Yoga for Modern City Life: Yoga is now a Lifestyle

Is it any surprise models are wrapping their wrists in mala beads, fashion designers are heading off to India for yoga retreats and there's a new line of active wear that takes its name from the Sanskrit mantra om.

To the uninitiated, yoga is pretzel-like poses and a dim memory of the Beatles visiting the Maharishi in the 1960s.

Gurmukh Kaur, the Center for Living's white-turbaned founder, travels by limo -- in a blaze of camera strobes -- with one of her students, singer Courtney Love.

What she does is kundalini yoga, Ms. Love told a reporter covering the bash for fashion-bible Women's Wear Daily. It's better for me than Prozac -- and the clothes are nice, too.

Ms. Love is hardly the only celebrity singing the praises of yoga -- or helping to catapult the 5,000-year-old practice onto the cutting edge.

Yoga Zone, a hip New York yoga studio with a half-hour show weekdays on cable's Health Network, has an entire catalog dedicated to the joy of yoga. In addition to the predictable range of videotapes, nonslip mats and meditation cushions, there are multiple pages of clothing and accessories.

Cotton-Lycra hipsters are the definitive Yoga Zone look for practice and beyond. Spaghetti-strap camisoles and halter tops with subtle embroidered logos come in black, slate, garnet, moss green and other quiet but current colors.

Even the jewelry has a fashion angle: Pendant necklaces with the Chinese symbol for clarity or the Sanskrit symbol for om are crafted by the hot fashion duo Me & Ro.

Yoga for Modern City Life: Yoga Helps Ease Modern Stress

For Gail Stuart, who is finishing a beginner's series, yoga is an antidote to the stress of her job at the Medical University of South Carolina, where she works with psychiatric research. You just walk through the whole process, and you feel yourself slipping away. It's a different workout, she says, a welcome alternative to aerobics or exercise machines, which remind her of a torture chamber.

Yoga is the most prominent form of the burgeoning mind-body health movement, which includes tai chi, qigong and other meditative forms of exercise.

The practice of yoga should integrate every aspect of human existence. While many of modern Western practitioners focus on the physical asanas, for others, yoga is an all-encompassing way of life and a path to bliss.

Considering yoga's lofty goals, it's delightfully simple and can be done anywhere, anytime. Taken to its extreme, yoga encompasses everything from a moral code and dietary practices to deep meditation. Most commonly, though, it's a combination of asanas, pranayama (breathing exercises) and some meditation.

Yoga would be an effective and relatively cheap substitute for many anxious and stressed patients, although they would probably also need to be motivated to become physically fit.

Yoga for Modern City Life: Most Urbanites Start with a Class

The best place to start is with a class, where a teacher can show you how to adapt poses using props and help you learn proper technique for the postures.

The good news is that yoga classes have never been more widely available. You'll find them at small studios, health clubs and gyms. The hard part is finding a class that's just right for you. Studios that are dedicated to yoga also foster a more dedicated practice. The same students return to class week after week, and instructors usually follow a particular discipline of yoga. Some classes are aimed at beginners.

Whether you consider a studio or health club classes, here are some tips to find qualified instructors and classes that suit your needs:

Define your goals. Do you have chronic back pain or other physical limitations. An Iyengar-based class, with its emphasis on proper form and use of props, would be ideal. Looking to improve concentration and reduce stress. Consider a class that incorporates meditation. Seeking a challenging workout. Try an ashtanga class.

Ask about the instructor's background. There is no national certification program for yoga yet, although some disciplines have their own rigorous teaching certification programs. You want an instructor who has been practicing and teaching for a long time.

Check out the space. Look for rooms that are spacious and well ventilated. Plenty of props sticky mats, straps, foam bricks, blankets and bolsters are a good sign, too. Ideally, yoga rooms are quiet, but that may not be the case in a gym setting where students have to contend with loud music and clanking weight machines.

Yoga for Modern City Life: Hatha Yoga – Most Popular in the US

There are actually several branches of yoga, including bhakti, the yoga of devotion, and jnana, the yoga of knowledge. The most widely practiced branch in the US, the one typically offered at gyms and exercise studios, is hatha yoga, which is physical yoga. But there also are different styles of hatha yoga, from the exercise-intense power yoga to the gentle chair poses used in svaroopa yoga.

Many of the instructors offer integral yoga, which involves stretching and bending into various positions called asanas, as well as breathing exercises and deep relaxation. By practicing and learning asanas, students can gain flexibility, strength, stamina and improved circulation.

Integral yoga is not religious, but it does offer an introspective, spiritual component that you won't find in most exercise programs.

