Guru attacks modern yoga teachers

A yoga guru from East Sussex has criticised celebrities and fitness enthusiasts who he says only promote the physical side of the art form.

Swami Ji, 82, who runs classes in Bexhill, is also worried many are pursuing yoga for financial gain.

"They are not concerned with the mind – they are only going to shown you the jumping up and down," he said.

The British Wheel of Yoga said "it wasn't such a bad thing" if the art form was taken up for physical reasons.

'Holistic view'

Pierre Bibby, chief executive officer of the charity which is the governing body for yoga in the UK, and who has been practicing the ancient art form for a year, said people could take what they wanted from yoga.

"With the greatest respect to Swami I've taken something from it because it's improved my posture."

But he said yoga gurus taught the complete holistic view, which included the philosophical and spiritual sides as well as the physical.

Swami Ji, who began studying yoga 40 years ago, added: "Yoga is for those people who can live away from the world."

Yoga is a system of philosophy which originated in India 5,000 years ago.

BBC – Newsbeat – Health – ‘Hardcore’ yoga spurs Murray to victory

Andy Murray has admitted that yoga gave him the strength to beat world number one Roger Federer at the Barclays Dubai Open.

Not just any yoga though, the 20-year-old tennis star has been practicing Bikram or "hot" yoga.

He said: "It's a little bit ugly. I started in December to try and improve my flexibility in preparation for the Australian Open."

The tennis star admitted that Bikram Yoga has helped him beat players like Roger Federer because it made him mentally stronger.

He added: "It has helped me a lot with my fitness and my mental strength because it's tough being in that kind of heat for that length of time."

Bit further

Sophie Callis from Bikram Yoga West in London told Newsbeat that it comprises of a series of stretches, performed in a room heated to around 45C.

She said: "In the heat your body is able to go that little bit further because the muscles get so warm."

But she said it is not for the faint hearted and that the 90 minute work-outs are "hardcore".

The heat also helps to prevent injury, aid the healing of existing injuries and it works as a detox because it makes you sweat.

Footballers and martial arts specialists are among those who go to Bikram Yoga West and Sophie said it is because "flexibility is so important in all sport".

Model Elle Mcpherson and Bond star Daniel Craig are also thought to be fans.

Emmerdale star to take yoga break

Emmerdale actress Leah Bracknell is to take a break from the ITV1 soap to qualify as a yoga teacher.

Bracknell, 40, who plays vet Zoe Tate, will leave in the autumn in a dramatic storyline to take nine months off.

"I am looking forward to spending some time with my family and having the opportunity to pursue other projects," the mother-of-two said.

"I will also be finishing my teaching diploma in yoga which is something I am passionate about," she added.

Bracknell released an exercise video last year.

She has played Zoe for 15 years, and has been at the centre of some of the soap's most dramatic storylines, including an affair with Charity Dingle in 2001 and a schizophrenic breakdown the following year.

The lesbian vet fell pregnant following her breakdown, and was shocked to discover the father of her baby was womaniser Scott Windsor.

Series producer Kath Beedles said: "Leah is an exceptional actress and has made a huge contribution to Emmerdale's ongoing success. We wish her all the best for her well-earned break and look forward to welcoming her back in the future."

Yoga tested as back pain therapy

The potential for yoga to be used to treat low back pain is being investigated by researchers.

Millions of UK people suffer from chronic low back pain, and existing treatments have only a limited effect.

A team of academics, yoga teachers and practitioners have joined forces to find out if a 12-week course of yoga can make a difference.

The Arthritis Research Campaign-backed project will assess moves from the two most popular types of yoga.

These are lyengar yoga and hatha yoga, favoured by the British Wheel of Yoga.

More than 260 people between the ages of 18 and 65 who have had back pain in the past 18 months will be recruited for the trial.

Recent, small studies in the US have shown that yoga can be helpful for back pain sufferers.

But David Torgerson, director of the University of York Clinical trials Unit, and Jennifer Klaber Moffett, deputy director of the Institute of Rehabilitation at the University of Hull, believe a bigger study is needed to unequivocally establish the benefits.

