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Unless you’re Uma Thurman, practicing yoga in the aisle of an airplane may catch you some heat from discerning flight attendants, not to mention the perturbed passengers you’re surya namaskaring into. Understandably though, when cramped on an airplane for hours all you want to do is shimmy around and stretch it out. Seriously, anything longer than 2 hours has us squirming in our seats (related: sitting at a desk all day is some serious torture). So, what to do on a multi-hour flight across time zones with the imminent threat of jet lag? Sara at the HuffPo has you in-flight yogsters covered. You might piss off the people in your row, but obviously getting up as much as possible is your best bet, and believe it or not, inversions. Hanging upside down will help enormously. Oh, and our own special tip we’ve learned? Resist the urge to cross your legs – really. Sit with your feet flat on the floor as much as possible and your lower back will thank you.

For more in-flight yoga tips grab a Airplane Yoga manual for reference.

Everyday Yoga: Come to Peace with Yoga [Huffington Post]

If your yoga mat has met its last toe shedding (you know those little bits of mat that end up all over the floor after many sun salutes) and you’re ready to lay the baby to rest but not sure how to dispose of it, wipe those guilty tears away and recycle!

We know, it’s sad, but all yoga mats can go to heaven. Thanks to elephantbeans for alerting us to the Recycle Your Mat initiative, an organization that has made it a mission to reduce the amount of yoga mats headed to landfills. You can ship your mat to them or find drop-off locations near you (ps. if your local studio isn’t collecting already you can get them involved too).

“The people of Recycle Your Mat, as individuals and together as an organization, seek to solve environmental challenges in a socially responsible manner.”

Super! But,  if you’re struggling with the idea of parting with your trusty mat – you’ve been through so much together! – have a look at these 50 ways to Reuse your mat.

While “tree ornaments” are kind of a stretch there are some good ideas. A few of the best:

• Dog & cat dishes stay put. Cut to size required. – A. O., Trumbull, CT
• Cut the mat into squares and use them as “bases” while playing baseball with the kids. Easy to carry and easy to clean! – J. C., New York, NY
• I made one of those garden knee pads to kneel on by cutting the mat into even sections and binding the ends with twine. – K. F., Manassas, VA

Also, “sit-upons” for games, picnics etc.

Jeremy Piven seems to be recovering well from his bout with mercury poisoning.

[photo from people.com]

As I ran on the treadmill yesterday, I thought about how many times I’ve been on this machine in the last couple of months. I like to run and…

Last weekend was Super Bowl Sunday, which meant party time over at our house. My husband, the ultimate couch supporter, enjoys watching almost every sport, even though soccer is his first true love – come on, you didn’t think I was going to say that I’m his first true love, did you?!

This year, we had eight couples over and, once the initial chit-chat was done, the men gravitated down to the basement (aka my husband’s sports bar) to watch the game, loudly cheering and jeering with the usual enthusiasm men direct at a TV during any game.

We women left them to it and stayed upstairs to relax and catch up with each other. While we were chatting and munching on chips and dip, one of my friends noticed a DVD that was lying around (okay, I’ll confess – I made sure it was “just lying around” in full view) – John Sovec’s The Gift of Yoga.

“Is there any merit to this yoga thing?” my friend asked. Well, no need to ask me about yoga a second time. Just throw me the football and I’ll run with it (sorry – obviously, the Super Bowl affects me in ways I don’t even realize)! I popped the DVD into my player and pressed “play” before anyone could think twice. Well, the next thing I knew, a few of my friends started to follow along. As more joined in, we decided to clear some furniture in the room so that everyone would have a chance to give it a go – it was awesome!

While we were all trying to focus and follow John’s directions, the men came up looking for sustenance during the half-time break. “What the heck are you doing?” one of them asked. “It’s Fran’s yoga thing” my husband replied. We tried to ignore them as they watched and made caustic comments – we were obviously providing them with far better entertainment than the half-time Super Bowl performance! Once the second half started, though, it was back to watching the game downstairs. “Very strange, these women” I heard one of the men mutter as they went back down. They shout at a TV and think we’re strange? Okayyyy….

When our impromptu yoga class ended, I was delighted to hear how enthusiastic my friends were. Many of them had questions, which I did my best to answer, and every one of them said they were going to sign up for a class. I plan to remind and encourage them to do so as I’m sure it won’t be long before they’re as besotted with yoga as I am.

All in all, it was a very successful and enjoyable weekend. Super Bowl versus yoga – no question who won. Touchdown!

Tags: super bowl, yoga practice, gift of yoga, yoga at home, john sovec

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