Yoga

Cary Murphy had doubts about offering yoga-style relaxation classes during the holiday season."I thought that nobody would come. The holidays are crazy. Why bother?" the yoga instructor said.But he decided to try anyway, figuring the worst thing that could happen would be that no one would sign up for the six-week sessions held at the Merritt Athletic Club in Annapolis.He was wrong. All three classes, even one on Friday night, have at least eight people enrolled -- largely, Mr. Murphy says, because people really do need a mental break from the good cheer, party plans, shopping, wrapping, cooking, entertaining, decorating, travel, family scenarios and daily workload of the holidays.

Some of the newest fitness classes around Maryland involve warrior drills based on "The Hunger Games"books and practicing the downward dog yoga pose on a paddleboard in the middle of a lake. Others take a twist on conventional aerobics classes from the Jane Fonda era - SPRI Step360 is the latest incarnation of the step class. Then there are the ones that combine elements of other classes, such as piloxing, a combination of kickboxing and the ab-focused Pilates workout. The classes are the latest ways gyms are trying to keep people inspired with fresh workouts that take a page from pop culture trends and offer a new challenge.

Once the domain of New Agers and suburban moms, yoga has become firmly planted in Baltimore's inner city, and now researchers believe the ancient practice may help elementary school students cope with the stress of growing up in impoverished, violent neighborhoods. Researchers and lay people alike think yoga may help adults reduce stress. The popularity of the practice has surged, and it's used as therapy for cancer patients and battered women, and as a treatment for back pain and depression.

The headless figure in the "cow face" yoga position, made of porcelain clay, still needs its arm fixed and a few touch-ups before Lauren Siminski hollows it out and sands it. For now, it sits calmly on a table, surrounded by other projects in Century High School's art room, awaiting its time to be baked and glazed. The figure will be the largest of the eight statues of women doing yoga poses that Siminski will create for her AP portfolio, and it'll be the one she presents at the end of her high school seminar at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. "It's going to be on display, and I didn't want it to be really small," said Siminski, 17. "Most of the people are doing paintings.

For 90 minutes, authorities say, Brittany Norwood sat inside her victim's parked car, concocting a plan to cover up the crime scene she had just created inside the yoga store where they both worked. Her colleague, Jayna Murray, lay dead, killed by items that Norwood took from a tool box inside Bethesda's Lululemon Athletica shop, prosecutors said. There was something tied around Murray's neck. There was blood everywhere. The plan that Norwood formed — as detailed in court Monday by Montgomery County's top prosecutor — involved planted evidence, phony injuries and a series of fabrications told by the hundreds.

Charm City residents looking to tone up for beach season have a number of options. They can hit the treadmill, take up yoga or start dancing off the pounds with Zumba. But there’s another, more extreme way to get in shape that’s gaining popularity in Baltimore: training with cage fighters. At Ground Control Academy in Canton, where some of the area’s top mixed martial arts fighters train, owners are seeing an increasing number of members who never plan to step foot in a cage, but value what the intense MMA workouts can do for their bodies.

As a sport, yoga is definitely not all about competition and progressing to a higher level, which is good, because it forces many of us to let go of our annoying tendencies to be competitive and drive ourselves to a higher level. Or so I thought. Semester by semester, I've been moving into a smug yoga zone wherein I started to believe I possessed core muscles that could support my actual body weight. Fortunately, last week I had a very Zen experience that brought me back to my center.

My stiff neck, achy lower back and super-tight hips all indicated that a trip to the yoga studio was past due, but my in-laws were in town for the weekend and a class seemed out of the question. Between the traffic and the lack of parking, a 1 1/2 -hour yoga class takes 2 1/2 hours of my time. Could I really leave my in-laws from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - prime brunch time - on a Saturday morning? I didn't think so. A few weekends before, I would have had no choice but to accept my achy fate, but now I had a secret yoga weapon - Yogi2go.

I am flat on my back on a blue vinyl mat in a gym that smells vaguely of yesterday's karate class, listening to haunting flute music, staring at the ceiling, exhaling breaths deep enough to fill sails, pressing my body into the earth and thinking . . .This is exercise?An hour later even my toes are trembling as I stretch oh-so-placidly to pose my body into positions that existed before some civilizations were born, witnessing my muscular tensions and my preconceptions drain away.This is exhilarating.

