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Friday, February 22, 2008 by Timothy Burgin
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Element: Yoga for Beginners
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 Yoga for Beginners is a great DVD for those who are looking to start a yoga practice while being challenged and engaged. This DVD practice starts out slow and gentle with a pranayama (breathing) practice and an excellent series of warm-up movements. Once the body is warmed and energized, the practice moves into more challenging standing poses, and then ends with a good mix of floor poses and a final relaxation. |
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Wednesday, February 06, 2008 by Timothy Burgin
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Deva Premal Sings the Moola Mantra
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 It seems the latest trend in chanting Cds is to use only one mantra for the whole Cd with different tracks further exploring and developing the mantra. For Deva Premal this has resulted in an exquisite recording and a great music soundtrack for yoga, meditation and healing. The mantra used is long enough to give the recording depth and interest while short enough to make it attainable to chant along with. |
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Friday, January 18, 2008 by Timothy Burgin
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Yoga Anatomy
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 While there are several good yoga anatomy books available, this is the first I’ve seen that makes a fundamental shift, using anatomy as a tool to bring greater awareness and understanding into the practice of yoga. The book’s primary intention is to be an inspiration to explore and investigate our physical and subtle bodies through the yoga asanas and the breath. The introductory chapters provide a wonderful overview of how yogic concepts and philosophies are contained and revealed in the physical anatomy and structures of the body. The chapters on the Dynamics of Breathing and Yoga and the Spine contain many gems of insight and wisdom of the functions of and relationships between the breath, the body and the spine. |
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Friday, January 11, 2008 by Timothy Burgin
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Yoga, Inc.
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 What happens when a 5,000 year old spiritual practice comes to America? You get Yoga Inc., a fascinating combination between the ancient East and capitalist America. This captivating documentary explores the America’s often strange and controversial attempts to commercialize yoga, leading us on a journey from hot nude yoga and chakra panties to the American yoga championships. While the film touches on a wide spectrum of people, issues and ideas, there are only a few main areas of focus. In the beginning of the film we see a great overview of the history of yoga in the United States. Then the film dives deep into its main subject, Bikram yoga and its copyrighted yoga sequence, lawsuits, commercial franchise and national yoga competitions. |
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007 by Timothy Burgin
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Gratitude Joy by Anugrah & Avgerinos
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 At the surface this hour long single track seems overly simple and potentially boring with its repetitive chanting of the same three mantras: Om, Hari Om, and Shiva Om. But the repetition of the mantras and instrumentation serves to mesmerize and to bring one into a slight trance state. This Cd works especially well when played low as background music, but when played a bit louder will draw your awareness deep into the resonate and harmonic layers of vocals and sound. |
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Thursday, November 08, 2007 by Timothy Burgin
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Yoga and Multiple Sclerosis
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 Eric Small has been exploring the healing benefits of yoga for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for the last 55 years. Along with Dr. Loren Fishman, who has incorporated yoga in his medical practice for more than twenty-five years, they have created an informative and highly respected book for the healing of MS with yoga. The book’s first section provides a series of yoga poses geared towards various levels of ability and function: restorative, wheelchair, chair, seated and floor. The modifications described here can also be easily applied for other types of students with limited mobility. |
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Thursday, October 25, 2007 by Timothy Burgin
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Transform Yourself with Jivamukti Yoga
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 The absolutely amazing and deeply inspiring introduction track on this video program is worth the price of the DVD alone. Usually I find the intro tracks to yoga DVDs are fairly bland and tend to capture the instructor in a deer in front of the headlights performance. This is not the case at all here. David and Sharon shine and radiate their passion, understanding and love of the practice of yoga. I want to play this intro every morning to inspire me not only to practice my yoga on the mat, but off the mat as well. The other unique component of this video is that you can choose to have either David’s or Sharon’s voice guide you through the practice, giving you two different intentions and insights into the symbolism of the poses and practice. Both of these features will encourage multiple viewing, and with it being filmed in a beautiful sacred space with a backdrop of musicians playing peaceful music makes this DVD a treasure to keep. |
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Tuesday, August 14, 2007 by Timothy Burgin
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The Mandala Healing Kit
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 The Mandala Healing Kit provides step-by-step instructions to learn how to use the sacred mandala as a healing and self-transformative tool. The kit includes everything you need to create a personal mandala: a 96-page workbook, music CD, icon stencils, black paper, colored pencils and a silver gel pen. The workbook explains the history and philosophy of mandalas and contains 24 exercises for preparing and creating different mandalas, meditations and rituals. Specific CD tracks are required for different exercises to deepen your focus and heighten your visual perception as well as to encourage your creativity. Used alone or with a group of friends, this complete kit provides the tools, knowledge and inspiration for this sacred combination of art and spirit. |
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Thursday, August 09, 2007 by Timothy Burgin
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Into the Bliss by David Newman
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 Sweet, soothing and uplifting, this 70-minute Cd and DVD captures the sprit and devotion of the Bhakti Yoga practice of kirtan. A rich, full sound is created using a simple lineup of two guitars, hand cymbals and a djembe/dumbek player. The Cd and DVD contain the same live performance, with the addition of a 20-minute bonus MP3 track on the Cd and an interview with David the DVD. The five chants all have a contemporary “unplugged” style, and all are simple enough in their words and melodies to make them easy and fun to sing along to. If you are interested in expanding your kirtan music collection, pick up this beautifully packaged, designed and produced Cd/DVD set. |
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Thursday, August 09, 2007 by Timothy Burgin
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Chakra Theory and Meditation
