The Sunday Yoga Funnies - YogaBoy by Chris Panico

An ongoing series of toons by the mighty Chris Panico, an awesome cartoonist and yogi. Is there a YogaDawg there?

Click on toon for detail

Yoga in Art Museums

I received this email and thought how freaking cool is this. Yoga and art. Didn't do any research on this but you might want to check your local art museums to see if there is any yoga going on there. Please post a comment if you know of any yoga classes in an art museum not mentioned in this email.

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Yoga being offered in famed American art museums

“Have you ever dreamt of practicing yoga next to a Picasso?” says the announcement of “Yoga with the Masters” course offered at Cincinnati Art Museum in Ohio (USA).

Now one can enjoy ancient discipline of yoga surrounded by beautiful art in art galleries of well known museums of USA.

Welcoming the America’s museums’ move to offer yoga classes, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, yoga was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. Zed urged other museums around the world to also offer yoga classes so that one could explore the two powerful mediums at the same moment.

The Dali Museum in Saint Petersburg (Florida) offers yoga on Sundays in “a remarkable environment where Dali's energy infuses the physical, mental and spiritual inspiration of yoga”. The Noyes Museum of Art in Oceanville (New Jersey) gives “No Sweat Yoga” classes. San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum points out: “Get centered with Yoga Flow…as you move your body into positions inspired by sculptures in the museum collection”.

Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington (North Carolina) offers yoga exercises for “relaxation, breath control and meditation”. Brooklyn Museum in New York recently offered two-hour yoga workshops in one of the Museum’s most beautiful spaces—the fifth-floor Cantor Rotunda. Tampa Museum of Art in Florida has been offering “Inspire Yoga”. Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans gives yoga class “in a light-filled gallery of one of the city's most beautiful and historic buildings”. Baltimore Museum of Art in Maryland offers “Yoga in the Sculpture Garden”. Ashville Art Museum in North Carolina has been highlighting “balance, relaxation and art” with the yoga instruction it offered.

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Yoga at the MoMA with Elena Brower

A Travellers Concise Guide to Yoga Postures

The drawings are so weird...click on the drawing to enlarge...

Armadebton, The Debt Ceiling and Yoga Images for the coming Great Depression 2.0

This is dedicated to our dysfunctional government. Welcome to the Third World...

Free Starbucks and Yoga for the Unemployed

There's no way like the American way

Yogis in Corpse pose on chic depression 2.0 yoga mats

Next time try yoga

Yoga Bitch Trailer

I saw a cheeseburger doing yoga...

Making Mistakes

Hall of Fame basketball player/coach John Wooden

Yoga And Exorcism Fusion

I think I'm strangely turned on by her.....

Not quite yoga but nonetheless...

...awesome photos!


via dia de los muertos

Speak No Evil

I featured Michael Stusser in the past because when I started My Third Eye Itches, there were only a couple of people doing yoga humor. It's funny to see new yoga bloggers trying to attempt this but I always think how great Michael's writing really was considering so few were doing this. Here is his latest piece as he explains, "My new article is about attempting to Speak (and Tweet) No Evil for an entire month during my divorce - no lies, gossip, foul-language or terrible tweeting of any kind...In attempting to do so, I recruit a team of advisors including my wise and wonderful yoga teacher."

His latest piece here: Speak No Evil

His other two pieces: Yoga-Phobic Tendencies and Bikram Yoga Trials

And then a funny thing happened when the Dalai Lama came calling...

OSHA Rates Yoga Teachers for Safety

WASHINGTON – In response to complaints from an ever growing legion of yogis, new guidance from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will help yogis select and understand the appropriate yoga teachers when taking a yoga class. The documenty Yoga Teacher Safety Rating Guide, was released today by the agency. "This guidance document will aid Yogis in the safe selection of a yoga teacher." said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.

Improper selection of yoga teachers can result in pose failure, misalignment or slippage, which in turn can lead to injuries or death. OSHA accident data for the years 2009 through 2013 show that there were numerous injuries in yoga studios involving yoga instruction.

OSHA intends to format the final product for use on the Web. With the document in web format, a Yogi can quickly get information on the type of yoga teacher he or she is practicing with without having to look through material that is provided on individual yoga studio websites (which in most cases tends to be exaggerated and totally lacking in credibility).

“We hope that this new rating system will be adapted by studios and that yoga students will inquire of individual teachers where they fall on this rating scale.” Mr. Foulke said. “In any event, we feel that this yoga teacher rating scale should go a long way in guiding the student to the proper teacher and thus prevent injuries in the long run,” he added.

