Accessibility links
Yoga Yoga
Stories About

Yoga

Got Back Pain? Try Yoga Or Massage Before Reaching For The Pills
Hero Images/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Got Back Pain? Try Yoga Or Massage Before Reaching For The Pills

New guidelines encourage doctors to tell patients to try non-drug therapies for acute lower back pain first.

Got Back Pain? Try Yoga Or Massage Before Reaching For The Pills

Listen · 2:03
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/515675259/516203260" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Yes, Cat Yoga Is A Thing Now, And It's Pretty Purrfect

Melissa Galdis bridges with Ramon. Melanie Peeples hide caption

toggle caption
Melanie Peeples

Animals

Yes, Cat Yoga Is A Thing Now, And It's Pretty Purrfect

The Greater Birmingham Humane Shelter in Alabama hosts yoga sessions — for people — right alongside the shelter's cats.

Yes, Cat Yoga Is A Thing Now, And It's Pretty Purrfect

Listen · 2:17
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/500000629/500034951" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Say Yes To Down Dog: More Yoga Poses Are Safe During Pregnancy

Four pregnant women sit in lotus position. Thomas Northcut/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Thomas Northcut/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Say Yes To Down Dog: More Yoga Poses Are Safe During Pregnancy

Moms-to-be who practice prenatal yoga say it reduces stress, anxiety and even pain. A study finds that even poses once thought to be off limits to pregnant women are safe.

Say Yes To Down Dog: More Yoga Poses Are Safe During Pregnancy

Listen · 1:35
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/455890447/456174783" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
35,000 Bend It With Modi As India Launches World Yoga Day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi performs yoga along with thousands of Indians on Rajpath, the mall of central New Delhi, for International Yoga Day. Saurabh Das/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Saurabh Das/AP

Parallels

35,000 Bend It With Modi As India Launches World Yoga Day

Led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tens of thousands of government officials, soldiers and students performed yoga in New Delhi Saturday for the first-ever International Day of Yoga.

35,000 Bend It With Modi As India Launches World Yoga Day

Listen · 3:40
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/415769144/416192497" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Who Knew Yoga Could Be So Stressful!

Yogis in Bangalore get ready for the International Yoga Day on June 21. MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP/Getty Images

Goats and Soda

Who Knew Yoga Could Be So Stressful!

Yoga is supposed to bring inner calm. So why are some people in India up in arms about the upcoming International Day of Yoga?

Who Knew Yoga Could Be So Stressful!

Listen · 4:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/414561565/414561566" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Those Yoga Poses May Not Be Ancient After All, And Maybe That's OK

Yoga practitioners celebrate the solstice in New York's Times Square in 2011. Richard Drew/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Richard Drew/AP

Shots - Health News

Those Yoga Poses May Not Be Ancient After All, And Maybe That's OK

Fresh Air

In her new book, Michelle Goldberg traces the Western practice of yoga to a Russian woman named Indra Devi. Goldberg says that many of the poses in modern yoga can't be traced beyond 150 years ago.

Those Yoga Poses May Not Be Ancient After All, And Maybe That's OK

Listen · 45:32
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/411202468/411259544" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Innovation: Smart Yoga Mat Could Help You Find Your Zen

The SmartMat is a responsive yoga mat that seeks to improve one's yoga practice. Microsensors embedded in the mat record and provide adjustments to the user in real time. Courtesy of SmartMat hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of SmartMat

All Tech Considered

Innovation: Smart Yoga Mat Could Help You Find Your Zen

The SmartMat is an intelligent yoga mat that records the user's movements and makes adjustments to improve yoga practice. The creators have a prototype and plan to ship the final product in July.

Weakened By TB And Malaria, Iyengar Took The Yoga Cure

If it weren't for B.K.S. Iyengar, yoga wouldn't be quite as popular in the West. This photo of the yogi, who died this week at 95, was taken in Karnataka, India on May 3, 2005. Hemant patil/Corbis hide caption

toggle caption
Hemant patil/Corbis

Goats and Soda

Weakened By TB And Malaria, Iyengar Took The Yoga Cure

He practiced to improve his own health. Then he spread the word about yoga to the world. His excellent English helped. So did his use of props like blocks and belts.

Yoga May Help Overcome Fatigue After Breast Cancer

People practice yoga at a fundraiser for a breast cancer foundation in Hong Kong. Ed Jones/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Ed Jones/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Yoga May Help Overcome Fatigue After Breast Cancer

Cancer patients and survivors are told to exercise, but the disease and treatments can leave them with overwhelming fatigue. Yoga may be a gentle way to get moving, a study reports, with breast cancer survivors who did yoga saying they had less fatigue than women who did not.