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28
Jul 11

Chicago yoga classes help employees find their inner peace

If you are a supervisor and your employees are increasingly tired, tense, unproductive or stressed out, what can you do? Besides making sure that your team has ample healthcare and plenty of vacation time, it may be helpful to consider teaching workers how to use ki energy and yoga to decompress.

In Chicago, yoga-based employee exercise systems are becoming quite the rage, and they are not limited to a few downtown cubicle farms either. The Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center has reached out to a number of companies in the windy city, not the least of which is the Chicago Bulls basketball team, the Yoga Journal reported.

The clinic has treated more than 10,000 clients for tension and has taught them to reduce stress by developing a personal development plan and then implementing it using yoga and meditation.

Doing yoga at work, or as part of an employee exercise program, can help workers reconnect their bodies and minds, something that may be a big help during tough times at the office.

"A freer body gives you a more open mind. How you feel physically is going to affect how you function mentally," Theresa McCullough, an HBO employee, told the source. The popular cable television channel has offered its employees the chance to take yoga classes at work for several years now, the journal noted.

Even Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel freely admits that he needs yoga. He told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that the mind-body system is a key facet of his workout regimen.

"I swim on Monday, Wednesday and Friday a mile, and then I run two miles home. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I bike on the stationary for 25 minutes at a high level and then do 15 minutes elliptical, and then I do a weight routine. On Saturday, I bike 25 miles outside and then I do…a private yoga class," he told the news source.

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11
Jul 11

Chicago-based documentarian tries ki energy training, yoga for longevity

Living a long, full life is a goal that most people set for themselves, but actually making that ambition a reality is easier said than done. With that in mind, a Chicago-based documentary filmmaker recently explored exercise, calorie restriction, ki energy techniques, yoga, cryonics and other facets of the pursuit of longevity.

Called How to Live Forever, the movie was released in May 2011. According to the Internet Movie Database, the film has grossed fairly little so far, but critics are pronouncing it a fairly comprehensive look at how humans go about trying to live longer, healthier lives.

Moviemaker Mark Wexler helmed the project. He is the son of legendary cinematographer and Chicago documentarian Haskell Wexler, who won the last Academy Award for Best Black and White Cinematography for his work on the film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

The younger Wexler interviewed a number of people for the film, some of them experts and others eccentrics.

For instance, one of the documentary's primary subjects is Buster Martin, a 101-year-old marathon runner who drinks nothing but beer and smokes cigarettes, according to Wired.com. This rather outre character told Wexler that key to becoming a centenarian is, among other things, to avoid tea and water.

Not all of the movie's subjects give such off advice. In addition to looking into cryonics, robotics and complex nutritional systems, Wexler himself tried Chicago yoga classes as part of his own attempt to get healthier.

Several studies published in the journal Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences have suggested that yoga, breathing exercises and tai chi may contribute to a healthy, potentially life-lengthening daily regimen.

One of these reports noted that "there is abundant evidence in the scientiļ¬c and medical literatures that the diligent practice of certain yoga-meditational regimens can lead to a spectrum of health enhancements, ranging from modest to profound."

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24
Jun 11

Chicago researchers say yoga may ease COPD symptoms

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) is a progressive disease that affects the lungs' ability to process oxygen. While the condition currently has no cure, scientists from Chicago have reported that regular yoga-based breathing exercises may improve the quality of life of people who suffer from it.

Published in the American Journal of Therapeutics, the report is evidently the first study within the U.S. to analyze the effects of yoga on COPD severity and symptoms.

Scientists from Chicago's Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science reported that 22 patients were given six weeks of yoga-based interventions, which included stretching, posing and deep breathing.

The team noted that participants' COPD symptoms became milder after a month and a half of yoga.

In particular, volunteers tended to display a larger measured lung capacity, higher inhalation and exhalation pressures and an improved quality of life.

COPD occurs over time as the lungs' alveoli, or tiny air sacs, gradually harden and fill with mucus. More than 12 million Americans are diagnosed with the condition, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.

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10
Jun 11

Yoga class is offered 11 stories above Chicago

Practicing yoga outdoors can be a great way to decompress, especially when the weather is fine and one is wearing loose-fitting clothes made with natural fibers. That said, what do you do if it is sunny outside and you have your yoga outfit on but you just happen to live in a busy city center?

The Ritz Carlton-Chicago is offering a solution, now that spring has given way to summer. The hotel will offer Sunrise Yoga on the Sun Deck, a yoga class offered every Saturday for patrons, according to Breaking Travel News.

The sessions will start at 7:00 A.M., allowing guests to breathe deeply, stretch, meditate and relax amid the striking skyline of downtown Chicago. The news source reported that yoga practitioners will get a breathtaking view of the John Hancock Center and Lake Michigan.

Studies have shown that outdoor yoga may be of benefit to people of all ages, from toddlers to elderly adults.

For instance, an article in Camping Magazine found that outdoor programs that involved walking, camping, yoga or social groups helped frail seniors improve their quality of life.

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3
Jun 11

Chicago-area kids stay healthy with yoga

No matter what your age, attaining and maintaining good health typically follows a formula with few variables – eating right, exercising, getting enough sleep and relieving stress. These tenets apply to adults of any age, not to mention children, which is one reason why Kraft Foods is holding a festival for kids that will include yoga.

The Kraft Great Kids Hoopla will be held in Chicago on June 16 at the Ravinia Festival, followed by events at the 63rd Street beach, Kohl Children’s Museum and Chicago Children’s Museum, according to Pop Sop Magazine.

Besides listening to stories, playing games, building miniature playgrounds and line-dancing, youngsters who participate in the festival will be given the chance to stretch, breathe deeply and pose with yoga exercises, the news source stated.

Since the festival is only slated for one day, Chicago parents may be wondering where they can find kid-oriented yoga instruction the rest of the year.

Fortunately for them, several Dahn Yoga centers exist in and around the city, including the Orland Park community group, which, among all locations nationwide, was named January's Center of the Month by Dahn Yoga and Health Centers.

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