The New OSHA Yoga Teacher rating scale:

1. Initiate
2. Novice
3. Ascetic
4. Monk
5. Sadhu
6. Guru
7. Boddhisattva
8. Yoga Star


1. Initiate

Skills:

- Can communicate with students and novice teachers about mundane yoga subjects
- Can adjust students but only once per student per class
- Can hear yoga gossip from far away
- Can spot and wear trendy yoga clothes


2. Novice
Skills:

- Can apply aromatic oils on the feet and forehead of students during Corpse pose
- Able to silence questions by renegade yoga students by telling them "Everything is illusion”
- Can detect bad yoga attitudes in their students
- Has training in yoga teacher BS
- Able to make a moderate income from yoga teaching


3. Ascetic

Skills:

- Can communicate with advanced (Monk and above) teachers
- Can detect yoga posers in their classes
- No longer has a need for trendy yoga clothes
- Able to detect illusions. If questioned by a student, they can say “some illusions are more illusory than others”
- Can increase in wealth by teaching yoga workshops.


4. Monk

Skills:

- Can lead teacher training classes
- Able to be seated in lotus position for extended periods of time
- Can heal students of their yoga illusions along with some ham-string injuries
- Will only eat vegetables (or meat from animals that have died of natural causes).
- Can wear elaborate saffron robes
- May be a wanderer or a resident at an ashram


5. Sadhu

Skills:

- Has limited clairvoyance
- May teach classes while being naked
- Limited possessions: loin cloth, trident, alms bucket and occasionally, cigarettes and a cell phone.
- Able to teach in the marketplace or other public locations where they exhibit their yoga skills to the general populace (and, consequently, act as recruiters for certain yoga studios)
- Able to charm snakes, climb invisible ropes, lie on beds of nails, fire walk and survive burial
- Able to levitate themselves up to a height of 50 feet but are reluctant to do so in public


6. Guru

Skills:

- Unlimited levitation of objects
- Able to have sex without karmic ramifications
- Wear white robes which ordinary students are forbidden to touch
- Has an entourage of lesser yoga (Astetic and below) teachers to teach the class
- Fully clairvoyant
- Masters of illusion and misdirection
- Has the ability to summon gods and demons
- May wear an elaborately feathered hat made in Tibet


7. Bodhisattva

Skills:

- Can charm supernatural beings and unruly students
- Can ride a magic carpet or magic yoga mat
- Can perscribe herbs to heal yoga students
- Unlimited ability to do adjustments
- Has no need to shift illusions but rather can shift the expectations and attitudes of others
- Can acquire immense and unlimited wealth through opening a famous yoga studio
- May wear virtually anything or nothing


8. Yoga Star

Skills:

- Can walk on water
- Able to raise the dead
- Can change water into wine (and back to trendy bottled water)
- Will practice tantric sex with select yoga hotties in class
- Able to walk through walls
- Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound
- Can turn cheap yoga clothing into chic versions by lending their name to them
- Manifest unlimited wealth and fame from yoga classes, conference and ads in yoga magazines
- Can part major bodies of water

OSHA's Publication "Yoga Teacher Safety Rating Guide"

Yoga Injuries (Not so funny...)

As someone who suspects knee injury due to yoga and hearing about hip injuries among long time practitioner of yoga, this article was of interest to me. I think this one of the better articles on yoga because it show both sides of the yoga coin. Being around the yoga scene over a period of time, I've heard stories about yoga injuries but rarely seen things in print.

"There has been no serious attempt made to study the rate of injuries amongst Ashtanga practitioners – there do seem to be a number of sensitive shoulders and sore backs. And those knee operations that are held up almost like badges of battle honours, the long-term practitioners who experience degrees of discomfort in their bodies. But it has to be noted that this applies to other yoga styles – two teachers (one teaching since 1985 and the other from the early 1990s) told me that as much as there are knee issues with Ashtanga practitioners, there are hip issues with Iyengar practitioners. Both of these teachers trained and taught within the Iyengar tradition before branching out."

"There is anecdotal evidence of long-term intense yoga practice wearing out joints – though it could be said that so does life. If it’s all about sitting in padmasana surely something has gone wrong somewhere? And it’s not just about sitting in padmasana – in Ashtanga it’s sitting in padmasana always leading with the right foot. This might have been one of the straws that broke the camel’s back for a third series practitioner – she simply said “I got fed up with putting the right foot in first”.

"Yet I know several people who have experienced significant healing from conditions such as cancer or chronic fatigue thanks to their Ashtanga practice. There are many examples of sick people getting better because of Ashtanga – practice definitely has the potential to be healing. One reason is that this strong stretching of the physical body can be highly therapeutic as there is releasing of held tension and a breaking down of emotional tightness. It is unquestionable that Ashtanga can be healing: but this does not mean that we cannot question the how of practice and encourage a wider perspective beyond physical postures.

via Yoga With Norman

Also an interesting article, "When Yoga Hurts", on the subject from the New York Times The comments here are insightful.

