This week marked the winter solstice. To celebrate the longer, more light-filled days to come, I like to perform 108 sun salutations in the late afternoon as the sun is going down.

In "The Bicycle Diaries," I profiled Neil and Jesse, their mission and their motivation. More than a month into their ride, and in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, I am providing an update on their journey.

1. You don't have to be thin to be flexible. 2. To get into certain poses, however, it does help to be thin to make up for a lack of flexibility. ... 14. Yoga teachers are not "yoga therapists" unless trained as such.

Yoga cannot guarantee breast cancer survival. But what I learned, and what I believe my students learned is that yoga can reacquaint and reconnect you with your body.

By now, we've all seen the above photo of Jon Gosselin practicing yoga, and in particular practicing Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, or as it is more commonly known, "Upward Facing Dog Pose."

Yoga should be an uplifting experience. It should provide a vacation from the thoughts. If it causes one to conjure up new ways to beat oneself up, then, well that's criminal.

Yogi says: "I keep death close to me in spirit all the time so that I can fully appreciate the miracle that is life." Yogi means: I am having some pretty serious anxiety issues lately.

Even yogis have their moments: We scream at our kids. We tell a fib here or there. We might choose to indulge in a trashy magazine rather than rereading the Bhagavad Gita.

Yesterday, my mom called to tell me about this book she was reading: The Ten-Year Nap, by Meg Wolitzer. Since these days, most of my reading is done ...