'Considerable impact'

Professor Torgerson said: "Yoga offers a combination of physical exercise with mental focus that may make it a suitable therapy for the treatment of low back pain.

"If the trial shows yoga to be effective then this low-cost treatment will have a considerable impact in the quality of life of patients with back pain."

Yoga develops flexibility and muscular endurance by allowing the muscles to be stretched and strengthened.

Patients will be recruited from GP surgeries from September and the 12-week classes, to be held in north and central London, York, Manchester and Cornwall, will begin in November.

The classes will be run by 10 experienced yoga teachers who have all received specialist training.

No difficult poses

Half the participants will take part in yoga classes, and the other half will receive the usual care.

They will be assessed at the end of the classes, then six months and a year later to see if there are any longer-term benefits.

The yoga classes will be carefully structured for people who are complete novices and will not involve any difficult poses.

They will be graduated over the 12-week period, starting off gently and becoming more demanding, with a combination of stretches, bends, lying sitting, standing and relaxing poses.

Patients will also be encouraged to practise daily at home.

Anna Semlyen, a yoga teacher who is helping to run the classes, said: "Regular yoga increases the benefits, and we would hope that at the end of the 12 weeks people would carry on."

Yoga classes could cut sickness

Staff at Leicester City Council could be offered yoga classes and counselling in an attempt to cut sick days.

Employees took an average of 12 days in sickness absence in 2006/07 which cost the council £11.5m.

Deputy leader, councillor Mary Draycott, said the authority wanted to improve the health of its staff to reduce the amount of days lost.

Other ideas being considered to reduce sickness include health checks and Pilates classes.

'Quite traumatic'

Ms Draycott said every effort will be made to reduce the amount of days and improve the health of council staff.

"Compared to the rest of the country in the national league tables Leicester is in the bottom quartile.

"We have to bring this level down because of the cost, the effect it's having on those staff who are working hard, and to improve the services for the citizens of Leicester."

She added: "The last few years have been quite traumatic within the council with so many reviews, so many changes and savings that have been made on frontline services it's not surprising that the morale and the stress levels are high."

The authority wants to reduce absence levels to an annual average of 10 days in 2009/10.

Welsh dragon joins yoga culture

The traditional eastern practice of yoga might not have obvious links with the dragon of the Welsh flag – but a Pembrokeshire teacher has united them.

Frances Taylor devised a 'dragon salutation' for the first Welsh festival of yoga in Monmouthshire.

Students acted out 'dragon behaviour' through yoga poses – eating coal, breathing fire, and defending Wales against an English ogre.

Ms Taylor, from Pembroke Dock, said she had been thrilled with the response.

A tutor at the Mandala Yoga Ashram in Llansadwrn, Carmarthenshire, Ms Taylor said she had aimed to combine traditional yoga techniques and exercises with Welsh storytelling.

"Many of the Welsh people I have taught have told me that although yoga is important to them, so is their own language and culture," said Ms Taylor, who is known in yoga circles as Black Feather Moon.

Talons

"I've always felt very close to dragons and the dragon mythology so I used a story in the Abergavenny festival about a dragon in a routine similar to the Salutation to the Sun (a traditional yoga sequence), which one of my pupils translated for me.

"I asked the class to imagine being asleep in a cave, then becoming aware of talons, nostrils and scales.

"Warming up we got our wings stretched and flapping, then we went on a flight.

"I was over the moon with the reaction. One woman who has been doing yoga for 30 years and has recently returned to Wales said she felt reconnected with her Welshness.

"I've been a tutor for 20 years and am entrenched in eastern culture – Hindu and Buddhist thought – but it's not my culture."

She said she was now thinking about developing more Welsh folklore, like Arthurian legends, into yoga sequences.

Yoga classes ‘provoke’ prisoners

A prison in Norway has stopped holding yoga classes after it found that instead of calming inmates, they were actually making some more aggressive.

High-security Ringerike jail near Oslo offered the classes to eight inmates on a trial basis earlier this year.

Prison warden Sigbjoern Hagen said some of the inmates became more irritable and agitated and had trouble sleeping.

He said the prison did not have the resources to treat emotions unleashed by the deep breathing exercises.

The yoga group expressed surprise at the prison's findings.