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 This 4-hour DVD lecture is a practical, no-nonsense approach to the theory, function, and practice of using the chakra centers for personal and spiritual development. Paul presents this esoteric information in a very clear and understandable manner, and the DVD is well organized with chapters and subchapters to allow the viewing to be broken up into digestible chunks. Paul’s lecture shines the most when he is presenting the theory and philosophy of the chakra system, and when he explains the purpose, function and practice of chakra meditation. While the chakras and the meditation techniques based on the chakra system have been exhaustively covered in the past, Paul takes a unique approach, incorporating pranayama, mantra and bandha to heighten the awareness and understanding of these energy centers. The practice he outlines is fairly advanced, and not for the feint at heart, but even if you are not prepared to engage in these meditation practices, the information presented will still be relevant and interesting for the serious yoga practitioner |
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Thursday, August 09, 2007 by Timothy Burgin
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The One Two Three of God
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 In this 4-Cd audio program Ken Wilber, applies his integral theory to the spiritual world to explain the fundamental nature of God. Through an engaging and humorous interview format, Wilber gives us a philosophical map to incorporate all of our different religious and spiritual conceptions of God. While this sounds impossible, or at the very least incredibly complex, Wilber’s simple framework elegantly weaves our different conceptualizations of God together. The “One Two Three of God” refers to the three primary perspectives with the Divine: first, second, and third person. This manifests as seeing God in mystical, devotional, and objective terms, and having three main relationships to spirit: communion, union, and identity. Many yogic terms and spiritual concepts are used throughout the program, and the discussion of the four stages of spiritual development and how they influence and support the three different perspectives is exceptionally fascinating and illuminating. The program ends with a series of guided mediations to directly experience the three perspectives and different states of spiritual consciousness |
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Sunday, August 05, 2007 by Timothy Burgin
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The Yoga of Truth by Peter Marchand
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 Jnana yoga, the “path of knowledge,” is an intellectual and introspective practice to connect with the inner Divine Self. While this Jnana yoga is considered one of the most difficult of yoga’s practices, The Yoga of Truth gives us an easy start and a clear overview of this path. Marchand begins with a series of clear, straightforward questions that easily expose our ingrained false concepts of reality. With the help of simple reasoning and some basic yogic philosophy, these introspective questions guide us closer and closer to finding our true Self. Even if you are not concerned with attaining enlightenment, The Yoga of Truth will still provide a valuable context and understanding for the “play of life” and the spiritual roles of the ego, mind, intellect and consciousness. |
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Tuesday, July 17, 2007 by Timothy Burgin
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Flow of Grace
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 In this latest recording, Krishna Das has devoted 2 Cds to singing songs to Hanuman, the monkey warrior, primarily through different versions of the Hanuman Chalisa. The “Chalisa” is a famous Hindi poem praising Hanuman for his devotion, service, strength, and compassion and also reminding him of his great Divine powers. On the first Cd, different melodies and arrangements of the Chalisa are on six tracks, with the seventh being a fun upbeat Indian folk song on the story of Hanuman finding Prince Ram’s beloved wife. On the second Cd are 2 tracks that are to be used to learn how to pronounce the complicated 40-verse Chalisa, so you can eventually sing along with the first Cd. The words to the Chalisa are also transliterated and translated in the extensive 28-page liner notes, which also includes Krishna Das describing his experience learning this prayer, the story of Hanuman, and the practice of singing the Chalisa. Even if you choose to not tackle the ability to sing the Chalisa in its entirety, this Cd is still a joy to listen to, and is a must-have for the Krishna Das fan. |
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Saturday, July 14, 2007 by Timothy Burgin
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Sounds Like Om
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 This book and Cd combo is all about Om, the most fundamental and ancient of the yogic mantras. In the book we learn the origin, symbolism and effects of both the Om mantra and its graphic representation, the Sri Yantra. The book also goes into detail on the yogic practices to use Om for meditation and contemplation, many which incorporate the musical tracks on the Cd. Oms of different pitches and harmonic overtones are either sung solo, in triads, or choruses and fill the entire 74-minute Cd. These tracks can be used in multiple ways, from passive listening to accompanying the exercises and meditations explained in the book. |
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Tuesday, July 10, 2007 by Timothy Burgin
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Hatha Yoga: The Hidden Language
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 Swami Radha’s classic book on the symbols and metaphors of the yoga asanas has become even better with this improved and updated 20th anniversary edition. Her insightful explorations into the deeper meanings of 22 yoga poses have been expanded with additional instructions to help incorporate this contemplative methodology in both an asana practice and in day-to-day life. Each chapter contains a different asana with an essay exploring the rich imagery of the posture with its’ mythological, spiritual and religious associations. A practice section follows with step-by-step detailed instructions on how to practice and incorporate these concepts as well as further ideas on how to work with the pose. Beautiful black and white photographs of the asanas have been added, along with a new introduction, and appendices on mantra, Kundalini Yoga and other spiritual practices. Even if you own a copy of the original, this new edition will still be a worthwhile addition to your yoga library. |
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Thursday, July 05, 2007 by Timothy Burgin
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Healthy Aging
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 Originally aired on PBS, this 85-minute program dispels the common cultural myths on aging, and replaces these with a healthy positive outlook on the aging process. Dr. Weil is an exceptional speaker with the ability to convey both scientific studies and personal observations in a clear, entertaining and engaging way. While he only mentions yoga and yogic breathing exercises a few times in the program, much of his 12-Point Program clearly reflects yogic values and principles: positive mental outlook, healthy diet with predominance of whole grains and vegetables, stress management, and moderation. Although much of this information we have heard before, Dr. Weil presents his advice in an uplifting manner and at the same time backs it with scientific studies and rational theories. His goal is not only to extend one’s lifespan, but most importantly to live a long, healthy and happy life. The bonus material includes a short biography, ideas for creating a walking labyrinth, the yogic breathing techniques, how to create an ethical will and additional questions from the audience. |
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