Blog Posts by Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger

Yoga dateWhile some people think of yoga as a Spartan discipline practiced in the U.S. by pallid folks who avoid pleasures of the flesh, its earthy origins tell a different story. According to the NY Times, Hatha yoga, which is the most common form practiced here, began as a branch of Tantra. Reportedly, "in medieval India, Tantra devotees sought to fuse the male and female aspects of the cosmos into a blissful state of consciousness." Indian gurus who brought yoga to G-rated early 20th Century America, toned down many of Hatha's sensual messages and practices.

Also on Shine: Rebecca Romijin's Yoga Work Out

Apparently, a number of male yoga teachers stateside didn't get the memo. Over years, there have been many scandals involving charismatic leaders taking sexual advantage of their followers. Notably, John Friend, the founder of the popular form of Anusara Yoga, who allegedly expressed his surname a little too insistently with female students and employees, took a leave of absence this

What's on your bedside table? Not since women were stealing their daughter's Twilight books for midnight reading binges, has a series of novels so steamed up the mommy set. The New York Post reports that the X-rated 'Fifty Shades' trilogy, by E.L. James, British television executive and mom of two, has already sold 250,000 copies and scored James the number one spot on the NY Times bestseller list.

Related: Nixon Love Letters to his “Dearest Heart” Go On Display

'Fifty Shades of Grey,' the first installment, has become know as "The Book" around school pick ups on New York City's Upper East Side. "I couldn't put it down," says NYC mom Michele Yogel, 33, "I'd be sitting on the couch at 7 a.m. with my two kids while they're watching cartoons and drinking milk and I'd be reading it on the Kindle app on my phone."

While Stephanie Meyer's books were mainly about the thrill of the chase and the anticipation of the kill, James's series is more of a full frontal assault. Unabashedly not YA, these books are part of

During the run up to the Oscars, the LA Times reported on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's lack of diversity and its potential impact on the films that rise to the top. Yahoo! Shine caught up with Natalie Difford, Senior Production Officer at Chicken & Egg Pictures to get her take on where women stand in filmmaking today. Chicken & Egg is a hybrid film fund and non-profit production company. They executive produced the critically acclaimed Pariah which won an Indie Spirit award this year as well as Saving Face which won the Oscar for Best Documentary (short). Also nominated for Best Documentary (short) was The Barber of Birmingham. Chicken & Egg completed this film after its director, Gail Dolgin, succumbed to breast cancer.

What's been happening with Chicken and Egg pictures this awards season?

We're hot off the slopes from Sundance Film Festival where we annually throw a super fun networking party in honor of our filmmakers premiering there. This year we

Shampoo less, we dare you.About 90% of Americans shampoo daily. One hundred years ago, people only washed their hair monthly, and in the 1950s, it was customary for women to have their hair washed and set once a week at the salon.

Related: Eight Things Your Hair Says About Your Health

A clean head of hair feels fresh and smells great but over-washing can turn one's healthy locks into a pile of straw. The average person's hair grows less than half an inch per month so long strands that have been subjected to a lot of shampooing (as well as chemical treatments, blow drying, and the elements), tend to get dried out and dull at the ends and even break off. Dirtier hair-gasp-also holds a style better.

How often you need to shampoo depends on how oily your scalp is and your hair's texture. Oil-known as sebum-travels more easily down smooth, straight hair, making it look greasier faster. Sounds a little gross, but sebum helps moisturize and waterproof the hair shaft. This is one reason why curly or coarse

Most people have a love/hate relationship with working out, and maybe not because they are lazy. Shine partnered with Fitness Magazine to survey over 2000 women and men about their biggest pet peeves around the gym and found that almost everyone has one. Nearly 90% of participants admitted to hating something about going.

With all those sweaty, half-clad bodies packed into most facilities, they can be teeming with germy grossness. Researchers have discovered the superbug MRSA, all sorts of icky bacteria, and plain old dirt lurking on mats, weight machines, dumbbells, and cardio-machine handles in many gyms. Its no wonder that spotting someone "forgetting" to wipe down the machines ticks off 45% of women and 42% of men-making this gym-goers' number one peeve.

Also on Shine: Cheaters, Liars, and Sinners: Survey Reveals Worst Vices

Another serious bother is the gym rat on the neighboring elliptical jabbering away on their cell phone. Hmm…what's more boring, a stationary bike

J.K. RowlingJ.K. Rowling, author of the blockbuster Harry Potter series, has announced she is going to write an adult novel. It's been nearly five years since the best-selling kid's scribe in history published her last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and it's going to be a tough act to follow. "JK Rowling announcing a new book is almost like god announcing a follow-up to the Bible," tweeted fan Natalie Summers.

The Potter books have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide. The first in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, was published in 1997. For her new novel, Rowling switched publishers leaving Scholastic for Little, Brown. "The freedom to explore new territory is a gift that Harry's success has brought me, and with that new territory it seemed a logical progression to have a new publisher. I am delighted to have a second publishing home in Little, Brown, and a publishing team that will be a great partner in this new phase of my writing life," she said in a

SaffronWhat if there was a safe supplement that would banish hunger and boost metabolism? That's exactly what Dr. Oz touted in a recent episode of his show called Belly Blasting Supplements. America's favorite TV doctor says that Satiereal saffon extract, will "annihilate your urge to overeat."

Saffron is a culinary spice derived from the dried stigmas of crocuses. Each flower contains only three stigmas and they are usually harvested by hand. This makes saffron the most expensive spice in the world by weight. It has been cultivated for over three thousand years.

Satiereal saffron extract is believed to diminish "emotional eating." It may have the effect of increasing serotonin levels in the brain, which improves mood and makes people less likely to snack. Dr. Oz explains, "You crave carbohydrates…when you take carbohydrates and put them up in the mouth you are actually turning on chemicals in the brain... They turn on this pleasure sensation, this craving you have, and they

As many as half of transgendered teens attempt suicideNine-year-old Angel loves "shoes and fashion," playing dress up in princess costumes, and the colors pink and purple. Angel feels like a little girl but has the body of a little boy. "I'm very happy now," Angel says on a video produced by the support and educational outreach organization, Trans Youth Family Allies (TYFA), "because my family loves me for who I am."

Angel is lucky. Many families of transgendered kids don't accept that their child feels like they were born the wrong sex or, worse, berate, abuse, and reject them. According to a study in the most recent issue of the journal Pediatrics, kids whose interests "fall outside of those typically expressed by their biological sex" are more likely to experience physical and emotional abuse and suffer from post traumatic stress disorder nearly twice as often as others in young adulthood. And while school may be hell for these kids, its not playground bullies who are at the heart of the problem: "The abuse we examined was mostly