Washington Post Va. yoga instructors sue state on plan to regulate training:
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia requires certification of all sorts of vocational training programs, including bartending schools, dog-grooming schools and the Ballroom Dance Teachers Academy. Certification requires a $2,500 fee, audits, annual charges of at least $500 and paperwork. Yoga teacher training had long fallen below the council's radar. Then, late last year, a state employee conducting school audits noticed an advertisement for it.
The skirmishing between state bureaucracies and yoga teachers continues. I am not sure if I am comfortable with the Libertarian slant to some arguments against regulations, on top of the muddled perspective of whether yoga has a religious nature and therefore should remain outside the reach of the State. Yoga teacher training is definitely small fry in the vocational training business. For that matter, only a handful of "graduates" actually end up teaching more than a few classes a week. Who's making a living off of yoga? How many students feel cheated by substandard teaching?
Also see the Cato Institute's blog, which in turn points to the Institute of Justice's case report, this You Tube video and this editorial in the Richmond Times Dispatch. An AP wire story. And Reason's Hit and Run blog lends moral support.
Enlighten Up, the documentary about a novice and a film maker seeking truth in yoga, will become available on DVD on November 10. Order it online. I thought that I had mentioned the film before, but I didn't, probably because most of the yogic blogosphere had already been raving about the film. It has been viewed in arts theaters in dozens of cities, but you really had to be alert to catch it. It was in Washington on June 6-15, but I did not even hear about it, much less find out where the E Street Theater is. The DVD would make a great gift for a yoga practitioner.
Labels: videos
I've been meaning to mention that Kino MacGregor, an extraordinary Ashtanga instructor, will be teaching at Woodley Park Yoga on December 12-13, but I just checked at all four sessions are sold out. Unless Faith Scimecca, the studio owner, gets a bigger venue for the event, we're out of luck. We'll just have to conform ourselves to this video.
Yesterday, I reviewed Trudie Styler's Warrior Yoga and said that it was not appropriate for beginners. It occurred me that I knew exactly where to refer novices interested in good beginner videos, and it's at Gaiam Yoga Club. About a year ago, I was asked to use the service for a month and comment. I wrote one entry and then my knee injury blew up my practice and diverted my energies. My trial pass ran out, and I forgot all about it.
But thinking about what makes a good beginner-focused video, I remembered the weekly videos of Rodney Yee and Coleen Saidman and realized that the online service offered nine hours of video, plus audiocasts, handouts and other assistance so it fits practically all the needs of a novice. Saidman and Yee demo all the poses, showing modifications and adjustments, progressing from simple to more complex. They fully describe all the "invisible" details that you need to know but will not see in a video. They keep up a steady banter, letting their joy in yoga shine through, while moving through sequences and stopping to emphasize details. You never got a sense that they're talking down to you. The filming was confined to a studio so the videos are not as spectacular as the garden vistas in Styler's DVD, but they are still quality productions.
Although Gaiam Yoga Club is charging $5 a week, which works out to about the price of a video per month or $65 for the full 12 week cycle, it really fills a gap in the instructional area. There is a free trial period and discounts. The videos can't be downloaded, but you can save all the other material for later reference. Saidman and Yee also have a Gaiam DVD, The Practical Power of Yoga, which was broadcast on PBS last year as part of bonus gift in a pledge campaign. I didn't see it so I don't know if it's similar to their Gaiam Yoga Club videos. I assume so.
Yee may not be the most highly esteemed yoga master instructor because he's been at the forefront of commercializing yoga in books, videos, conferences, and workshops, as well as some flawed personal conduct that has offended the sensibilities of some, but is common, though not acceptable behavior outside the yoga scene. Yee and Saidman make an exceptional team in explaining yoga's innards to novices.
Gaiam has been one of the pioneers of yoga merchanising, and has a strong cast of yoga instructors: Rodney Yee, Patricia Walden, Shiva Rea, Seane Corn, Jill Miller, Suzanne Deason, Nicki Doane. But Gaiam has broadened its scope to a "Life Style Media Company" so it sells household furnishings, appliances and green living, plus other offerings like travel, online education and even a dating network.
In a way, the Trudie Styler's Warrior Yoga is a blend of fitness and green life style, plus the media recognition associated with rock star Sting and Styler. The bonus material on the DVD include interviews with Sting and Styler and a feature on their Tuscan estate Il Palagio featuring the green technology they're using to be as friendly to the environment as possible. They are pitching their yoga, life styles and even environmental and humanitarian causes (a portion of the sales will go to a UNICEF drinking water project in Ecuador - read more about the plight of rainforest and natives).
