With the development of cheap
digital video cameras, DVD manufacturing and online sales, it is now much
easier for individuals and small organizations to create their own DVDs.  This
has led to a proliferation in Yoga DVDs put out by individuals and yoga
studios.  Some are of course better than others.  This Red Lotus Yoga
DVD by Brian Granader is quite basic: he does his practice in an empty room
with what looks like a large curtain fabric draped over some lamps on one
wall.  There is no background music, and the format is very simple.  Granader
gives a voice over while he performs on a black mat, wearing a black top and
orange pants.  It looks like the filming was done with a couple of fixed
cameras.  The only other feature on the DVD is an interview with Granader in
which he sets out the benefits of yoga.  The disc itself has a homemade feel to
it, and when you play the main practice on a computer, the counters on
RealPlayer and Windows Media Player tell you that the time length of the single
DVD chapter is 10 seconds, while in fact it lasts about 45 minutes.  When you
click the "skip to next chapter" button, the DVD does indeed advance
to a new section, and the sections seem to be several minutes long, starting
with each child’s pose.  So the DVD does not feel particularly professional in
its production or manufacture. 

Nevertheless, the practice itself
is very satisfying.  Granader goes slowly and keeps the poses simple; he uses
many twists, shoulder and hip openers and leg stretches.  I found it
particularly helpful for stress relief, since it works well for opening up the
muscles in the back and shoulders, which tend to get very tense.  Granader has
a pleasing voice and a pleasant manner.  The practice is not very different
from other yoga flows designed for beginners, but it is distinctive enough to
make it interesting.  For many of  the poses, there are alternative postures
shown in a little box that pops up in a corner.

This Red Lotus Yoga DVD
could be especially good for men who do not want to feel like they are
following a woman’s exercise DVD and don’t much go for the Eastern elements of yoga.  Granader uses mostly the English names for poses and avoids talk of
spirituality or Eastern medicine, and sticks to familiar concepts and terms. 

Link: Red
Lotus Yoga

© 2006 Christian Perring. All
rights reserved.

Christian
Perring, Ph.D., is Academic Chair of the Arts & Humanities
Division and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College, Long Island. He is also editor of Metapsychology Online Reviews.  His main
research is on philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and psychology.

Categories: Movies, General