Customer Reviews

Ashtanga Yoga, The Advanced Series [VHS]

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This is the pinnacle of the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga system, as taught by PK Jois of Mysore,India.The asanas are very advanced and impressive.This is strictly a demonstration video,filmed in beautiful outside locations, it's not a video to practice with.The practitioners are not all equal in their yoga prowess, but they are all advanced teachers, with tens of years of experience each.You get to see how the student has become better than the teacher but you also get to hear that yoga is more than impressive asanas.As usual, David Swenson, is floating on a thick cushion of air throughout this video, doing handstands and aerodynamic landings with apparent ease and grace.People who think their asanas are good, might be humbled by the experience. A very inspiring video.

David Swenson, David Williams, Helena Berg, Lucy Martorella and Robert Boustany perform the Advanced "A" and "B" series of Ashtanga Yoga. This may be the only record of these series available to the general Yoga audience; advanced "A" and "B" are no longer taught; they have been broken down into series 3 through 6. In all probability, within a generation the details of these series would have been lost. As a record alone this video is invaluable. The production values are very high, image and sound excellent. Mr. Swenson narrates the video giving the names and historical details of the postures. If you are interested in Ashtange Yoga this video is worth ten times the price.

This video with David Swenson and four other fellow yogis is just incredible! While it is not meant as a practice tape it is a demonstration of the ashtanga system at it's highest level.

These asanas and the performance by these very advanced practitioners are truly a sight to behold, poetry in motion.

I find it is a wonderful tape to watch just before doing my actual practice because it is so inspiring.

It is beautifully filmed (both in terms of the location and camera quality) which makes it a pleasure to watch from a visual perspective. It also has beautiful yet subtle background music which adds to the overall viewing experience.

One little note, there are two out-takes at the end of the credits where you get to see these amazing yogis struggle with and fall out of some poses. It shows not only that they are only human (which after watching them perform the asanas in this series may be hard to believe :)) but that there is a sense of humor underlying their practice along with their obvious dedication.

Aloha:

This video is a must-have for any yoga practitioner, especially those students of Ashtanga Yoga. I know all of the participants very well, and have practiced extensively with them all -- except Robert Boustany. I am in the closing credits as "Location Manager" having made arrangements for the segments shot at a private estate on North Shore Maui. This video distills thousands of hours of practice and teaching by some very advanced long-tme Ashtanga Yoga Practitioners, and it is a pleasure to behold what folks were able to do who were all at least in their '50s (at the time this video was shot in the late '90s). Awesome.