Level -- Intermediate: Although there is nothing exceptionally difficult in the poses in the routines, the DVD does not give detailed instructions about the poses so I would not consider it appropriate for a beginner. D'Silva gives good audio cuing as a voice-over so once you've gone through the routines a couple of times, you'll have no problem following up. But if you are a novice, it would be a challenge to make the transitions from pose to pose. Plus, there are a few poses Styler and D'Silva make look deceptively easy because of their years of practice and discipline. That's not to say that a beginner couldn't take shorter segments and work with them until he/she is comfortable. There are two sessions: a 50-minute practice and a 20-minute "express" practice.
London-based fitness empresario James D'Silva clearly takes the yogic lead. He builds his practice with relatively long sequences of poses (like 10-minutes) that focus on one side of the body, and then the sequence is repeated on the "other" side, even though there are many poses that are "neutral" -- facing forward. These long sequences are a lot more than just a Sun Salutation, but less than any of the Ashtanga series. This approach at first seems repetitive. At one point, I had the sensation that I was seeing a video loop, paying over again. But this repetition is really functional: you go through movements and poses repeatedly, each cycle a little deeper.
Grace in movement: D'Silva draws strongly from his background in classic and contemporary dance to give the sequencing a dance-like quality in which poses are strung together in smooth succession so that one asana blends gracefully into the next. I thought his use of the arms, especially the archer-like movements in warrior II, was a stroke of inspiration. D'Silva gives good cuing for breath with movement, and I never got the sense of being out of sync. Since the poses are held for several beats, there is always a chance for you to catch your breath. The pace is moderate and controlled. On the other hand, D'Silva's phrasing (and accent) is different (he's British, dah!) and I noted a couple of pose names that did not jive with asana names used in the States.
For some American yogis, it may take some time to get used to D'Silva's style because it is so studied and choreographed. Compared to most vinyasa sequences, there are few jump-backs and jump-forwards so it seems less athletic.
I've been referring to D'Silva too much. It's Styler's video and she gives a more human stance, compared to D'Silva's near perfection. She modifies some of the poses to a more accessible form. For a woman who's in her mid-50s, she shows that a regular yoga practice has its rewards.
As might be expected from an experienced film producer like Styler, the production quality is superb. In addition, the filming takes place at Styler and Sting's Tuscan villa Il Palagio so there's some extraordinary settings for each practice. Warrior Yoga takes place in the garden, with manicured lawns, trimmed shrubbery and stately trees. Camera angles are varied and interspersed so you get multiple takes on poses, sometimes focusing on Styler or D'Silva, or both of them together. Did I mention that Sting provides background music? Just the right tone for the practice.
What I did not like: the meditation segments. There are two six-minute versions with the same script. The voice-over (Styler in one and D'Silva in the other) is giving instructions throughout the whole segment, no silence, no break, so when exactly are you supposed to meditate? I guess Styler and her team thought they had to give a nod to meditation as the ultimate goal of yoga. It's overkill.
In the end, I think this video would be a great change of pace if you are looking to shake up your habits on the mat, and break out of standard fare of Americanized vinyasa calisthenics. The DVD was being released today. Trudie Styler Core Strength Pilates and Trudie Styler Cardio Dance Flow will be coming out in early December, just in time for Christmas. Yoga Warrior has lots of teasers to give you a glimpse of what the future ones will contain.
Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of the DVD at no cost. The final retail version may be different. I did not receive any compensation for this review. (Drat! It was hard work.)
Labels: life style, teachers, videos
Washington Wizards star Antawn Jamison talks about the benefits of doing Yoga for an NBA athlete, especially for a grizzled old veteran like him. He needs all the help he can get because injuries start piling up at his age. The yoga would also help mentally when your team had the worst record of the league in 2008-09 season.
From viewing the video, it's clear that Jamison is just scratching the surface of yoga. It's all upside from where he is. He's also fighting against all the ingrained muscular strength that his basketball, weight training and conditioning have drilled into his body. Hopefully, he'll keep it up.
I've been asked to review a new yoga DVD that Gaiam will be releasing later this month: Trudie Styler's Warrior Yoga. In case that name does not sound familiar, think wife of Sting -- you know, the rock star who "practiced yoga so that he could have tantric sex with his wife for hours on end" and earned a spot in mainstream consciousness (Well, Sting actually waffled on that claim, something about being drunk at the time, or something like that, because the story seems to change over time, but he and his wife do practice yoga; that part is true). Trudie Styler is an actress, producer and environmental advocate in her own right, as well as being a fifty-something mother of four, so I guess she does have a "warrior" quality about her. This DVD seems to be about more than just yoga for (sexual) fitness's sake. In fact, Gaiam's advance work seems to highlight life style choices and environmental sustainability as much as yoga styles.