Barbara Allen was just recovering from a long and serious illness -- fibromyalgia had incapacitated her for a full eight years -- when she decided to take up yoga as a way of "finding myself again." Allen, a former executive in the computer industry, appreciated it when her husband, Tom, an engineer, volunteered to try the practice, too. But, like many men, he wondered whether yoga wasn't basically "girly stuff." He felt more comfortable with a newer incarnation of the discipline -- partner yoga -- in which a couple tries out yoga postures and stretches as an intertwined twosome.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Feel better? Good. At Peace Yoga in Bel Air, owner Heather Gagnon is aiming to help women and men alike lead healthier and less stressful lives through a variety of yoga classes. “Women are natural nurturers, but it's really important that we take time for ourselves as well,” Heather says. “You may come in stressed out, but once you take time for yourself, you'll notice you're better able to deal with the stresses of daily life.” Beginners are welcome to take Yoga 101 or Yoga Basics and more advanced “yogis” can opt for Vinyasa, also known as flow yoga, which encourages strength training and endurance.

Brittany Norwood's journey from supposed victim to brutal killer ended Wednesday when a jury convicted her of first-degree murder in the slaying of a co-worker at an upscale Bethesda yoga-clothing store. It took Montgomery County Circuit Court jurors less than an hour to reach the guilty verdict in one of the Washington region's most sensational murder cases, which became known for both its savagery and surprises. The decision culminated a six-day trial during which prosecutors detailed the gruesome March attack against Jayna Murray, 30. The woman endured at least 331 stabbing, cutting, beating and choking wounds before she succumbed in a back hallway of the Lululemon Athletica store.

Tim McFadden stepped outside his glass-blowing studio to cool off. At 3 p.m., the temperature along that particular stretch of Eastern Avenue was only 96 degrees. "It feels like it's about 70 out here," he says. And no, McFadden wasn't joking. Inside his studio, the thermometer on the "cool" wall, the one farthest from the kilns, was pushing 120 Fahrenheit. Directly in front of the roaring ovens, where McFadden spends much of his afternoons and evenings spinning molten glass the color of cotton candy onto metal rods, it was even hotter.

Charm City residents looking to tone up for beach season have a number of options. They can hit the treadmill, take up yoga or start dancing off the pounds with Zumba. But there’s another, more extreme way to get in shape that’s gaining popularity in Baltimore: training with cage fighters. At Ground Control Academy in Canton, where some of the area’s top mixed martial arts fighters train, owners are seeing an increasing number of members who never plan to step foot in a cage, but value what the intense MMA workouts can do for their bodies.

There are always studies showing how many people are obese and overweight. Well if more places around the world had free classes, such as yoga or biking, more people would be out getting into shape. It all comes down to money: People who have enough money can buy memberships in order to work out, but people that lack money are unable to do so. When one doesn't work out they will only gain weight. No matter how healthy you eat, there are many factors that contribute to how healthy you live in life.

Bring your karma and your chameleon to the KarmaFest this weekend at Oregon Ridge Park in Cockeysville. In its sixth year, the festival is the work of Patricia Hawse, a Red Cross volunteer who found solace in meditation during her time in Louisiana, where she helped victims of Hurricane Katrina. Afterwards, Hawse vowed to spread the word about the benefits of yoga, meditation, holistic medicine and the power of the pysche. Whether you're a master of the downward-facing dog or simply a poseur, it doesn't matter because by the end of the week we could all use some good karma.

Riley Jackson and Shane Perlow, both 7 and ordinarily full of energy, were lying on their backs and taking deep yoga breaths while little plastic frogs on their bellies steadily rose and fell. Soon, they were wobbling and grinning through "tree pose" and hissing enthusiastically for "cat pose." Riley, who has missing front teeth, gaily sang "London Bridge Is Falling Down" as he wiggled into bridge posture. Yoga is a part of the boys' occupational therapy at Hands On Therapy in Pikesville, where Riley is being treated for a sensory disorder and Shane gets help for handwriting problems and some related spatial issues.

For 90 minutes, authorities say, Brittany Norwood sat inside her victim's parked car, concocting a plan to cover up the crime scene she had just created inside the yoga store where they both worked. Her colleague, Jayna Murray, lay dead, killed by items that Norwood took from a tool box inside Bethesda's Lululemon Athletica shop, prosecutors said. There was something tied around Murray's neck. There was blood everywhere. The plan that Norwood formed — as detailed in court Monday by Montgomery County's top prosecutor — involved planted evidence, phony injuries and a series of fabrications told by the hundreds.

Once the domain of New Agers and suburban moms, yoga has become firmly planted in Baltimore's inner city, and now researchers believe the ancient practice may help elementary school students cope with the stress of growing up in impoverished, violent neighborhoods. Researchers and lay people alike think yoga may help adults reduce stress. The popularity of the practice has surged, and it's used as therapy for cancer patients and battered women, and as a treatment for back pain and depression.