SANTA SAYS >>>>

There is something awfully mysterious about yoga. When Santa first paid attention to the word back in the mid-1950s, I thought it was something Yogi Berra did when no one was looking.

For years yoga remained a shrouded practice in the United States, as if hoarded by a few Zen-like philosophers who didn't consider the masses worthy of knowing much more than that some followers had flexibility similar to a cat grooming herself.  But as the last century came to a close, and the interest in alternative health and fitness grew, yoga was mainstreamed along with green tea, acupuncture and sea vegetables.

Santa would like to clear up a few yoga myths. Yoga is not a religion. It is the practice of bringing your body into balance. Through certain positions, stretches and breathing techniques, you can restore both your physical and mental health plus increase strength in your body. Also, yoga is rarely a chant-fest. Yes, Kundalini yoga involves some chanting as part of its meditation, however most yoga classes subscribe to the Hatha philosophy, which places the major emphasis on the physical body.

Yoga is not easy. There are those who can, and those who teach - and your money should be on those who are certified.  Just because you know someone who is loose like a rubber band, it doesn't mean he knows how to safely teach you to be like one. 

One of the better yoga studios in Tacoma will be open Christmas Eve. Expand Yoga in downtown Tacoma offers original, 26-pose hot yoga and hot Vinyasa yoga in a heated studio overlooking a tree-filled park. Expand Yoga will hold a 10 a.m. hot yoga class so you can find center before tilting the hell out of it.

[Expand Yoga, Saturday, Dec. 24, 10 a.m., $8 drop in fee, 1015 Pacific Ave., 2nd Floor, Tacoma, 856.472.9642]

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