Styler herself does not claim to be a yoga instructor, more a yoga evangelist. For yogic inspiration, she has recruited James D'Silva, a Pilates-slash-Yoga-slash-dance instructor who was borned in Gao, India and moved to England young. He has become London's version of "trainer to the stars," helping the likes of Madonna and other celebrities. He has a wellness center, Bombay Gymkahana, in London. He has been working with Sting and Styler with their private practice for more than five years.
A portion of the proceeds of this DVD is being donated to a UNICEF Drinking Water Project in Ecuador for rainforest residents whose water supply has been polluted by petroleum exploitation.
Once I've had a chance to view the DVD with care, I'll provide my take on it.
Postscript: As a blast from the past, here is a Yoga Journal article from December 1995: Ganga White interviewed Sting. It's not laid out well, but it's still readable. More recently, White wrote a book, Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice, and Sting contributed in Foreward. It confirms that Sting and Styler have been involved with yoga for the long haul.
Now that Yoga Month has come and gone, we can get on with our regular practice. Shiva Rea is coming back to the DC area in October 9-10 at Flow Yoga. This will be one of the largest mega-classes this year because Flow will probably hold the event in an outside site to pack as many yogis, shoulder to shoulder, into a limited space. Sign up early (if you still can) and go early.
I will be looking forward to the Brian Kest workshop at Thrive Yoga on October 23-25. A leading advocate of Ashtanga yoga on the West Coast, he has been a symbolic bennchmark for me. When I started out doing yoga five years ago, I used to watch the free yoga workouts on my cable service. For a while, it was one of Brian Kest's videos. But they were so demanding for me that I could never get beyond the opening sequence before pooping out. The cable service rotated the video to other yoga instructors so I never got a chance to catch up with Kest's pace. Of course, it took me a couple of years to just make it through a full vinyasa session.
Now I think I can handle it. That's pretty amazing considering that I turned 60 last week. And I look at the coming decade of my life as even more challenging and fulfilling than previous ones because I am a more whole and healthy as a person.
If I had the time, energy and intention to upgrade this website into something more substantial, I would probably turn it into the equivalent of YogaDork. It's updated regularly with items on news, trends and worthy manifestations of yogadom in the world. Lots of links to news stories (as I do occasionally), but usually rounded out with additional links for context and background, as well as referencing to previous YogaDork items. It also finds stuff out of the blue. For instance, today it has an interesting pointer to the film Addiction, Recovery and Yoga: "How people have used yoga as part of their journey in recovery programs from serious addiction problems to a new life of well-being and emotional stability."
It can be snarky and opinionated when warranted, but still remain grounded in the yamas and niyamas that guide a virtuous life. It understands the temptations of commercialized yoga, the hot teachers, the quirks of yoga culture. It is short on the insights into personal practice so you may want to go elsewhere for that.
I don't know whether it's written by a "he," a "she" or a "they" so I've been referring to the blog as an "it," but there's too much personality impregnated in the content to classify it as a neutral. In any case, it has relieved me of the imperative to upgrade this blog, for the time being.
An Absence: After four years, Visions of Cody is no longer. It was rarely updated over this summer, and "Cody Pomeroy" announced this week that "the time for this particular blog has passed." I will miss his unique voice as expressed in his podcast and commentary. Mitch Blum, his real name, will still blog about music and life. As a fellow mature yogi, I can appreciate how he's evolved -- to the point that he is not now practicing yoga. It requires time, effort and intention to make a great blog,and sometimes one's life sets other priorities.
Labels: audio, news, reading, videos, yoga_resource
New York Times Mental Stress Training Is Planned for U.S. Soldiers is about how to prepare soldiers for the psychological rigors of war. It's heartening to see that the top brass are finally seeking assistance in dealing with the surge in suicides, post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), depression and other problems in the wake of nearly a decade of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan:
And in the interview, General Casey said the mental effects of repeated deployments — rising suicide rates in the Army, mild traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress — had convinced commanders "that we need a program that gives soldiers and their families better ways to cope."
The general agreed to the interview after The New York Times learned of the program from Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, chairman of the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center, who has been consulting with the Pentagon.
