I have been lazy in putting up my photos and comments on several yoga ventures that I've been involved in. For instance, as announced here, I went to an Amy Weintraub workshop at Spiral Flight Yoga on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington. This was back in -- shock -- March. It was a four-hour session called Life Force Yoga to Beat the Blues and Amy (her photo is on the right) kept the participants actively involved throughout the whole show at a pace that would have been daunting had not most people already been acquainted with her work from her book, Yoga for Depression: A Compassionate Guide to Relieve Suffering Through Yoga, or from her CD. But there's a big difference going through all the pranayama exercises, chants, visualizations and yoga postures with her leading the way, rather than just picturing them in your mind and trying to imitate them.

I went to the event with my daughter, Stephanie. The practice room was full, perhaps as many as forty people. There were wall-to-wall mats as a way of defining personal space during the talk and exercises. Although we did not do any vinyasas, you still need an area to spread out in. At the end, Amy spent as much time as possible talking to people and signing her book. I got her to sign my copy, dog-eared, underlined, comments in the margins, tagged with colored flags.

While putting this entry together, I noticed on the Spiral Yoga website that Amy will be repeating this workshop in March next year, which I recommended to anyone wishing to deepen their pranayama practice or acquire skills for managing their emotional balance. She has a compelling approach, and this is a very accessible form of yoga with immediate pay-off.