Inhale Life, Exhale Baaaaah
What could be more calming than goat hooves on your back in Chaturanga? The concept sounds crazy, but if you can sustain your judgement long enough to peruse the pics, you might second-guess your position. Lainey Morse is the founder and creator of Goat Yoga, who’s motto on stress is to “Just Let It Goat!” What started as a small-scale concept about animal therapy has grown to epic proportions, with over 1200 people on a class waiting list at one time. Events have expanded to include Student Yoga Yoga, Goat Yoga with Wine Tasting, and more. Details can be found on the web at GoatYoga.net.
Practice at Your Own Risk?
Yoga’s extreme rise in popularity has brought with it many measurable effects—and not all of them are necessarily good. Despite it’s notoriety as an effective stress-reduction tool, not all styles (nor all teachers) are made the same—and recent studies have a shown a dramatic rise in yoga-related injuries. A study published in The Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine in November 2016 reported “29,590 yoga-related injuries seen in hospital emergency departments from 2001 to 2014.” Of these, the vast majority were incurred by the population of adults aged 65 years and over. The study affirms that, while many health benefits exist for those who practice, there still remains risk of injury and, as with any physical activity, caution should be taken and/or health care providers contacted before embarking on something new.
Local “Living Room” Farming
The people are fed up with food tampering and Ikea has responded. Ikea’s Growroom has been described as "a spherical garden that empowers people to grow their own food much more locally in a beautiful and sustainable way." The nine-foot tall indoor spherical structure is comprised of 17 sheets of plywood and--true to Ikea style--all you need to build one of your own is a hammer, 500 stainless steel screws, and the 17-step instruction sheet. You can’t get more local than the living room!