Yoga

COLLEGE PARK - Along with "press," "post" and "trap," Maryland basketball players have added some new expressions into their lexicon this season. Adrian Bowie, Dave Neal and the other Terps couldn't have told you before the preseason about "downward dog" or "child pose." Now, the players know all too well about these and other yoga positions. Their challenging yoga training - which began weeks before their opening game and has continued into the season - is part of the regimen introduced by Paul Ricci.

Gina Fortunato spent an hour yesterday breathing in deeply and letting go, an exercise in relaxation, self-transformation, inspiration. Oh, and fund raising. Appreciating the idea of doing good while helping themselves, dozens of people arrived for yoga classes, massage appointments and "integrative breathing" sessions at seven sites throughout the Baltimore area for the HealingAthon, a new charity event. The money participants paid for their moments of me-time will fund similar services for cancer patients, organizers said.

Kathy Donnelly discovered yoga about 12 years ago, when her three sons were 2, 3 and 5 years old. "I really needed a way to have time for myself," she said. So she rented yoga videos from the library and began doing the routines early in the morning, before the rest of her family woke up. "I felt like when I did yoga I was a better mom," she said. "I felt like I was different in the world on the days I did yoga. It released the stress in my body, and I felt connected to myself." Now, she is director of the Yoga Center of Columbia, which has 14 instructors teaching about 70 classes a week ranging from prenatal and family yoga to dynamic yoga, Pilates and ultra-gentle yoga.

Teri Weatherly walked out of her first yoga class and felt like bursting into tears. While many would have been crying after the grueling session, Weatherly's reaction was nothing less than revelatory. "Believe me, I never cry after a run," said the 39-year-old Timonium hairdresser, who runs 4 to 5 miles or exercises at a health club nearly every day. "Something clicked," she explains. "I felt very focused and more aware of my body than I do on machines at the gym." But Weatherly hadn't been in just any old yoga session.

At the Winter Games in Vancouver, you're likely to see the fruits of a training technique Olympic athletes have practiced for thousands of years. Though it's relatively unknown to the public, the technique is one anyone can use to maximize the benefits of every workout. In preparation for the first Olympic Games, ancient contenders lifted the same calf daily, and the amount of weight they could lift increased as the calf grew. Clearly, this rudimentary approach had its drawbacks, but over time, "periodization," as it's called, has been honed.

The buzzing of exercise bikes fills the air as eager participants begin warming up for the Soul Ride spin class at 8 a.m. Saturday at Bare Hills Racquet and Fitness Club. The instructor turns on her headset microphone and cues up the playlist she has created for the session. Then she kills the lights. The buzzing from the bikes gets louder as the class begins to fight through varying speeds and levels of resistance. She calls out instructions as the bass pulses through the speakers in the dimly lit room.

Eighty-five percent of health clubs now offer yoga. About 15 million American adults practice it. That's about 2 1/2 times more than 10 years ago, according to a Roper poll. --Yoga Journal and Yoga Research and Education Center

Children's yoga -- The Yoga Center of Columbia will offer a certificate training course for adults interested in practicing yoga with children. All levels of experience are welcome. Shakta Kaur Khalsa will teach ways to create awareness, promote relaxation and help children who have special needs (such as autism or ADHD) through yoga. No experience is necessary. Radiant Child Yoga Teacher Training will be offered Jan. 4-6 at the Yoga Center, 8950 Route 108, Suite 109. Classes, which are divided equally between lecture and practice, are scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Jan. 4; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Jan. 5; and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 6. The fee is $585 until Friday; $645 after that date.

Some people, as they grow old, can become SO inflexible.And then there's Ina Marx, 68, who can put both feet behind her head. Or, standing with her arms extended at shoulder height, can raise her straightened leg until her toe touches her hand. Or even do a not-so-simple backbend.There is nothing inflexible about Ina Marx, except her attitude toward exercise. And that attitude is: You've got to do it, even if it's only 10 minutes of stretching a day. And, she says, one can never be too old or too unfit to start.

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.