Wellesley Weston magazine: “Upward Trend of Downward Dog”

It seems you can’t walk a city or suburban block these days without passing a yoga studio. If you haven’t begun doing yoga, your friends have. More than likely, you’re next. Here’s what you can expect from this practice that is so old it’s become new again.

Some excerpts:

    A recent Yoga Journal market study estimates the number of people practicing yoga at close to sixteen million--almost seven percent of the US adult population, and a 43 percent increase from 2002. Given the current economy, one would think that fewer people would be taking up yoga, not more. After all, doesn’t the $15 to $18 per class fee fall under the dreaded “discretionary expense” column in the budget? But if anything, it’s likely that the uncertain economy might be driving the increase in popularity.

    Erin Gallo, owner of A Little Yoga studio in Wellesley’s Linden Square, offers some insight: “People may be cutting back on things like pedicures and dining out, but they don’t seem to be cutting back on a healthy lifestyle. I think they realize that now more than ever, they need to be on the mat.”

    Debra Goodman, owner of H.Y.P. Studio in Wellesley, echoes that sentiment. “People are turning to yoga for more than a workout. They’re seeing what yoga has to give. It’s like a life raft at this point for so many.”

    The benefits of yoga go far beyond a lithe body and biceps even Michelle Obama would envy. There is increasing evidence that supports yoga as a viable therapeutic tool for many health conditions. “Yoga as medicine represents the next great yoga wave,” says Kaitlin Quistgaard, editor in chief of Yoga Journal. And in fact, that wave may have already come ashore. According to Yoga Journal, nearly half (49.4 percent) of those practicing yoga are doing so to improve their overall health.

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