Last week we hosted a short-essay contest about befriending your body. We received incredible stories about finding peace and gratitude with our bodies, even after cancer diagnosis.



We are happy to announce that Rae Johnson, a two-time breast cancer survivor from Maryland, was the winner of this contest (see her winning essay below). Rae won Kelly McGonigal's new book,… Continue

Hello Yogis,



Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving!



A friend recently shared with us the Hindi word jugaad. It literally means a work around solution, devised due to lack of resources. In other words, it means getting more done with less. That's what we do at Yoga Bear. We are grassroots and operate on a tiny budget--- but the dedication and hard work of our volunteers and partner yoga studios make it possible to serve the cancer community in big ways. This resourceful… Continue

Yoga Bear’s founder has been selected as a 2009 L’Oreal Women of Worth honoree! The honoree with the most online votes gets a $25,000 donation for their organization. This would be the largest donation we've received to date, but we really need your help to make this happen.



We would be honored and grateful if you could take one minute to… Continue

We hear a lot these days about the steps we can take to reduce our risk of getting cancer.



Don't eat splenda! Eat splenda! Stay out of the sun! Stop smoking! No drinking! Only white wine! Only red wine! No red meat! All these messages, often conflicting one another, we're told will reduce the risk of getting cancer.



But what about the 1-in-3 of us who have already had cancer... do we follow the same guidelines? Stricter ones? Different ones?



A leading cancer… Continue

Hello Friends!



This week's YogaLeter is brought to you by Plank Pose! This pose strengthens the arm and spine, and is just plain fun. We made a little video for you to learn all sorts of modifications for this pose. Enjoy!



Talk around town...

Anyone in MICHIGAN? Connect with… Continue

Yoga Bear volunteer Nicoleigh Gamble began her yoga studies by accident in 1999. This was shortly after going through an identity crisis, caused by an injury that ended her ballet career. She was transitioning into scientific research, a seemingly 180 degree turn. And through yoga, she developed a deeper understanding of herself, the world, and a belief that yoga brings a peaceful and truthful existence to any individual.



When Nicoleigh teachers, she brings warmth, compassion, and… Continue

photo by Jesse Di-Carlo Wagner

Do-good yogis around the country got together for a day of yoga, healing, friendship, and community. Yogapalooza raised $2,704 for 6 chapter. And most importantly, we were able to come together in the mission of providing more opportunities of health and wellness to the cancer community. A HUGE thank you to all of our volunteers, chapter directors, and instructors for making this day… Continue

Roberta did a great job providing detailed instructions for practicing Bhramari Breath.



Benefits: It is the most healing of Pranayama and is used as therapy for most ailments... The practice of Bhramari calms the mind, reduces stress, cerebral tensions, anger, anxiety, insomnia; blood pressure is also lowered.



This Pranayama is very effective in speeding up the healing of body tissues and may be practiced after surgeries. It has a calming effect on entire nervous… Continue

There are hundreds and thousands of people who swear by the power of yoga. This ancient practice that was initially meant to hasten and help the quest of enlightenment and spirituality later gained popularity the world over for its therapeutic effects and health benefits. While all of us know that yoga allows us to control our emotions and manage our mental health, not many of us associate it as being able to help athletes and other sports performance. Besides helping improve flexibility, yoga… Continue

Representation for non-sex-specific cancers better in government-funded studies



Women are underrepresented as patients in clinical studies of non-sex-specific cancers, though representation is better in government-funded studies, according to a report published online June 8 in Cancer.



Reshma Jagsi, M.D., and colleagues from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor examined the… Continue

Researcher have found that acupuncture before or during surgery can reduce post-operative pain. Patients who received the nontraditional treatment reported less pain after various surgeries, needed less pain medication and suffered fewer side effects from the medication they took, according to 15 clinical studies reviewed by the team. "The use of acupuncture is still very under-appreciated," said the lead researcher.



Researchers at Duke… Continue

Hospitals are using Twitter from operating rooms, showing surgery on YouTube and having patients blog about their procedures (via NY Times)



Children battling cancer at Children's Hospital are turning to yoga (via WCCO.com)



One in four African American women diagnosed with late stage breast cancer refuse… Continue

By Pha Lo



Ever thought you had to be an Olympian with epic fitness standards to get really serious about yoga? Whether brand new to it, or returning from a big change in life, getting into the studio and the accompanying varied body-twisting poses can be intimidating. Even more so if you have particular needs for modification that a class, no matter how inclusive it promises to be, can't fully accommodate.

Though yoga, as a practice, is open to people of all shapes and…

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