward-facing dungeon master?

Artist Scott Wayne Indiana has created Dungeons & Dragons Yoga, a class in Brooklyn that he says may be catching on in Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas.

In the fantasy role-playing game known as Dungeons & Dragons, or D&D, players take on different fictional characters like paladins, wizards, and half-elf rangers. One player is the "dungeon master" or leader of the game, and the team works together to stop the forces of evil.

But in Indiana's creation, the dungeon master stands in front of a yoga class and narrates an action scenario. Yoga instructor Sarah Dahnke then directs the group, all in spandex and on yoga mats, to do specific poses that she has created for the game.

In one recent game, the players were asked by Indiana to imagine they were one character -- "a roguish rugged individual who has run afoul of the local law" and to envision delivering a package to an ancient wooded temple.

A normal yoga pose like "warrior pose" or "cobra" might be a new move called "sword one" or "dice rolling" in the D&D version of the practice.

Hilaria Baldwin does yoga while flying first class.

The 10-sided die, or 10D, as it is known in the nerd game, sits beside each yoga mat. Typically, the roll of the dice helps the dungeon master determine complex games moves or what each character will do next.

Excerpt from:
Dungeon Master Meets Namaste in New Role-Playing Yoga

Whats the difference between a Dungeon Master and a yoga instructor? One sits in a room of people and slowly twists them into knots with nothing but the sound of their voice, and the other does pretty much the same thing. OK, its not necessarily the worlds most natural mashup, but that didnt stop artist Scott Wayne Indiana, interactive artist (and Dungeon Master) Eric Hagan and movement instructor Sarah Danke from somehow transforming a D&D campaign into a yoga class. In the video above, which describes itself as the world premiere of D&D yoga, you can watch clips where they transform common D&D actions like slicing at a foe and flipping a switch into poses. (Yes, theres even a Dice-Rolling Pose.)

To keep things simple, all of the participants also yoga-played as the same character, a roguish rugged individual who has run afoul of the local law. Participants were given a character sheet when they entered the studio, as well as a both a ten-sided die (d10) that Hagan said allowed for the easiest calculation with multiple simultaneous players.

The goal was to complete an entire quest, in this case returning the mysterious package to an ancient temple to absolve yourself, Hagan told WIRED. The participants rolled dice at key points in the story: during battle, to check for success in hiding, climbing, searching the room, and also to avoid the trap which sprung out at them In future versions I would probably re-work the roll of the die to be more pivotal in swaying the story, but it was amazing to have a whole room full of people in sync rolling to determine their fate.

If youre motivated enough, it could even come to a yoga studio near you: on the projects Vimeo page, one of the organizers offers to help facilitate D&D Yoga in other locations and even share the full audio of the event via Dropbox. Bring your own chain mail.

Update 1/30/14 5 PM EST: Response from Hagan added.

Read more:
Downward Dragon: See What Happens When Yoga and D&D Collide

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Jamie Frater September 28, 2007

While I do not always end up managing to put each of the following tips into practice, I do make a big effort to do so each day. This is a list of my favorite tips to improving your life. All it takes is a little bit each day and you will see wondrous changes. Feel free to add your own tips to the comments.

10. Get off to a Good Start

This means getting up early and eating breakfast. You will have much more energy throughout the day to follow the rest of these tips if you do! If you are so inclined, you can even include a little exercise in your morning routine. If you live with other people you can try to use this opportunity to get everyone together at the table to eat in the mornings. This is a nice way to start the day and a good way to ensure open lines of communication in a very busy household.

9. Keep a Schedule

It is a very good idea to write down the tasks you need to achieve in each day. As you complete them, tick them off. You should not, however, feel like you are bound to your list. If you dont manage to do everything, it doesnt matter move any incomplete tasks from today on to tomorrows list. This is also a great help if you are a procrastinator.

8. Take a Break and have Fun

Originally posted here:
Top 10 Tips for Self-Improvement - Listverse

Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have successfully carried out what is believed to be the first initiative conducted exclusively among teenagers to show significant improvement in their asthma outcomes.

The quality improvement initiative, conducted in a primary care setting, dramatically improved asthma control and outcomes for high-risk adolescents.

The study is published online in the journal Pediatrics.

"Improving asthma is particularly difficult for teenagers, whose adherence to treatment is often poor and outcomes worse than those of younger patients," says Maria Britto, MD, director of the Center for Innovation in Chronic Disease Care at Cincinnati Children's and senior author of the study.

"We were able to achieve sustained improvement in patients whose chronic asthma is not well-controlled by implementing a package of chronic care interventions. These included standardized and evidence-based care; self-management support, such as self-monitoring by using diaries and journals; care coordination and active outreach among healthcare providers; linking these teens to community resources; and following-up with patients whose chronic asthma is not well-controlled."

From 2007 to 2011, Dr. Britto and her colleagues at Cincinnati Children's focused improvement efforts on 322 primary care patients, all of whom had asthma. Only 10 percent, however, had optimally well-controlled asthma. By August 2009, the proportion of these patients had increased to 30 percent and remained at that level over time.

Moreover, the initiative resulted in nearly 100 percent of patients receiving an evidence-based care bundle of tools to control their asthma. These tools included an action plan (which included goal setting and learning how to overcome barriers) and controller medications at the most recent doctor visit. Prior to the initiative, only 38 percent had received this bundle.

Ninety percent of patients also received a self-management bundle of tools, including a patient self-assessment and a personal action plan. Formal self-management support had not been in place prior to this initiative.

"Patients and parents who were confident in their ability to manage their asthma increased from 70 percent to 85 percent," says Dr. Britto. "But patients with chronically poor asthma control are likely to need additional interventions."

Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood, affecting seven million children in the United States, more than 9 percent of all children in the U.S. Asthma results in an estimated 10.5 million missed school days, 640,000 emergency visits, and 157,000 hospitalizations each year.

See the original post here:
Quality improvement initiative improves asthma outcomes in teens

Published: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 at 8:04 a.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 at 8:04 a.m.

Downtown Petaluma merchants concerned about a self-imposed tax meant to encourage visitors to spend money in the historic business district will have an opportunity to make their feelings known next month.

On Monday night, the City Council scheduled a public hearing for Feb. 24, when merchants will be able to voice their opinions about the 13-year-old business improvement district and how its funds are spent.

Late last year as the district's new budget was being prepared for 2014 typically a routine event each year before the City Council several business owners challenged the tax.

They said the levy, enacted in 2000 by a vote of downtown merchants, was being administered behind closed doors and wasn't benefitting many of the member merchants.

They said the money wasn't helping keep their streets and sidewalks clean, nor providing the additional security they wanted. Some pointed the finger at area bars, whose patrons often vomit or urinate in or near other businesses on weekend nights.

The tax was enacted when downtown business owners sought a way to raise funds for their special interests security, beautification and marketing and convinced the council to approve the self-imposed business improvement district.

The Petaluma Downtown Association administers the annual tax proceeds of about $50,000.

Since the merchants went public with their concerns in December even threatening to work to dissolve the district representatives from the PDA and merchants have met several times to try to resolve problems.

A proposed budget and spending details will be sent this week to the approximately 600 downtown businesses, roughly centered at Petaluma Boulevard and Western Avenue and radiating outward about a half-mile. Businesses are levied from $41 and $500 a year depending on size, location and type of business.

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Petaluma calls hearing on merchants' self-imposed tax