It said the project had been tested successfully on some 100,000 prisoners in around 15 countries, the AFP news agency reported.

"The reactions we received from the prisoners who participated in the classes were very varied, ranging from completely positive to completely negative," Mr Hagen reportedly wrote in a letter to the group.

On the negative side, the yoga had provoked "strong reactions: agitation, aggression, irritability, trouble sleeping and mental confusion", he said.

The deep breathing exercises are an essential element of Yoga, which originated in India more than 5,000 years ago and aims to harmonise mind, body and spirit.

But such exercises could make inmates more dangerous by unblocking their psychological barriers, Mr Hagen was quoted as saying.

Van’s the man for rock museum

Entertainment

Van's the man for rock museum

Van Morrison: "Ireland's greatest living legend"

Rock legend Van Morrison has become the first musician to be inducted into the Irish Music Hall of Fame in Dublin.

The 54-year-old singer received the tribute from countryman Bob Geldof at a special ceremony on Wednesday night.

Morrison – best known for songs such as Brown Eyed Girl, Gloria and Moondance – performed at the event, which was hosted by poet Brendan Kennelly.

The venture seeks to recognise the very best of Irish musical talent over the decades, from traditional acts such as Christy Moore and The Dubliners, through to established acts like U2 and younger groups like Boyzone and Ash.

It is based around a new multimedia exhibition in Dublin city centre which explains the history and development of Irish rock and pop.

Morrison, who was born in Belfast, is the first big name to be inducted into the Hall of Fame – though others will follow, voted for by a panel of experts from the country's record industry.

Spokeswoman Cara Twohig said: "Members of the Hall of Fame have to have made a very signficant contribution to the music industry both here and abroad, and Van Morrison was an obvious first choice."

Hall of Fame director Niall Stokes – editor of the Hot Press music paper – said: "Van Morrison has been justifiably acknowleged as Ireland's greatest living legend, a multi-talented creative force who has created an astonishing body of work of great depth and beauty.

"We are honoured that he has agreed to be the first artist into the Hot Press Irish Music Hall of Fame."

Bob Geldof added: "I believe there is only one genius in Irish music, and that's Van Morrison."

The best-known music Hall of Fame is in the United States at Cleveland, Ohio. It has inducted scores of names since its inception in 1983, including Van Morrison in 1993.

BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | Crafty Croft ready for step up

According to Dean Richards, he has everything.

Former All Black Aaron Mauger says he is the quickest back-row forward he has ever seen.

And Martin Corry believes England have never had a player blessed with his abundant abilities.

So, it is fair to say Tom Croft is a little special.

The blind-side flanker has been the talk of Leicester since his debut in November 2005, thanks to his phenomenal pace and agility.

His elevation into Brian Ashton's England squad has been equally swift – and according to Harlequins rugby director Richards, the 22-year-old is already equipped for the demands of the Six Nations.

Alacrity is not usually the outstanding attribute of your average number six, but Croft is not your average number six.

Training ground whispers suggest he is the second fastest player at Welford Road behind fleet-footed winger Tom Varndell, but Croft diplomatically plays the straightest of bats when asked to confirm the rumour.

"That was four years ago when we had some testing done," he told BBC Sport.

"We haven't had tests since so I can't keep hanging on to that.

"Tom Varndell is obviously leading the pecking order but it's pretty close as to who is second, third and fourth – all the way down. Hopefully, I'm still up there."

The New Zealand Maori will vouch for his astonishing pace, especially after his blistering 60m individual score which clinched the Churchill Cup for the England Saxons at Twickenham last June.

More impressive displays have since followed, including a two-try show in the Tigers' 42-13 victory over Harlequins at the Stoop last month, a performance which had even former England loose-forward great Richards glowing, despite his team's comprehensive defeat.

It is easy to see why Richards is so enthusiastic. A 6ft 5in, 16st English back rower equally comfortable in the backline, at the bottom of a ruck or jumping at three in the line is every coach's dream.

Certainly, Tigers coach Marcelo Loffreda thinks so, but Croft believes he still has the instincts of a traditional forward.

"The perception is slowly changing, but you can't lose physical edge which it (forward play) has always had," he said.