In recent studies, psychologists at Penn and elsewhere have found that the techniques can reduce mental distress in some children and teenagers. But outside experts cautioned that the Army program was more an experiment than a proven solution.
The Philadelphia Inquirer had an article (Penn center to help Army on stress) on this same issue.
Seligman is the lead thinker behind positive psychology and has had a major impact on how people are treated. I recommend that anyone with an interest should visit Happier.com, an initiative to take good mental practices to the masses. Seligman and his crew have developed a series of easy to follow exercises and routines that help you shift your mind set.
Almost Buddhist in nature, the approach aims to relieve human suffering. Although not mindfulness, it asks that you change the story that you're telling yourself inside your head. It asks you to examine your thoughts, which any bodhisattva would appreciate.
Finally, this effort is far better use of psychology than what the idiotic Bush Administration by employing psychologists to develop interrogation techniques that crossed the line into torture. Ironically, the quacks that advised the Pentagon distorted a concept, "learned helplessness" that Seligman (see Wikipedia entry) developed 30 years ago.
I was flipping through the channels on Verizon FIOS this evening and landed on the Pentagon Channel. There before me were three stocky, muscular drill instructors (one female and two males) in their PE kits, getting ready for the Fit for Duty show. What I mistook for "attention" was something completely different. Instead of a cadence for jumping jacks, the lead (Major Lisa Lourey) brought her hands into namaste in front of her heart, and her partners followed. I then noticed that they were standing barefoot on yoga mats. Airy music came over the sound track. She was leading a yoga class!
Admittedly, this was "Yoga for Golf," but further investigation showed that there was a wide selection of routines, plus Pilates, strength training and kick-boxing. But no matter what their intention, the mere fact these American bodhisattva warriors were "doing yoga" on the Pentagon Channel in "prime time" means that yoga has gone well beyond "mainstream" or even Main Street America. For that matter, the Veteran Administration is now using yoga nidra and pranayama to rehabilitate victims of post traumatic stress disorder so it should come as no surprise that yoga could be used as a "prep" for combat.
The Fit for Duty programming, now in its second season, is available as a podcast.
Seane Corn was the focus on a Speaking on Faith feature on Yoga: Meditation in Action in September last year (How I missed this, I don't know. I suspect it was because I was absorbed by my injured knee). I've mention her before in the blog because of her yoga outreach program, Off the Mat, Into the World. There is a podcast or you can listen online, but there's a lot more to explore that goes beyond the radio program. As a teaser, The video that follows is from Yoga Journal's Yoga from the Heart and was recorded at a conference. Seane mentions that she practices as a prayer for her father fighting cancer, and that touched me because my brother is going through the same struggle. I was in awe of Seane's control and pace during the Sun Salutation.
Seane Corn Demonstrates "Body Prayer" from Speaking of Faith on Vimeo.
Labels: audio, life style, practice, teachers, videos
Kira Ryder, a West Coast yoga teacher, is one of the rising lights featured in the "21 Under 40" article in Yoga Journal's March 2008 issue. She was early to exploit the advantages of video to open a window into practice. She has 40 videos stashed at LuluBandhas's YouTube Channel. I especially liked her set of six videos on "Opening the Feet" -- yes, you heard me right. Six videos, between 4 and 10 minutes each, on loosening up rigid feet. Just what I need. She also has Lulu Vu, which is her online video outlet for full-length classes, home practice shorts, clips from her teacher training and workshops. She also has a ChannelYoga which highlight non-instructional videos (some links are broken). Kira's studio, Lulu bandha's is in Ojai, CA, near LA. She also has a blog
Labels: feet, videos, yoga_resource
Elephantbeans has brought together four great videos of yogis practicing in the Ashtanga shala at Mysore in India: Led Intermediate…mysore style. They are relatively short, but the quality is striking. It's also ironic that an "intermediate" session would be so advanced.
Labels: videos
Inspired Yoga is getting into the swing of Obama Inauguration with Inaugurating the Sacred featuring master teacher Saul David Raye, stretching from today, January 15 to Monday, January 19. There are too many sessions to mention here specifically (yoga, Thai massage, meditation, chanting). In addition, there's an Om Inaugural Ball on Sunday evening, January 18. Many out-of-town guests will be showing up at Inspired Yoga. More power to them. Recently, the studio and its owner director, Kyra Anastasia Sudofsky, were featured on CNN about the relief that yoga provides stressed out Washingtonians.
Just to update, the Shiva Rea & Seane Corne events have been all booked up for more than a week (if not longer).
