Yoga Fun Facts

You may be able to recite the Yamas and Niyamas by heart, bust out some impressive Sanskrit and Om with the best of them, but how's your yoga trivia?

Check out these random yoga fun facts:

• Henry David Thoreau practiced yoga in the mid-1800s and has been called America's first self-described yogi.
• The world's largest yoga class included 29,973 students. It was held at Jiwaji University in Gwalior, India, on November 19, 2005, and led by Vivekanand Kendra.
• As of 2014, the oldest living yoga teacher known is 96-year-old Tao Porchon Lynch.
• There are a lot of celebrities who practice yoga. Just a few include: Jennifer Aniston, Robert Downey Jr., Madonna, Adam Levine, Reese Witherspoon and Russell Brand.
• Marilyn Monroe practiced yoga with Indra Devi (who learned from Krishnamacharya himself!).
• Madonna's song Shanti/Ashtangi is an opening chant for an Ashtanga yoga practice. 
• Antigravity yoga is practiced above the ground in suspended silk hammocks. 
• Laughter Yoga is practiced while laughing out loud. Yep, laughing.
• Other yoga trends include practicing on a paddleboard, smoking marijuana before practice, bringing your pet dog to class and practicing yoga nude.
• Yogitoes rSkidless towels are made from 50 percent recycled material, including eight recycled bottles per towel.
• Yoga pants have been banned in some American schools. 
• As of 2012, more than 20 million American adults practice yoga, and nearly 33 percent of them say they have practiced for over three years. About 82 percent of them are women.
• According to this Yoga in the U.S. infographic, by HealthNews, the typical American yoga practitioner is a married, college-educated woman, aged 35 to 54, who owns her own home.
• Through deep yogic meditation, it's been found that monks can raise their body temperature by up to 17 degrees or slow their metabolism by 64 percent. 
• There's a Hindu yogi who has raised his arm for over 38 years.