Macaela Cashman demonstrates the Warrior I pose during a recent practice session at Buena Health and Fitness Center. (Photo Submitted)

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With the blistering temperatures of summer and the onset of the monsoon, the chance to get outdoors for some much needed exercise is often limited by the weather. And for those who prefer something a little more mentally relaxing than doing high-intensity aerobics or power lifting weights, the options are even morelimited.

As a result, local yoga instructor Macaela Cashman is offering a slew of new opportunities to stay fit, both physically and mentally, while beating the heat and having somefun.

Yoga really helps put life into perspective. It gives me so much joy and provides so much meaning in my life, Cashman said, describing how she began practicing yoga more than 20 years ago in order to help hersleep.

Now teaching out of Buena Health and Fitness Center after her previous host, Nancy Buttke of Health2o, was made to relocate, Cashman has added an additional class to her weekly schedule, is planning a meditation workshop, is preparing to teach an eight-week yoga course at Cochise College, and will be releasing a yoga DVD sometime thisfall.

I stay pretty busy, she said with a chuckle, adding that relocating to the fitness center has been a welcomechange.

The new location is more spacious and has hardwood floors. Its more of a studio-style room, Cashmansaid.

A gym membership is not required in order to participate in yoga classes, Hank Diaz has been behind me 100 percent, she said of her new host, owner of the fitnesscenter.

Along with a more welcoming environment, Cashman is also providing more opportunities to attendclass.

Excerpt from:
Yoga instructor offers healthy way to beat summer heat

When you're lying on your back in a pool of sweat, looking up at the crotch of a man you've just met as you grip his ankles, local precipitation being a real risk, the last thing you want to be told is to inhale. But you do, because you need to breathe deeply because you're knackered and about to be hoisted into an "assisted wheel" by your yoga instructor, a heavyweight bodybuilder and American footballer whose nickname is "Miller the Pillar".

Matt Miller is the very large man behind Broga UK, a new network of classes infiltrating gyms to cater for a growing national demand for yoga that appeals to, well, bros (aka dudes, aka men). His target audience is me, a physically active man who understands very well the benefits of the downward dog but would sooner cultivate his horribly stiff hamstrings than walk into a room full of girls spouting mystical Sanskrit (om, no thanks).

My only previous brush with yoga came in a beachside gazebo in Brazil, in a class during a surfing holiday. As my terribly earnest instructor struggled with English while I sat with crossed legs "feel the energy from the Earth. Feeeeel it come through the floor and touch your c***s [he meant coccyx] and travel up your colon [column, spinal]" it took all my energy and focus not to break the awkward silence with a fit of giggles. I did not go back.

Sure, not all yoga classes are transported straight from a hippy Himalayan hill station, but nor do even the good ones necessarily appeal to men. The British Wheel of Yoga, the governing body for yoga, has 8,000 members, only one in 10 of whom are male. The proportion of men among its network of 4,000 teachers is lower still.

I meet Miller at 7.30am in a basement room with chain-mail curtains at a branch of Gymbox, one of those blue-lit, black-walled gyms with an apparent lightbulb shortage and a nightclub soundtrack. The first thing I notice, after Miller's ridiculous physique, is the women. Girls make up about a third of the class of 17 City types. They, too, come for no-nonsense yoga, with minimal meditating but all of the breathing and positions that make the practice so good for you.

"It's the best bits together," says Clare Ginty, 29. "It's got the hard stuff we like without taking two hours out of the day. You feel like you've had a really good workout every time, even if you're aching like a bitch afterwards."

Miller says that American men, particularly in his native California (he's from Laguna Beach), are bigger on yoga, which is a training staple for top sports teams. In 2011, for example, the US goalkeeper Brad Friedel, then 40, introduced his yoga instructor to team-mates and staff at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. They convinced their veteran manager, Harry Redknapp, to use yoga to combat a growing injury problem. Elsewhere, the Premier League's oldest outfield player, Ryan Giggs, has also attributed his longevity to the activity. You can even buy Giggs Fitness ("Strength and conditioning, inspiredby yoga") on a 2011 DVD.

The "back and twist" class at Gymbox starts with breathing and some raising of the arms to the sky. Sadly there's no escaping the dreaded down dog, the arched-back position with bum in the air. The pace is high as Miller guides the class between moves, and I'm soon sweating as much as I would be on my bike, but working a lot more muscles.

We attempt the assisted wheel towards the end of the class. It's the arch position you rise up to from a supine position, as if your navel has been attached to a winch. I stopped being able to pull one when I was about six but, with sweaty-ankle man supporting my shoulders as I rise, and Miller pulling up my hips, I make it.

Ankle man is Andrew Dougall. He's 44, works in insurance and has done almost 10 broga classes. Before that his wife had taken him to a regular yoga class. "This is more physical," he says. "I'm a very unsupple person. Even when I was young playing rugby I was the one who had to really stretch his hamstrings. Now I do Thai boxing and I'm physically stronger and don't get any back ache."

Original post:
It's yoga for dudes: one busy man's guide to broga

San Diego

A California judge has ruled that the teaching of yoga in public schools does not establish a government interest in religion.

The decision came after parents sued the Encinitas Union School District to stop yoga classes introduced to elementary schoolchildren in the upscale suburb just north of San Diego.

In his opinion, San Diego Superior Court Judge John Meyer explained that although yoga is rooted in religion, it has a legitimate secular purpose in the district's physical education program. He also said the practice, contrary to parents' complaints, does not advance or inhibit religion.

