Yoga Ruins Your Life (Video)

I fell across this video on my Tumblr feed and I just had to share it. Everything he says in this video I just keep nodding and goes "YES! That, exactly!" Yoga ruins your life in so many ways and it's fantastic.

Yoga Ruins Your LIfe from Yoga Workshop on Vimeo.

Before I Die I Want To...

It's hard to believe that June is basically over. I feel like June didn't even happen. When time passes so quickly it can sometimes be alarming because your life is made of that time. 

What did I do this month? I saved ducks, saved a dove, painted and drew tons of pictures, did a small amount of yoga, started the process of buying our first house, cared for the dog through recovery from surgery, packed up most of my house in prep for moving, received two rejection letters from art galleries, met new people, spent a lot of time with my favorite husband, and more. Sounds like a decent full month.

The only thing I think it's lacking is travel. I want to travel more and experience things I could never find at home. I want to squeeze as much experience into my life as possible. On that note - here's a TED talk with Candy Chang about just that topic. 

What do you want to do before you die? 

What can you do to make your life more full?

In fact, don't even tell me. Better start making it happen before you miss it.

This TED talk via HuffPo

Why We Breathe - A Yoga Documentary

This documentary came out a few months ago, but I just got around to watching it this week. This is the full length documentary, not just a trailer, that's been made available for free. You can click through to Vimeo to leave a "Tip" if you feel moved to contribute.

Grab a cup of tea and settle in for some insightful interviews after a beautiful calming opening sequence. Bonus - a couple of cutie pup cameos.

Why We Breathe - A Yoga Documentary from BackToAwake on Vimeo.

Weekend Flow (Video)

This video shows the quiet grace and ease that yoga is all about.

Weekend Flow from KC and Sara on Vimeo.

A Yoga Teacher is Eternally a Student - Kino MacGregor (Video)

Here's a great little video from Kino MacGregor about how yoga teachers are eternally students (or should be). If you're a yoga teacher - remember to refill your inspiration cup regularly or you will burn out quickly.

On another note - her outfit is super cute.

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Elegant Universe

League of Space Pirates (the band featuring Skull-A-Day founder Noah Scalin and co-editor Abby Davis) has a brand new video for the song Elegant Universe that of course features some lovely futuristic skull imagery...



The video was directed by Georgiy Kuznetsov and the song is also included on the beand new Book & Record comic book/vinyl single from the band.

Learning to Live: Stephanie Snyder

From wonderful yoga teacher Stephanie Snyder comes this inspiring TEDx Talk about darkness, passion, yoga, and self-study.

From the video description:
"What you hide from the world owns everything you do. Your most successful existence will come from making friends with your broken places and being of service. Know yourself and you will know what your life's work is meant to be."

 

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[BONUS] Dead Media: Time-Lapse

The folks at the TCC Visual Arts Center created this fun time-lapse video of my recent Dead Media piece being installed in their gallery!


Here's what the finished project looked like:

See additional pictures and find out more about the project HERE.

Yoga Video for the Winter Blues

Today is the Winter Solstice (some people think it's also the end of the world but let's focus on the more likely instance of winter).

I live in Idaho these days. In a pretty upbeat part, but still kind of northward as far as weather is concerned. Living up north can suck. I don't like wind, cold, or grey skies... and snow gets old real fast. The suckitude of winter can take an especially dark turn for those prone to seasonal depression.

Whether you suffer from S.A.D. or only get a little lacking in motivation for the darker months - you can benefit from today's sequence made specifically for Winter Blues. I guess if you're concerned about the end of the world - this might be for you too. At only 34 minutes long it won't be hard to squeeze it in.

Good for beginners. Do this as often as you feel like.

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Drop Backs for Beginners

If you want to work on improving your backbends and working towards drop backs - this video from Kino MacGregor is for you. I've been sorta stalled out on the 3rd option with straight arms for a long time. Mostly 'cause I'm a slacker and I don't work on it very often, but I do the first two versions all the time for fun.

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YOGA IS: a Transformational Journey - DVD Review

When I sat down to watch YOGA IS: A TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY I was excited, but somewhat skeptical since I disliked Enlighten Up! so much. They seemed like they'd have a lot in common, but upon viewing them - I can say the only thing that's the same is that they're mostly made up of a series of interviews with big names in yoga. Otherwise - the message, the atmosphere, and the overall story is completely different.

YOGA IS features Suzanne Bryant seeking answers to questions such as "Why does yoga have the ability to create calm amidst chaos?" In 64 minutes this film covers topics like asana practice, meditation, puja, karma, suffering, enlightenment, etc.

I really enjoyed YOGA IS. The ultimate message appears to be one of unity and connection; especially of learning to truly see yourself and connect with yourself. This film really is a microcosm of yoga. As the title plainly states - Yoga truly is a transformational journey and the way this film runs is a journey with a clear beginning and end while answering a lot of deep questions in the middle. Expect to see it in my Yogi Gift Guide come December.

"The reason so many people do yoga is because it tastes good." 

- Dharma Mittra

Other thoughts:

The flick addresses common myths about the yoga world - like the notion that the yogic vision of the world is all smiles and everyone being nice all the time. Some of the discussion featured might be a little too hippiefied/"new agey" for some people that have never done yoga, but overall the film makes yoga sound so awesome that they'll be curious enough to try yoga anyway. This film is overflowing with quotable moments for all and potential class themes for teachers.