In the TED conference of 2007, Scottish percussionist and composer Evelyn Glennie spoke on how to listen to music with your whole body, a striking insight from someone who has been deaf since the age of 12. But I was even more moved by her presentation's repercussions for yoga. After all, we are all trying to listen with our bodies, both to the subtle energies that flow through our core and to the world around us that reverberates with pulsations.
More info at TED.com and her bio page, or check out her own website.
PS: Since putting up this blog entry, I've downloaded some of her contemporary classical music and find it really provocative and multi-layered. Lately, I've suffered from a rather conventional choices of classical music (Mozart, Bach, Teleman, etc.), but I've found a way of doorway into a more modern style. She's had music composed just for her, which is a high compliment.
Back in late June, I mentioned that I had been offered a chance to join Gaiam Yoga Club. After a slow start due to a hectic schedule, I have started to follow the program on a daily basis and have now finished up my third week. Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman are the teachers in this intensive yoga immersion program. The core is in three formats:
- Videos of demos: these are Flash videos with very high production values, both in terms of visuals and audio. I've seen a good number of yoga DVDs. These are up there with the best ones for beginners. Each week's material is divided up into 10-12 segments that can be viewed independently. Yee and Seidman take turns demoing the poses and vinyasas. They provide a huge volume of insight and tips into the poses. It reminded me of all the good hands-on workshops that I've taken in the past two years (Beryl Bender Berch, Jordan Bloom, Alan Finger, Desiree Rumbaugh) because all the good teachers pound away at reinforcing the fundamentals and the details of the poses, even with experienced practitioners. You can come back to these videos repeatedly to review the instructions, see the adjustments that Yee and Seidman make to each other, and catch something new that you had missed the first or second time around.
- Audio podcasts: you can listen to these daily practices, either in your browser, in an audio application or downloaded and save as a podcast to be played in your MP3 player. These sessions, narrated by Yee or Seidman, are 20-35 minutes long and follow up on the points made in the video sessions. The audio is useful because it makes me focus on my body, rather than peeking up at a computer monitor or TV screen.
- Visual sequences of each daily practice: these are photos of Yee and Seidman in the poses of the sequences, which gives visual queues to those who may not know the Sanskrit names of all the poses yet or may be unsure about all the components of the pose.
As I've mentioned before, a rep from Gaiam Yoga Club invited me to test their program free of charge for 13 weeks or about three months. The way I'm going, I won't finish the whole "12-week" program because I have skipped a week or a night of checking into the web portal to take the next lesson so I've fallen behind. The Gaiam Yoga Club cost about $65 a quarter ($5 a week, as they like to describe it).
This week's multimedia selection is Audio Archives of Tara Brach's Dharma talks at the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW) here in Washington, DC. Each week there is a 40-60 minute talk about practicing Buddhism in the modern world, and then Tara leads the group in a 20-25 minute meditation. I've listened to several of these talks, and they are outstanding, insightful pieces of devotional thought. I come from a Protestant church tradition, my father was a pastor and I have heard a few sermons in my day. But Tara is not preaching. She has an intimate tone of voice that draws you into the narrative. It's almost as if she is talking to you over the breakfast table, even though she is addressing hundreds of people. Her cadence and timber prepare you for the formal meditation that follows.
Tara Brach is the founder and senior teacher at IMCW. She wrote Radical Acceptance — Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha (Bantam Dell, 2003). I read the book a few months ago, and had been meaning to put up some comments about it. The book is a dialogue between her practice as a psychotherapist and the wisdom that comes from Buddhist Dharma. Although her patients' life stories provide many opportunities for insight into the human condition, she also draws on her own experiences. I found a lot of useful ways of looking at life's dramas and tragedies. The "radical acceptance" that Brach is talking about is the act of freeing ourselves from the self-inflicted pain of feeling that there is something wrong with us (rather than use the "royal we," I should probably speak in the first person). This is more simply said that done, which is why Brach needs a whole book to just scratch the surface. This issue is one of my own personal traumas -- a deep sense of inadequacy, lack of self-worth and self-esteem, all of which poison my experience. I find myself being pulled back to re-read sections and chapters to review key points to her calm grasp of what it means to be human and how to get beyond the trap of human suffering to live life to its fullest potential.
So you can listen to audio files or read the book, either way you'll appreciate the reassuring message of hope.
