Posts from ‘video’
how to do yoga with your cats (video)
If you have a cat, you’ve probably already figured out how to do yoga with it. Step 1: unroll yoga mat; step 2: do yoga; step 3: it’s up to you, but usually involves repeated attempts to push away cat or just forgetting your practice and cuddling.
YouTube kitty sensations Kodi (patchy white and black) and Shorty (black longhair) show us how it’s done. There is nothing to not love about this!
[via DesignTaxi.com and IAYB friend, Lindsay Smith]
The “seven factors of enlightenment” may sound a little lofty, but in her new book, Close to the Ground, author Geri Larkin breaks them down so they feel attainable to regular folks.
In this video interview, I talk to Larkin about the seven factors, the process of writing her book, and her transition from ambitious career woman to “reclusive monk.” From the down-to-earth anecdotes throughout the book, I had a feeling that Larkin would be a storyteller, and her video presence confirmed my hunch. She was just as wise and easy to relate to as I suspected she would be.
Geri Larkin is a former management consultant turned Buddhist monk. In 1999, she started Still Point Zen Buddhist Temple in the heart of Detroit, where she was guiding teacher for its first five years. Larkin is the author of seven books on Buddhism, and writes a regular column for Spirituality & Health. These days she lives in Eugene, Oregon, where she volunteers, babysits, writes, cleans, and practices.
While it may seem like the Bikram yoga world doesn’t need any more drama, actor/writer Leigh Fitzjames is giving the popular hot yoga style the dramatic treatment.
Her latest stage play Love and Light explores yogic philosophy specifically related to Bikram’s style of hot yoga. This one-woman production follows Celine, a tormented woman who has fallen in love after having a one night stand with Bikram Choudhury. Celine locks herself in her apartment, waiting 90 days for her lover to return. With dialogue and lyrics adapted from the Bikram classroom script (e.g, “Bend me over like a Japanese ham sandwich”), the yogi’s journey is reexamined as a love story.
The content of the play is entirely fictional, although it takes on new resonance after news broke this week that a former student has sued Choudhury for sexual harassment. I asked Fitzjames a few questions about the production before news of the scandal hit. Continue Reading
Screen grab from “I Always See This in You: Yoga Pose: Pincha” (via YouTube)
When a yoga teacher reaches a certain level of popularity and fame, they are subjected to many different forms of adoration. Sometimes this means thousands of Facebook fans, sometimes this means sponsorship offers, sometimes this means people bow at your feet.
And sometimes this means that somebody writes a song and sets it to an iMovie video of a photo of you in a yoga pose.
Case in point: the video below, which I discovered through a series of tweets directed at me by @ZendiYogi.
“Here come my guru and her new flow!”
“I mean Sadie Nardini, of course!”
“And to celebrate the arrival of my guru, I offer this: youtube.com/watch?v=hn8hFv…“
I tweeted back: “Is this ironic or sincere?” No response! Is it creepy or awesome? I can’t decide!
After further consideration, I’m pretty sure it’s sincere. And sincerely creepy. Sadie didn’t respond to my tweet, so we don’t know what she thinks.
What happens if you take an hour-long yoga practice and speed it up twelve times?
Designer, publisher and yogi Jake Laub found out by experimenting with a video time lapse. He compressed Aarona Pichinson’s 60 minute practice into a mere five minutes. These are his observations:
1. Her body moves like a wave. We talk about this a lot in yoga, but you see it clearly here.
2. Her breathing is so much more noticeable at high speed – everything from the pumping of the belly to the slight expansion of the shoulder girdle with each breath.
3. When she holds a pose for more than a few breaths everything just seems to stop and return to normal for a moment… before moving furiously on.
What jumps out at you?
