Having trouble focusing on a task you absolutely must finish?  Or feel like you’ve been forgetful lately?  Roll out your yoga mat for a quick yoga session that includes asanas, meditation and breathing, and you may find the solution to your problems! 

Another recent study of yoga and its effects on the brain, conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the USA, published its findings in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health recently.  This study concluded that after a 20 minute yoga session that included deep breathing and meditation, test subjects performed much better on cognitive tests than after a 20 minute aerobic session.  See the press release of the study here.

We definitely agree with the results of the study, as yoga is so much more than a physical practice.  The physical aspect is a way to prepare the body for the long periods of meditation required in an overall yoga practice.  The concentration needed during the asanas, and the focus on the breath during meditation focuses your mind and reduces the importance of all outside thoughts and stressors.  As such, it makes sense that your focus would be improved after only a 20 minute session.  Imagine the effects of a long term practice!  Yoga has long been recommended for improvement in focus and memory, we’re glad to see scientific results to back it up. 

Dear daddies and mummies, we are partnering with Gymnademics to offer our mummies pre and post natal yoga classes. This is a great opportunity for mothers looking for group postnatal yoga classes!
If you are interested, email your full name and mobile contact to [email protected].

Yoga continues to become an interest in the scientific world.  As a regular asana practice begins to work its way into the daily routine of more and more people, more scientists want to study and test its positive effects on the body.  A new study published out of Germany in the online journal PLOS ONE, aimed to find out more than just whether or not yoga is beneficial, but also how exactly a regular yoga practice affects the body.  The study took 10 participants and observed them over the course of one week at a yoga retreat. Before and after practicing yoga for two hours a day, the gene expression of each of the participants was measured through a blood test.  They found that yoga, above other leisure activities such as walking or listening to music, created a rapid change in many more genes in the immune system – 111 for yoga versus 38 for other activities.  A full summary of the study can be found here:
http://www.neontommy.com/news/2013/05/health-benefits-yoga
The study in its entirety can be found here:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0061910#s3
There you have it, yet more scientific proof that regular yoga positively affects the body and mind in a multitude of ways!  

Thank you to everyone who came out for the Mind Body Spirit 2013 Festival, and attended our invigorating hatha yoga session in the Singapore Flyer.  There's nothing quite like flying high, using the beautiful Singapore skyline as inspiration during a Sunday yoga practice.  Check out the pictures below.

Join Vanda for a Hatha yoga session on Sunday May 12, 2013 at 3:30pm during the Mind Body Spirit Festival to be held May 11-12 at the Singapore Flyer! Vanda and many others are coming together for a two day celebration of love and good health.  Registration for the festival is now open and will close on May 8th. In addition to the Hatha yoga session with Vanda, the Festival will include yoga and Pilates workouts, a fitness marathon and other workshops.  
So, get ready to grab your mat and spend a weekend nurturing your mind, body and spirit!   
Register on the website: http://www.mindbodyspirit.com.sg/ or call Tel: 65 6842 6198 for details.

The practice of yoga is becoming increasingly mainstream, not only for physical fitness, but as a way to treat mental and nervous system imbalances such as depression, stress and anxiety.   Scientists are taking notice.  For example, this new study at the University of Adelaide in Australia is aiming to find out if practicing hatha yoga relieves stress in individuals.  In their new trial, called The Yoga for Stress Study: The Effectiveness of a Hatha Yoga Practice on Biochemical Markers of Oxidative Stress in a Chronically Stressed Population, researchers will recruit women to participate in 16 hatha yoga classes, measuring whether there is a decrease in the amount of biochemical markers of oxidative stress at the end of the study.  The participants must be new to yoga, women, and between the ages of 35-65. 

We’ll be looking forward to hearing the results, although we expect they will be in favor of a regular yoga practice in reducing stress.  In this increasingly hectic world, a regular yoga practice has become extremely beneficial.  It provides a time for practitioners to forget about their busy schedules, step away from technology like cell phones and e-mail, and focus on only one thing – the breath.  It’s a time for the body and mind to recuperate.  We believe the researchers will find a decrease in the markers of oxidative stress as each participant inhales, then exhales. 

Hi all
We are opening up two trial classes next week at OUE Bayfront on 25th March Monday and 28th March Thursday, 6pm.
This is a 60min Hatha Yoga class for all levels.
As spaces are limited, prior confirmation is mandatory. You would require your own yoga mat.
Interested participants, please email us your name and your mobile number for confirmation.

We’ve just come across yet more proof that yoga is for everyone!  While people tend to think that yoga is for young, naturally flexible people, this really isn’t the case.  Yoga is for anyone of any age who wants to improve their balance, flexibility and overall physical and mental health.   It’s never too late to start.  Just look at American yoga instructor Fran Miller.  She began teaching yoga at 50, and turns 91 this month.  She still gives hatha yoga classes at a studio in California.  See her full story here:

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/10/local/la-me-fran-miller-20130311

For a few more inspirational pictures of yogis who have reached age 90, check out this link:

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/1-3674-1/6-Inspirational-Yogis-in-Their-90s.html

So, there it is, there’s no age limit on practicing yoga.  Here’s to many more years on the mat!

If you always groan when someone asks you about your New Year’s resolution, here’s help!
New Year’s resolutions need not be gargantuan tasks. You need not set sky-high objectives or goals. They can be “mini” New Year’s resolutions you can achieve towards your end goal. For eg, you would like to lose weight, starting off by overhauling all your eating and exercise habits as a New Year’s resolution might not be the best idea. Instead set simpler targets such as eating more vegetables in a meal a day, eating less oily food every meal, attending a yoga class once a week. Allow these goals to manifest into good habits extending beyond January, beyond the first quarter. As you meet these milestones, you would feel happier to have achieved them and more motivated to continue. Once you can keep this up towards the end of the year, you should see your end goal of weight loss slowly being fulfilled!
All the very best for your “mini” New Year’s resolutions!