Finally, Meyer said that although he had some concerns about the K.P. Jois Foundation, an organization launched in 2011 that awarded the district a $533,720 grant to start the program, the district's yoga curriculum does not create any kind of excessive government entanglement with religion. That's because it is the schools -- and not the foundation -- that are ultimately responsible for supervising the yoga instructors, Meyer said.

The National Center for Law and Policy, a nonprofit based in Escondido, Calif., that represented the plaintiffs, said it plans to appeal.

"We strongly disagree with the judge's opinion on the facts and the law," said Dean Broyles, who as president of the center represented plaintiffs Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock. The Sedlocks' child attends El Camino Creek Elementary School in Carlsbad, Calif., which is part of the Encinitas Union School District. They first sued the district in February.

"It's absolutely incredible, but it's not surprising," said Sian Welch, who pulled her daughter out of the yoga classes offered at Capri Elementary School in Encinitas. Welch said she believed the judge's decision was at least partly influenced by the money involved in funding the program and by an anti-Christian bias.

"We will have a society very soon where Christians will be the weirdest people," Welch said, though she said she has no plans to pull her daughter out of the school district.

David A. Peck, a lawyer with Coast Law Group LLP, a firm based in Encinitas that represented parents who are for the yoga program, explained that the judge had aptly applied the so-called "Lemon test," a legal litmus test first established by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971. The test poses three different questions to determine whether a government's action violates the First Amendment in matters of religion.

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Yoga does not advance religion, judge rules

July 12, 2013

Hot yoga gets the thumbs up for safety in a small US study of healthy adults. Image credit: ShutterstockHot yoga - and hot barre and hot spinning classes - is a booming trend, with yogis crowding into sweltering rooms to twist their bodies to the point of exhaustion. But whether or not yoga in heated rooms, sometimes up to 105 degrees F (40.5 degrees C), is safe has been a point of contention. Now a new, small study suggests it's perfectly safe for healthy adults, as long as it's not too hot.

According to the study from the American Council on Exercise, as long as you stay hydrated, hot yoga is just as safe as yoga in more moderate temperatures, Prevention magazine reports.

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse researchers recruited 20 healthy adults between the ages of 19 and 44. Researchers measured the core body temperature of the subjects both after a 60-minute Vinyasa yoga class in a room set to 70 degrees F (21 degrees C) and after a 60-minute hot yoga class heated to between 90 and 95 degrees F (around 32-35 degrees C) with 35 to 40 percent humidity.

After both classes, the students' core temperature rose to an average of 99 degrees F (37.2 degrees C), which is well below the unsafe threshold of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C), study author Dr. John Porcari told Prevention.

"When you're exercising it's almost like your body shuts down if you get to that level," he said in the report. "It's considered dangerous, and heat related illness is almost impending."

However, if you're not hydrated, this could cause problems. He suggests drinking plenty of water, including drinking 6-8 oz or 177-236 mL of water immediately before class and more during class as needed.

Also, if you're new to hot yoga, keep in mind that it can take anywhere from 10 days to two weeks for most people to fully acclimate to exercising in the heat, so be sure to give yourself time to adjust, he noted.

Still, more tests need to be done to gauge the safety of Bikram yoga, which involves 90 minutes in a room heated to around 105 degrees F (40.5 degrees C).

Fabio Comana, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise (ACE), told MSNBC that the body wasn't designed to perform yoga in extreme heat (over 104 degrees F/40 degrees Celsius) and that doing so can damage proteins. "You may think it's purifying and cleansing but you have to respect the physiology of the body," he said. - AFP/Relax, July 12, 2013.

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Hot yoga, as long as it’s not too hot, is safe, says study

GOLDEN, CO--(Marketwired - Jul 16, 2013) - In today's age, free time is a luxury. In a time conscious era, it only makes sense to squeeze in what you can, when you can. This applies to Christian Leeby's concept of yoga. He created Miracle of Yoga in 2010 as an online yoga video network, so people could practice yoga anywhere, anytime and at their own individual pace.

"If you want to feel better, practice yoga," Leeby said. "There's no other type of exercise that supports overall health while strengthening and opening the whole body."

This month, Leeby rolled out a new Web design for Miracle of Yoga, featuring a vast library of free online yoga classes and poses and free yoga tips. Leeby's videos range in length from quick, 5 minute poses to full hour-long yoga classes and he accommodates yogis from beginner to advanced levels.

The improved Miracle of Yoga site also boasts a blog, which is updated daily. The blog is a resource for individuals to gather information regarding recently published videos, health and yoga tips, yoga instruction and conversations with other yoga-enthusiasts.

In addition to the redesign of the Web site, Miracle of Yoga has taken a more active role on social media accounts, posting regularly to Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. Yogis are encouraged to join in the conversation and get involved in discussions.

Miracle of Yoga looks to grow dramatically within the upcoming months by creating an online forum for people to visit for access to consistently updated yoga workout videos, workouts, poses and tips.

"This new website allows anyone who has internet connection to get the fantastic benefits of yoga, and, it provides something for everyone," Leeby said. "If you're out of shape and need to start slowly, there's a class for you. If your back hurts and you only want a 5 minute practice, you'll find it on the site. If you're a passionate yogi who's been practicing for years, you'll find helpful instruction that will improve your existing practice."

Yogis can find a suitable practice via the Miracle of Yoga Web site at http://miracleofyoga.com/.

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Miracle of Yoga Launches Improved Web Site Design