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Everywhere I look it seems people are willing to now pay for experiences that used to be part of life. We pay a premium to pick our own fruit. We pay for vacations that push us to our physical limits. And more and more we pay to volunteer. I guess it shows how much we value those experiences.

In the past few years, voluntourism has risen in popularity. It allows people to pay for vacations and work while they’re there. Many of these trips also include a yoga component. Several are in India but others include Nepal and Mexico.

It turns out it is human nature to do good. Our altruistic sense in the brain is right there with food and sex, according to scientists. Giving is in fact better than receiving.

Karma yoga is the notion of serving ones community. The voluntourism concept mixed with yoga puts that into practice without a lot of planning and preparation on the part of the traveling yogi.

Yoga teacher Neo runs one of the more famous such trips in Granada. Attendees work with the master and also volunteer at an orphanage or with organic cocoa farmers.

One in Nepal offers a morning yoga practice and afternoons teaching English or working in an orphanage. PEACE Mexico just announced this week a trip where travelers will stay at a resort and help with the organization’s recycling programs, spay and neuter clinic or English classes.

Just remember, you don’t have to be on vacation to help people. You can do so everyday.

Yoga and Yosemite sound like a perfect combo to me.

In the past few years, more adventure companies have been mixing the two in an effort to connect people with nature. Taking small groups on day hikes or backpacking treks for the blend of inner and outer beauty remains the focus of these trips.

Y*Explore is joining the trend with three trips this summer mixing a hike through Tuolumne Meadows followed by a vinyasa flow class on a rock, said co-owner John DeGrazio.

“It’s another way for people to get out and express themselves in nature,” he said.

Balanced Rock is expanding its offerings of yoga, arts and hiking combos.

The non-profit started from women’s wilderness workshops and aims to give outdoor opportunities to people who otherwise would not go, said Arin Trook, program coordinator. To that end, the group offers women of color trips, porter options and cabin space for some experiences.

But it’s not just yoga and hiking, Trook said. They classes also mix in creative expression through art, writing or music – including a watercolor class.

And it’s not just for women any more.

“Like the rest of the yoga world it’s still hard to draw as many men in as women.”

Trook has traveled to ashrams in India and various other places in his yoga studies. The location doesn’t matter as much as the connection to nature he said. Be it India, Joshua Tree or Yosemite, it’s that mix that makes it special.

This year, Balanced Rock is adding two new experiences on different ends of the yoga spectrum. March 5-7 is a retreat at the Yosemite Bug rustic mountain resort more geared to the yoga vacation clientele. In addition to morning and afternoon classes, attendees can add day spa services or enjoy the sauna and hot tubs.

A yoga trek is a more intense yoga study in less comfy surroundings, Trook said. The treks include other aspects of what is considered yoga such as breathing practice called pranayama and kirtan, yogic music.

“It’s really expanding ideally what yoga practice is and the complexity of what yoga has to offer,” he said.

One of the points of this site is to foster a community where we can discusses and review different yoga retreats and resorts.

While this may help you find the spa that best suits you, it also promotes education about some of the questionable “yoga” practices in the world.

Rolling Stone posted an article today headlined The Yoga Cult. The article details the experiences two people had with Dahn Yoga. The people fell into the control of the leaders and went into debt trying to please the masters.

The article also highlights the power of the brain. The group targeted college campuses where students are yearning for understanding and belonging. These students had dreams, but were convinced to ignore them.

Determination can lead to good and evil. The brain has the power to create its own reality and usually does considering 90 percent of what we see is based on our own perceptions.

I hope yoga in the United States can withstand such tarnish but it’s up to us to stay informed so we make the best decisions about where we travel.

The Los Angeles Times Travel & Adventure  Show last weekend made me want to go to so many places.

I spoke to people about yoga trips on cruises through Fiji, yoga historical jaunts around India and Indonesia’s efforts to capitalize on the popularity of Eat, Pray, Love. Wellness seemed to be a theme for many vendors but at different levels -medical trips for cosmetic surgery to luxury spas.

Starting on March 1 is the International Yoga Festival in Rishikesh, India. For seven days, participants will meditate and practice.

India brings yoga tourists from around the world with many tour operators offering yoga and wellness trips. Some packages offered at the travel show included stays at spa hotels with certified ayurveda physicians, an alternative medicine using herbs and nutrition.

As yoga becomes more mainstream in the west, more and more athletes are learning of its merits.

The Olympics start tomorrow and many of the athletes have added it to their workouts in the last few years. I had no idea how much yoga would help me with heading downhill but I found out on a ski trip to Utah. After months in yoga classes, I didn’t tire on even the longest runs. I realized the numerous chair and horse poses I’d done had helped.

The LA Clippers recently became the first NBA team to add a full-time yoga instructor.

I can’t imagine how long those yoga mats must be.

So if you’re looking to improve in a sport, maybe a yoga weekend focusing on that sport would be right for you. Or pick up some tips from the Olympic athletes being interviewed.

Sunset from Mount Rubidoux

Multiple times a week I go through what Google news spits out about yoga and travel.

Articles and advertisements pop up about people surfing and doing yoga in Morocco, Mexico and Fiji. Others discuss a business that travels to people’s homes for spa days and yoga classes.

There’s always interesting nuggets, but mostly it makes me want to travel. The photos are nice but I’d rather be there myself.

The problem is that I want to go everywhere. Hawaii, Baja, Spain, sign me up, I’m ready to go. There are great places closer to me in Arizona I’d like to check out and they’re even having yoga at this year’s Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee.

So, where should I begin?

Where would you?

After the New York Times story earlier in the week about hotels and resorts increasing yoga offerings, I got to thinking about how we will be able to tell the difference between a yoga spa and a regular spa in the future. Will they all blend together or now do yoga spas have to step up their offerings?

While thinking about this, I saw a press release from a resort in the Turks and Caicos where you can take daily yoga classes and they are all-inclusive with movies, sailing and kayaking. So as more and more hotels, resorts and spas offer yoga classes what’s to set the current yoga-focused ones apart?

Will they need to bring in big name yoga instructors, hold conferences or retreats? Or will it be more than that. Yoga is about much more than poses so will a yoga-focused spa or resort offer vegan or raw food cuisine. Will days focus more on mediation and breathing exercises than choosing between tennis and snorkeling?

The yoga industry is definitely changing, hopefully it benefits us yogis without falling out of a grounding pose.

It’s almost looking like the New York Times has a yoga beat.
A story this week focuses on how the travel industry is picking up its mat – and blocks and straps.

As yoga moves from fad to lifestyle, hotels are following suit, the article says.
In addition, many activity-based vacations now include yoga. Trips mix horseback riding, kayaking and skiing with yoga.

For a lot of resorts and hotels, yoga is an easy addition because it mostly just requires space and increases the value of staying there to some customers.