Yoga Basics

This is an obscure introductory Iyengar yoga video published by Psychology Today. It has four sections - 1) Strength 2) Restorative 3) Relaxation 4) Meditation.

Its instructed by Lindsey Clennell, who teaches at the Iyengar Institute in NYC, and has studied with Mr. Iyengar in India. His wife, Bobby Clennell is a well known, well respected NYC instructor - she demonstrates throughout the video.

It would be wonderful if this video were on DVD. There is an opening section which includes very inspirational footage of Mr. Iyengar "hopping around like a teenager", and each of the aforementioned sections is preceded by an explanation and dos/donts demo.

There's something really nice, and hard to describe, about Yoga Basics. It might be the feeling you get after the practice. It was a dust bunny - I reached for it a few months ago when I hadn't been doing yoga hardly at all, and I felt so good afterwards it brought me back into a regular practice. The instruction is very precise, the mood is intelligent, reverent and urban, the production values are good.

A beginner would have to be a bit patient - there's alot of instruction followed, essentially, by four 10- 15 minute "hands on" segments (the tape is over 75 minutes). But truth be told, beginners need alot of instruction. *I* need alot of instruction.

I feel very good after this practice. The restorative postures help me feel integrated, erect and lifted. FYI, I'm dying to drop a large chunk of change for restorative props, but in the meantime I did very well using blankets, my step, my mini step, and my reebok bosu-knockoff. aint life grand.

There's a discussion of Yoga Basics here:

www.mysticrivervideo.com/mrcat.html

Its available here:

http://www.mysticrivervideo.com/mrcat.html

There is more about Lindsey and Bobby Clennell here:

www.iyengarnyc.org/html/teaching_staff.html