Yoga Journal

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Yoga Journal
Image:Yoga Journal 2007 08.jpg
The latest edition of Yoga Journal.
Type yoga magazine
Format
Owner Active Interest Media
Publisher Bill Harper
Editor Kaitlin Quistgaard
Founded 1975
Language English
Headquarters San Francisco, CA
Circulation 350,000 [1]
Website: www.yogajournal.com

Yoga Journal is an American based media company that publishes a magazine, a website, DVDs, and puts on conferences all devoted to yoga, food and nutrition, fitness, wellness, and fashion and beauty.

Contents

[edit] Beginnings and Growth

"Yoga Journal" was founded in May 1975 by the Holistic Life Foundation, later renamed as The Feathered Pipe Foundation in association with members of the California Yoga Teachers Association, which included Rama Vernon, Ike and Judith Lasater, Rose Garfinkle, Jean Girardot, Janis Paulsen, and William Staniger. It was established on Janis Paulsen Silver's $500 credit card limit. She and William Staniger were the founding editors. Their goal was to create a magazine that would unite the growing yoga community and provide "material that combines the essence of classical yoga with the latest understanding of modern science."[2]

By the mid-1990's, as yoga's popularity in America grew, circulation for "Yoga Journal" reached 66,000. During these years, key figures at the magazine included former publisher Michael Glicksohn, former editors-in-chief Stephen Bodian and Rick Fields and former longtime managing editor Linda Cogozzo.

In the fall of 1998, John Abbott, a former investment banker at Citicorp and an avid yoga practitioner, bought the magazine, and brought in Kathryn Arnold as editor-in-chief. In January 2000, they redesigned and relaunched the magazine. Since their arrival, the paid circulation has grown from 90,000 to 350,000; the readership is now over 1,000,000.[3].

"Yoga Journal" has won five consecutive Western Publications Association's Maggie Awards for "Best Health and Fitness Magazine," and in 2007 won the Award's top honor for "Best Overall Consumer Publication."[4]

In addition, the magazine has won four Folio Editorial Excellence Awards for "Best Health and Fitness Magazine " in the country.

In September 2006, the magazine was bought by enthusiast publisher Active Interest Media which publishes Vegetarian Times, Black Belt Magazine, Southwest Art Magazine, and other consumer enthusiast titles.[5]

In 2006, Kaitlin Quistgaard became editor-in-chief.

Forbes magazine has called "Yoga Journal's" website "The Web's most expansive and impressive Yoga site."[6]

[edit] Editorial Focus

Each issue of "Yoga Journal" contains several in-depth feature stories that touch on the themes of yoga, food and nutrition, fitness, wellness, and fashion and beauty, as well as the following columns

  • Basics — "Yoga Journal"'s most popular column[7]. Presents yoga asana and philosophy in an easily accessible format for people who are new to yoga.
  • Eating Wisely — This award-winning column examines the connections between health, spirit, and food.
  • Home Practice — Tools for doing yoga at home.
  • Master Class — In-depth instruction for the serious practitioner. Written by authoritative master yoga teachers.
  • Media — Reviews and discussion of the latest and most noteworthy books, music, DVDs, videos, and audiotapes.
  • Om — Covers trends, news, fashion, people, places, and things that make the world of yoga fun and rewarding.
  • Wellness — Information on herbal remedies, Ayurvedic medicine, nutrition, bodywork, and other modes of natural healing that can be part of a yogic lifestyle.
  • Wisdom — Meditation teacher Sally Kempton shows how yoga philosophy can provide modern practitioners with a road map for living a more evolved life.
  • Travel — Features writers who explore themselves while exploring the world.

[edit] Yoga in America

Yoga Journal's 2005 survey, "Yoga in America" found the yoga market to be worth nearly $3 billion per year. The data, collected by the Harris Interactive Service Bureau (HISB) shows that 16.5 million people practice yoga in America.[8]

In 2005, "Yoga Journal" brought B.K.S. Iyengar, one of the world's foremost teachers of yoga, to America to teach an extensive workshop.[9] Mr. Iyengar's book Light on Yoga, first published in 1966, has become a classic and is considered the ultimate reference manual of asana practice.

[edit] Yoga Conferences

"Yoga Journal" hosts several major conferences a year with top yoga teachers in the United States, including Rodney Yee, Patricia Walden, Baron Baptiste, Seane Corn, Shiva Rea, Richard Freeman, and Judith Lasater.

[edit] 2007-2008 Conference Dates

  • September 24 - 30, 2007: Estes Park, Colorado
  • January 18 -21, 2008: San Francisco, California
  • May 16 -19, 2008: Boston, Massachusetts
  • September 21 -28, 2008: Estes Park, Colorado
  • November 14 -17 2008: South Florida

[edit] Non-USA Editions

"Yoga Journal" has several international editions which are published in China, Italy, Russia, Spain, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Brazil.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ How to Pitch: Yoga Journal - mediabistro.com Content
  2. ^ http://www.yogajournal.com/about_yjstory.cfm
  3. ^ http://www.yogajournal.com/about_yjstory.cfm
  4. ^ WPA - Western Publications Association
  5. ^ http://www.foliomag.com/viewmedia.asp?prmMID=6492&prmID=285
  6. ^ Forbes.com Best of the Web
  7. ^ http://www.yogajournal.com/about_yjstory.cfm
  8. ^ http://www.yogajournal.com/about_press020705.cfm
  9. ^ Yoga Journal Live At Estes Park

[edit] External links