A typical adult class lasts 1 hour. First, the students center themselves through breathing, then come together as a group with a collective om. They do a quick series of cardiovascular movements, an hour of stretching and 20 minutes of relaxation while lying on their backs.

The relaxation period gives students a chance to turn inward. Some people are making lists in their head. Some people are asleep. Some people are just in a really great space, where they're conscious of what's going on in the room, and yet at the same time, completely and unequivocally out.

Yoga for Modern City Life: Ancient Practice Fits Modern Life

 When Trace Bonner launched Holy Cow in West Ashley's South Windermere Shopping Center last summer, she didn't know what to expect. Now she's teaching 16 classes a week and adding another instructor. And while she credits the center's success in part to its cute cow logo and convenient location, there's no question that there's a revived interest in yoga across America.

The ancient Indian practice of yoga first arrived in the US at the beginning of the 20th century, but didn't really catch on until 1969 with chants at Woodstock. Now, after being overshadowed by the aerobics craze in the '80s and early '90s, yoga is once again attracting followers, with many looking for relief from ailments and injuries or from the stress of daily life.

Baby boomers, worn out from years of jogging and bouncy workouts, are back on board. But interest is growing with other age groups, too, from college students to senior citizens to celebrities.

The surge in interest is being fueled partly by doctors' growing acceptance of yoga's healing potential. Mainstream medicine has adopted yoga as a gentle therapeutic method for treating a number of illnesses, so more and more doctors are referring their patients to yoga. Initial trials have shown yoga can help people with arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, asthma and cardiac risk factors.

Yoga for Computer Users: The Triangle

Stand with your back against the wall. Place your feet two or three feet apart. Keeping feet firmly on the floor, and weight balanced on heels and toes, stretch your body up, pressing shoulders back and allowing arms to hang at your sides (Fig. 1). Inhale.

Exhale and slowly bend from waist, sliding your right hand down the right side as far as it will go. Shoulders should press back and hips should remain level, pointing forward. Head should be turned to the side, so that it's at a right angle to the body. Hold posture for 10 slow counts, inhale and come up to starting position. Exhale and repeat on left. Inhale and come up to starting position.

Exhale and rest a moment. Inhale and slowly raise arms to shoulder level, palms down. At the same time, point the right foot to the right at a 90-degree angle while keeping the left foot turned in slightly. Exhale and bend to the right, sliding hand down to ankle or foot. If possible, touch the ground behind foot. Pull hip square against wall with left hand and turn head to look up.

Inhale and raise left arm straight up over head so that arms are in a straight line. Keep hips and torso against the wall as both arms stretch, one down and one up, touching the wall. Hold posture with smooth, even breathing for a slow count of 10. Inhale, come up and repeat on left.

Benefits: Trikonasana helps produce excellent spinal flexibility. It stretches the legs, back and neck and helps to loosen up the hips and make them strong and flexible. It is also, to some extent, a balance posture; in yoga, it is believed that the skill developed in physical balance has a profound effect on the mind, quieting unruly emotions and creating calm. It is one of the best postures for slimming the waist, hips, arms and legs. Remember to breathe deeply in when stretching up and breathe deeply out when bending the body downward.

Yoga for Computer Users: The Side-Angled Stretch

Stand straight against the wall and stretch the feet about three to four feet apart. Inhale and raise arms up to shoulder level, palms down. Point right foot to the right and slightly turn in left foot. Bend right knee to form a right angle, with thigh parallel to the floor and the shin vertical. The knee should be directly above the ankle. Stretch the back leg and tighten the knee.

Exhale and stretch right hand down to rest on floor behind right foot. Turn head to look up and press left hip flat against wall with left hand. A strong pull should be felt all along the left side. When you feel comfortable, stretch the left arm up and press it against your ear so that from left heel to left hand the body is stretched and extended. Hold this position for a slow count of 10, making sure that upper shoulder, hip and bent knee are pressed against the wall. Inhale and return to starting position. Exhale and repeat on left.

Benefits: This posture produces overall health. It tones every muscle, tendon and joint in the body. The heart is revitalized and strengthened, and, if crooked, the spine is stretched and realigned. The hip joints, which can weaken with age, become stronger and more flexible. The neck is stretched and made more flexible, easing the pain of stiff, tense muscles and spondylosis. Thighs, hips and waist are firmed. Even digestion is improved.

Remember to lie down and relax after your yoga practice. Relaxation after exercising helps the body to recover, regulates the flow of blood, and calms and soothes the mind. That way you don't feel tired but refreshed and invigorated.