Yoga Journal - Samadhi & the City

I'm on a bit of a yoga movie trip these days, having recently seen Yoga, Inc. and now Living Yoga: The Life and Teachings of Swami Satchidinanda, which is having a small screening this week on Thursday, July 31, at The Roxie.

I can't go Thursday night because I am taking drum lessons (more about that in a later post), but I ordered an advance copy of the film to check it out. The documentary is about an hour and focuses on Swami Satchidinanda's life, mainly the ways in which he brought certain elements of yoga—like asana, meditation, health, and stress management—to the West back in the '60s, and how he established the Integral Yoga centers around the country.

The movie is full of interviews by interfaith preachers who knew the the swami (who was a huge supporter of the interfaith movement); people from the Satchidinanda ashram, Yogaville, in Virgina; Drs. Dean Ornish and Mehmet Oz; as well as a tiger trainer named Bhagavan Antle. (The footage of the tigers is amazing.) Living Yoga is less about Satchidinanda's life (it gives very little personal biography on him) than it is about the ways in which he influenced the spread of yoga to the Western world, which were many. One of the best pieces of footage shows him delivering a speech at Woodstock to an audience of thousands.

Find out more:

• Get the details of the screening on The Roxie's site.

• Order the movie, if you miss the screening!

• Visit the Integral Yoga Center in SF.

• Let us know what you thought of the movie, or what your favorite yoga movies are!

Comments

Your comment about the Satchidananda movie got me to thinking about Yoga videos. I've reviewed about 250 now for our favorite magazine over the past 19 years, and I came up with 10 that are must-see.

Underground Yoga (Angela and Victor at home on their idyllic Greek island, methodically unmethodical yoga)
Shadow Yoga (Shandor at his innovative best)
Tripsichore Yoga (Edward Clark's teaching sessions are both amusing and informative)
Yogic Arts (Duncan Wong channels Kwai Chang Caine and makes beautiful moves)
Ashtanga Yoga (every student should spend some time watching Richard Freeman do his thing)
Beginner's Practice Introduction (the same goes for Patricia Walden)
The Feminine Unfolding (Angela Farmer leaves the fold and finds herself)
Yoga Mind and Body (Erich Schiffmann teaches, Ali McGraw models, a celebrity who's actually serious about her practice)
The Wisdom of Yoga (Carlos Pomeda is my hero, like the old Dylan song, he's forgotten more than I'll ever know about Yoga)
Iyengar Intensive at Estes Park (the instruction is good, but what's more interesting is watching the Iyengar group dynamics)

Honorable mentions
Tias Little, Sarah Powers, Andre Lappa, Peter Sterios, Rodney Yee

And the best movie about Yoga? I haven't seen one yet, but there's the People magazine equivalent, Yoga, Inc. It dishes some good dirt, but totally misses the point about American Yoga.

Posted by: RICHARD ROSEN | August 1, 2008 06:47 PM

Richard,

Thanks for the list! Great to get recommendations from a Yoga Journal reviewer!

Posted by: karen | August 2, 2008 01:13 AM

There's an upcoming yoga documentary that you might want to check out called "Enlighten Up!"

You can watch the trailer at: http://enlightenupthefilm.com/

Posted by: cody | August 6, 2008 09:51 PM

Thanks for letting us know about the film, Cody. It looks to me like SF dates have not yet been solidified but I will keep an eye out.
If anyone wants to know more, they can go to Cody's website and check out his podcast interview with the filmmaker!

http://visionsofcody.net/2008/07/voc-podcast-episode-26.html

Posted by: Anonymous | August 7, 2008 04:47 PM

Best film on Yoga yet!: "Thread of Yoga" DVD on sale on Amazon.

Posted by: Anonymous | September 18, 2008 03:44 AM

Have you seen Enlighten Up! yet? I see someone mentioned it, above. Just saw it in Boulder, loved it, am gonna review it for our little site. Keep up the blog, love it!

Posted by: Waylon Lewis | October 7, 2008 02:29 AM

Thanks, Waylon! Yes, that movie is coming to town in a couple of weeks for the Doc fest - I plan to do a write-up on it. Let me know if you'd like me to send that blog to you when it goes up. -- Karen

Posted by: Karen | October 11, 2008 01:52 AM

Hi Richard, Thanks for the honorable mention. It is an honor to make your list with such a selection of teachers and movies you have reviewed over the years. 'Gravity & Grace' was an exceptional project and everyone involved with it, especially director and cinematographer Mikki Willis.

Posted by: Peter Sterios | November 13, 2008 01:11 AM