Monkey Mind

Monkey steals camera. Photographs himself. Ha ha ha, if only he photographed himself doing some down dogs...now that would really be funny!


via The Mail Online

Naked Yoga Stretches Self-Esteem, But Is It Healthy?

Yep, you don't want to have a cut or nick...

"Experts agree there are psychological benefits to naked yoga, but not physical ones. "If you're wearing loose clothing or spandex, there's nothing to stop you from doing all the postures or stretches or movements in yoga with the proper clothes," Konefal said. "The sense of freedom is not a physical, it’s a psychological."

"And the practice may present a potential health hazard if the yoga studio supplies mats other people have used. To avoid sanitization issues, you want to make sure to always use your own mat, Konefal said. (Naked Yoga NYC requires that all participants bring their own mats)."

"You don’t want to have a cut or nick and risk of infection," Konefal said.

via Live Science

DebtCeilingasana

Before August 2nd...prepare


After August 2nd...Kiss your ass goodbye...


Don't know the solution here, but if this goes down without the debt ceiling being raised, it ain't going to be pretty...

Yoga Class in PowerPoint

You know I'm bored out of my mind at work now that I am going through PowerPoint clipart to amuse myself....

For YogaDawgs Only

Once you order your Buddha Cargo Jacket then you can Feng Shui yourself.

Damn, truth is sometimes the best satire....

Cow Yoga - From The YogaDawg Archives

With the popularity and saturation of Yoga among the general public, Yoga teachers have become increasingly hard pressed to find new avenues of revenue derived from their Yoga practice. However, one enterprising Yogi found a way out of this dilemma. He has started to teach Yoga to cows.

While this has raised some eyebrows in the straight-laced communities of Montana where he teaches his Yoga practice, many cattle ranchers swear by the benefits of it. "My cows are so much calmer now", explained Guy Gusterson, a rancher in Custer county, Montana. "They seem to moo less which is a great blessing to anyone who lives on a ranch. Those cows can drive you crazy with all that mooing", he continued. "I think Yoga makes them more circumspect", he added.

YogaDawg, the brains behind Cow Yoga, claims his success comes from personally concentrating on each cow and telling them that they are doing a good job while at the same time letting them know if they need to improve a little bit here or there. YogaDawg is said to have a real personal touch with the cows. He realizes that each cow has their own skill level that they can work at and makes sure they never felt to be under pressure while learning Yoga.

"YogaDawg is just such a great guy, his vibes are amazing. Cows are kind of just naturally drawn to him', mentioned Wilma Gorden, another Montana cattle rancher. "You know when we first heard about Cow Yoga, we thought is was kind of nuts. After all, cows are kind of stiff", she explained. "But YogaDawg is very good with cows and makes them feel comfortable. He encourages them to just come as they are, gets their energy flowing", she added

YogaDawg explained how he came up with the idea of Cow Yoga, "Well, it was during a Cow Face (Gomukhasana) pose that I was doing when it suddenly dawned on me how stressed some cows are. Between cow mutilations from illegal aliens (the exterterrestrial kind), cow tipping (bored farm boys in rural areas who sneak up on an upright sleeping cow and then push it over for amusement) and lonely cowboys, it was obvious that cows could benefit from Yoga just as much as people". When asked what the hardest part was about teaching cows Yoga was, he replied, "Asking them to stop chewing their cud during class".

YogaDawg on the Prowl - Inner Reaches of Yoga and Health

About a year and a half ago I stopped going to yoga classes due to variety of issues. I recently decided that I needed to get back among the yoga living again (those DVD are just not cutting it anymore). So I’m on the prowl again, dropping into yoga studios with the hope of finding the transcendental truth, blissful humor (and hopefully find the one person who can help my knee). “YogaDawg on the Prowl” is a semi-regular photo record of my yoga wanderings.

Alberto Giacometti. Dog. 1951 (cast 1957) MoMA

A studio in the neighborhood that I scored a free pass to. Nice gentle yoga because of my knee. Remembered how much I loved dozing off in savasana....

The Naked Yogini and the Whales

Good news, bad news here...the naked women is a yogi swimming in Arctic water, but she is doing it to whales heading for captivity...bummer...but nice visuals nonetheless.

"The average human could die if left in sub-zero temperature sea water for just five minutes. However, Natalia is a yoga expert and used meditation techniques to hold her breath and stay under water for an incredible ten minutes and 40 seconds."



via the The Mail Online

Yoga Signs of the Times

"One minute of painting a sunflower is as relaxing as a 90 minute yoga class." ~ Vincent Van Gogh

...first sunflower of the year!





Vincent van Gogh, August 1888

What kind of yogi are you? A YogaDawg Quiz - From The YogaDawg Archives

Find out what kind of Yogi you are. You might just be the Yoga freak that you read about and would explain why you are alienating the people around you.

Click here for the quiz What Kind Of Yogi Are You?

A couple of nice black and white yoga shots...

via crystalshaz