"You obviously need your powerful loose forwards but (modern-day) sevens need to have that edge to them, to be able to get across the pitch. Hopefully I can offer that pace playing at six as well.

"And if I get into space then I'll have a go."

Born in Basingstoke, Croft moved from his home town to Oakham School in Rutland at the age of 16, where his progress coincided with another brilliant England talent – although Stuart Broad's future was with a cricket bat and ball in hand.

Croft's development flourished under the watchful eye of former Leicester flanker Ian Smith, now Oakham's director of rugby.

And the influence of World Cup-winning back rowers Corry, Lewis Moody and Neil Back at Welford Road have helped Croft become an indispensible member of Loffreda's squad.

"He looks lean but he's very strong, very quick and very skilful," explained former Tigers and England captain Corry. "England have never really had his sort of player."

If Croft is given the opportunity to start against Wales on 2 Febuary, the Twickenham visitors may become sick of the sight of the back of the England number six shirt.

Crewman dies after submarine fire

A crewman has died after being injured in a fire on a Canadian submarine which has left it drifting in the Atlantic.

Lt Chris Saunders was one of three men flown to hospital in the Irish Republic from HMCS Chicoutimi on Wednesday. The others are said to be stable.

A tug has joined two Royal Navy ships trying to rescue the submarine, which still has 54 crew members on board.

Another tug is due to arrive later but bad weather means it might be Friday before the submarine can be towed.

Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin paid tribute to Lt Saunders, 32, a married father of two, saying he "gave his life serving his country and we owe his family our deepest condolences".

The combat systems engineer was one of nine crew members who had suffered from smoke inhalation during the fire on Tuesday afternoon.

A Royal Navy helicopter was flying three men to Londonderry in Northern Ireland, but had to divert to Sligo in the Irish Republic when Lt Saunders's condition deteriorated.

"A medical decision based on his condition was taken to put down in Sligo," a spokesman said. "The helicopter landed as quickly as it could."

The remaining crew are said to be in "good" health and a vessel carrying food, fuel and a medical team has reached the submarine.

It has no engine power and is drifting at a rate of one to two knots in a south-to-south-easterly direction 100 miles (160km) off Ireland's west coast.

The fire started in an electrical panel in a passageway in the HMCS Chicoutimi, which is not nuclear-powered or carrying nuclear warheads.

It was on its way back to Nova Scotia from the Scottish base of Faslane, after being sold by the Royal Navy and handed over on Saturday.

It is one of four submarines the Canadians have bought from the Royal Navy – all of which are said to have had technical difficulties.

If its engines cannot be restarted, it is likely to be towed back to Scotland.

But Irish Marine Minister Pat Gallagher has said the vessel has drifted south of Eagle Island off the Mayo coast, with the Irish search and rescue zone.

"If we get a formal request from the Canadian authorities we will immediately assess its stability, integrity and the welfare of the crew," he said.

"The ideal situation would be to tow it back to the Clyde, but I am advised that might not happen depending on the weather."

The first Royal Navy rescue ship, HMS Montrose, arrived at about 1330 BST on Wednesday, followed by the HMS Marlborough and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's Wave Knight – carrying food and fuel and with a medical team.

One tug, the Anglian Prince arrived on Thursday morning and a second, the Carolyn Chouest, is expected later, along with supply ship RFA Argus.

But Lt Cdr Denise Laviolette, of the Canadian Navy, said it might be Friday before they could get a tow line to the submarine.

She said: "We still have six-to-eight metre waves and 35 knots winds – so it is still pretty much a gale."

The damage to the submarine is said to be more extensive than first thought.

Commander of the Canadian Atlantic fleet, Commodore Tyrone Pile, said two fires had broken out causing damage which had prevented them from restoring the submarine's power propulsion system.

"Significant damage" was also caused to the commanding officer's cabin and the electrical equipment room, on separate decks.

Captain Steve Upright, from the Faslane base, told BBC News 24 the submarine, formerly known as HMS Upholder, had been examined and declared fit before being handed over.

And Captain Finney said: "The early indications of the situation on board Chicoutimi [are] that the problem is nothing to do with any technical aspect, the design or build."