Donors needed to allay local blood shortages Donors needed to allay local blood shortages (January 11, 2006)

January is typically the most difficult month for blood banks to maintain an adequate supply of blood to meet the needs of the sick and injured, and this year is no exception.

"Right now, we're low on all blood types," Michele Hyndman of the Stanford Blood Center said last week. The center strives to maintain a three-day supply of all blood types to meet area patients' needs, "but we have less than a one-day supply of some types right now," Ms. Hyndman said.

The shortage is the result of several factors, including the inability of some regular donors to give because of flu or colds, and the cutback in community blood drives because of holiday season activities.

Healthy people who want to donate blood can call 723-7831 to find out how to do so. You can also learn more or schedule an appointment to donate by logging on at bloodcenter.Stanford.edu.
Yoga at home

A workshop to help yoga students design their own at-home practice is set for Saturday, January 14, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the California Yoga Center, 570 Showers Drive, Suite 5, in Mountain View.

The cost is $60 in advance and $70 at the door.

Donne Davis of Menlo Park, who teaches the workshop with yoga instructor Ann Merlo, says the program emphasizes the use of ritual to build a personal practice. She defines rituals as "consciously repeated patterns of meaningful acts."

Through discussion and practice at the workshop, students will, among other things, learn a basic yoga practice sequence and how to modify and expand it.

For more information, call Ann Merlo at 424-8316, or visit california.yoga.com.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.