When Britney Spears told an interviewer she practiced yoga to relieve stress, it might have meant the end of trendy for the newest hip workout.

That is, if yoga were just a fad, but it has been around for thousands of years. It just took awhile for celebrities to take notice.
As yoga’s popularity increases with celebrities and the public, more people are learning the real benefits of the ancient practice.

In 2003, 15 million people were actively studying yoga, according to a poll released by The Yoga Journal, and Americans spent an estimated $27 billion on yoga and yoga-related products.

SF State student and yoga instructor Manuel Rubi, 28, has never really liked the mainstream yoga fad, but he doesn’t knock those who do.

“There is a lot more to yoga than buying a yoga mat, buying yoga clothes or reading yoga magazines,” said Rubi.

“I think it’s kinda cool [that] more stars are doing it. People go to a class and get to [experience] yoga once in their lives.”

Yoga, which means ‘union’ in Hindu, is a system of postures and exercises that promote control of the body, mind and spirit. It is meant to bring the practitioner to a state of complete awareness and tranquility while promoting flexibility and muscle strength.

Many people have known the value of yoga for years, but the sudden popularity can also be annoying to some.

“Remember Tae Bo?” said Kerry Mccay with a laugh.

The 22-year-old liberal arts major has been studying yoga off and on for eight years, but has only attended the classes offered at SF State once.

“[Yoga] has been around for a long time,” Mccay said. “I did it before it was popular.”

As pop culture trends go, it could be worse. The latest workout fad to hit the United States is kettlebells, a Russian workout program that uses bowling ball shaped, cast-iron weights that can weigh up to 88 pounds for men.

Kettlebells was originally designed for bodybuilders and soldiers, but fitness companies have started making weights for women at about nine pounds.

Whether kettlebells lasts as long as Tae Bo is an open question, but the physical benefits and sense of well being generated from yoga have kept some students coming back for more.

“At the beginning of the semester, the entire room completely filled up,” said Katie McCracken, 19, who has been taking the free classes at SF State for two semesters.

There are now about 25 students attending the Wednesday night class, who all show up before Rubi even gets there.

“It filters down to people who really get into it,” said McCracken.
There are dozens of yoga studios in the San Francisco Bay Area, but unfortunately, none of them are are free.

Classes usually range in cost from $13 drop-in sessions to $135 monthly passes.

For people who have always wanted to try yoga but never got up the nerve, the popularity it has received can be an incentive to take that first class and get started with the program.

“Sure, there are people who get into it because it’s trendy,” said Danielle Dineen, 28.

Dineen studied aikido for years and has always wanted to try yoga.
“But also it’s accessible, more available to people who wouldn’t do it usually,” Dineen said.

Yoga classes are offered on Mondays in Gym 149 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Wednesdays in Burk Hall room 6 from 7-8:30 pm.

There is no charge to attend the classes.