The only real detractor is that I wanted to stop the video to go do some yoga.

I give it a solid 8 out of 10 stars.

Available to Buy on Amazon, or to simply "rent" through Netflix.

TED Talk: Sarah Kay

I was lucky enough to stumble across this video of Sarah Kay giving a TED Talk about living out loud and making connection with others through spoken poetry. It's 18 minutes long, but so moving and inspiring that it's more than worth the time.

Other than the obvious fact that her talk can be taken AS IS and be perfect for my whole mission with this blog I felt that some of the points directly apply to a physical yoga practice too.

Just like she says about poetry:
Practice what you know 
Practice what feels authentic to you... not just what you've seen
Not just the way you think it's supposed to be or look
But what organically feels right in your energy/body of the moment

YOGA IS: coming soon

I'm a big movie buff, so I was pretty psyched when this morning the FedEx guy delivered my review copy of YOGA IS: A TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY. I've been expecting this DVD for a a few weeks, but here it is (still in the plastic as you can see). I'll be watching it today and my review is coming soon.

So far it looks like this film is in the same general vein as Enlighten Up! from a few years ago, but with more celebri-yogi interviews. Hopefully it'll be a lot more personal and less forced than that one was.

It's available to BUY NOW! - so you can purchase your own copy if you don't want to wait for my review.

403. Dead Media

I was commissioned by TCC Visual Arts Center to create this new installation called "Dead Media"...

It's made from 497 VHS videotapes, which were kindly donated by several friends (thanks again Mimi, Robin, Quillan, and Stephanie), the staff/students of Tidewater Community College, and also culled from my personal collection.

The overall size is 20'-8" x 8'-11" (6.29 x 2.71 meters)

In the spirit of the famous painting The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger, the skull was created to only look correct from one point and is actually quite distorted in real life.

Hidden amidst the whole and broken tapes are several Easter eggs, including this tape from my personal collection...

The piece will be on display from September 14 through November 1st at the TCC Visual Arts Center in Portsmouth, VA, and if you're in the area, you're invited to come to the opening reception this Friday starting at 7pm. Details can be found HERE.

Students at the school have been encouraged to take the tapes when the piece is dismantled and create their own skull art.

Backbending Tips from Briohny Smyth

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Training Today

I'll be spending 6 hours of  today in a First Aid/CPR/AED class. Not very exciting, but necessary for yoga teachers that want to be both prepared for anything - and employable. I really need to stay up on my certifications so I can just do the refresher course. *sigh*

Hope your Wednesday is loads of fun. Here's another video from Meghan Currie to remind you to play when you practice and be a little fearless too.

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Janet Stone on Keeping Your Practice Alive

I may have mentioned before how much I enjoy the Big Happy Day videos... and this one with Janet Stone is no exception. I touched on the topic of struggling to keep your practice up recently so I thought this video was a nice addition.

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Baron Baptiste Flow Practice for Meditation

I've been getting really sucked into meditation lately. I'm not doing it as much as I should, but sometimes just out of nowhere I feel myself drawn inward. Guided to my breath by the soft breeze and the sound of birds competing for mates and nesting materials outside.

The primary purpose of asana practice is to prepare the body to comfortably sit in meditation for great lengths of time. Here's a 20 minute flow sequence by Baron Baptiste (founder of Baptiste Power Yoga) to open the hips and spine for happy healthy meditation. Give it a shot!

   

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Free Online Yoga Resources

To qualify for this list pages had to meet a few "requirements":
Have at least some free stuff all the time and not just a free trial
Post more than just a couple times
Not set off my anti-virus software
Most have been widely recommended by others.

This is nowhere near an exhaustive list. Just a jumping off point.
Heart-felt thanks to everyone that is making all this magnificent yoga available to the world.

Asana Videos:

Youtube - Sadie Nardini, Yogatic, Tara Stiles, KinoYoga...

Vimeo - Kripalu
http://www.artofattention.com/videos/
http://yogayak.com/ - full classes, meditation, pranayama, etc.
http://www.learnitlive.com/
http://www.yogajournal.com/video/

http://www.doyogawithme.com/

http://www.yogatoday.com/ - some free

http://www.yoganonymous.com/take-a-class/ - weekly free class through GaiamTV

http://www.yogacards.com/

http://erichschiffmann.com/category/medium/audio/

http://pinterest.com/pin/267049452874333658/

Podcasts (mostly iTunes):

http://elsiesyogakula.com/
http://hillarysyogapractice.wordpress.com/

http://www.yogadownload.com/Resources/Podcast.aspx
Faith Hunter
Eoin Finn
Les Leventhal
Kinndli McCollum
TeriLeigh Schmidt
Sofi Dillof
Live Love Teach Yoga School

http://www.omlightphotography.com/2011/11/aubrys-class/

Free PDFs of major texts:

http://www.yogavidya.com/freepdfs.html

Meditation:

http://www.meditationsutras.com/
http://www.fragrantheart.com/cms/free-audio-meditations

Other:
http://bighappyday.com/ -short fun videos for philosophy, motivation, education, etc.

Jason Crandell - Demystifying the Home Practice

Jason Crandell speaks here about appropriate expectations of home yoga practices.
Start with what you like. Do it when you can. Simple as that.

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