Labels: meditation, reading, videos
Dan Rather reports on "Mind Science" for HDNet. He draws on the partnership between the Dalai Lama and the Life Mind Institute, as well the recent book by Sharon Begley that I've already written about here and here. Rather does a good job of pulling together the most salient research findings and presenting them clearly and succinctly. He can seem a bit full of himself at times, but that's what being on TV five nights a week in prime time does to you. If you can't bring yourself to read, Begley's book, then this is a viewer-friendly route.
This is a long feature, 51 minutes, and you are going to need high speed connection. If that's too much, go directly to the online site where it's broken into shorter segments.
Labels: brain_science, videos
Since I am allowing other people to have a voice on the blog today, I am also going to link to Video on TED.com: Raul Midon plays "Everybody" and "Peace on Earth", a songwriter, musician, and singer with a soulful voice for his complex, stirring lyrics.
You can watch a second video, "All the Answers" and "Tembererana". His personal website and MySpace.
Mike Albo (or the Underminer, as he likes to call himself), Crossroads Films YouTube basecamp or standard website, parodies the yoga studio scene and the one-up-manship that taints the environment. It's very wicked and sounds true. Enjoy!
Fat People are Doing It! Yoga and The Underminer
Labels: life style, videos
Living Yoga is a feature about the life and teachings of Swami Satchidananda. A couple of trailers are on YouTube or on the website. Swami Satchidananda was a major influence on the US scene when he arrived the 1966 and began re-introducing yoga and Tantric knowledge to a new audience seeking to break out of consumerism. Here in the Washington, DC, Yogaville is a monument to his legacy.
The feature will be shown at St. Mark's Yoga on Capital Hill on May 15 and the Smith Farm Healing and Arts Center on May 30. Check out the Living Yoga blog for exact times, dates and locations. I just chanced across the information about DC-area showings.
Labels: dc_yoga, philosophy, videos
I just got through watching this video from the TED conference in Monterey, California, February 28. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist, recently gave an chat about her life-altering experience of a brain stroke. This emotionally charged story is going to spread like wildfire because it captures a vital life story and marries it to both science and spiritual insight. I'm still reeling from my first viewing so just don't mind me and set aside 18 minutes to be astounded.
Her website also contains a link to her self-published book, My Stroke of Insight through lulu.com. I got on to this because the New York Times featured it on the Well blog.
TED is heavy-weight conference that deals in thinkers of great ideas and doers of impressive deeds — and good story tellers. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It's worth exploring.
Labels: brain_science, inspire, philosophy, videos
I did five miles of running on the Mall at lunch time, into the cold winds coming off the Potomac. It was the first outside run that I've had since before Christmas, though I did make it to the gym for the treadmill several times. I thought I has not lost much strength over the holiday break, but I felt exhausted by the time I got home.
I am still concerned that the pounding of running will erase the benefits of my yoga practice. I remembered an interview that I heard on NPR about chi-running, a concept started by athletic trainer Danny Dreyer. I looked up his website and found his approach to be a technique that melded well with yoga and mindfulness. The technique combines "the inner focus and flow of T'ai Chi with the power and energy of running to create a revolutionary running form and philosophy that takes the pounding, pain, and potential damage out of the sport of running."
I ordered his book and DVD. Expect reviews shortly after they arrive in the mail. Meanwhile, you can check out what other people think by consulting news links or by reading a collection of longer articles. You can get a clear idea about the program by going through a few of these online resources. This NPR story is a good start.
You can see a historic video of Iyengar from the same period.
Labels: history, inspire, philosophy, videos, workshop
Labels: brain_science, videos
I bought two videos produced and distributed by Pranamaya: Anatomy of Yoga with Paul Grilley and Insight Yoga with Sarah Powers. I took advantage of a 10% discount when you buy more than one video at a time. These DVDs are more expensive than most demo and instructional videos because they have a huge amount of material in. Both DVD have nearly four hours each of lectures and practice material, plus other instructional aids.
Why these two DVDs? I wanted to explore yang style of yoga with a strong fusion of Buddhadharma. The idea of slowing down the pace of my practice appeals to me. I want to understand the physical limits that the body imposes on yoga practice. I also needed to learn visually, as opposed to my normal use of reading.
Pranamaya has very high production values and seems to pick instructors and themes that dig deep into yoga practice. They don't produce DVDs for beginners. Gary Kraftsow, who heads the American Yoga Institute, has just released two DVDs on viniyoga therapy for back problems. Andrey Lappa has multiple releases that record his unique vision of yoga practice. Dharma Mittra, the NYC-based teacher who gained renown for a 908-pose chart, has two DVDs.
Labels: hardware, meditation, practice, videos
