A friend of mine has been going to classes for a
while, and now wants to get a tape (audio, not video) to
help her get into doing her own practice at home.
<br><br>I don't really know much about what's available -
any recommendations? Isn't there one by Richard
Freeman?

yo alan- i used the david swenson primary series
audio cassette available at ashtanga.net - very helpful
and didn't take long before I had it memorized and
could go at it myself <br><br>he has intermediate audio
also- although, i've only listened to it in the car on
a long trip- a girl can dream can't she?<br><br>s

Personally, I can't see why anybody would want or
need anything other than the Yoga Works tape with
Pattabbi Jois leading six top students/teachers through
the primary series. <br><br>By coincidence, I just
looked at it yesterday, and I noticed that four of the
six practitioners on that tape are wellknown and are
frequently mentioned on this site (Tim Miller, Chuck Miller,
Richard Freeman and Eddie Stern). The other two (Maty
Ezraty and Karen Haberman, both female) I knew nothing
at all about, other than that they are on the tape.
I now have found that Ms. Ezraty is with Yoga Works
according to the ashtanga website. But, what is the story
with these two, and what do you (all) think accounts
for their relative anonymity?

Maty, along with Chuck Miller is the owner of Yoga Works. Karen lives in India,
and has for some time. She is well known in the Ashtanga community.Both of these
women are fantastic yoginis.

&gt; tape with Pattabbi Jois leading six top
students/teachers<br><br>Yes that is a really amazing document... I can watch
that thing over and over, each time just concentrating
on one person... picking up little cues from each
one of their individual styles.<br><br><br>&gt;Maty
Ezraty and Karen Haberman<br><br>do a search on their
names.. many, many teachers list them as their formative
instructors.

Hi!<br>I am interested in that tape you were talking about with Pattabbi Jois.
Where would I be able to get that?

malsag,<br><br>the Yoga Works tape is certainly
great, but wasn't Alan asking about an audio (not video)
tape? Uhm.<br><br>But maybe it's just that habit of you
Americans to learn Astanga from videos.

Whoops, you're right. (How exciting!) Maybe it's
just my American habit of not reading things
carefully. Or, maybe I just like that Yoga Works tape so
much that I couldn't stop myself. <br><br>I wonder why
Alan specified audio not video? (I don't have any
suggestions for audio tapes.)

I believe Swenson has audio tapes of 1st series,
maybe 2nd as well. Ought to be pretty good.<br><br>For
those who are new, one thing about practicing to audio
or video tapes: the heat factor.<br><br>For example,
if you choose to practice to Richard Freeman's
excellent astanga video, be aware that you may need your
practice room to be somewhat warmer than if you were
practicing to Swenson's tape. Why? Because Freeman's pace is
IMO signicantly slower than Swenson's.

I am looking for a good video. Preferably intermediate. Could you recommend any?
I have heard alot about Freemans videos, are they good?

My apologies also for misspelling P-a-t-t-a-b-h-i
Jois (more than once, too). I never had to write it
down before.<br>(Now I am puzzled -- how could a
mistake like that have failed to provoke any sarcastic
correction? Thank you for your restraint!)

Don't worry -- stevegadd1 spelled it "Pattabbi
Jois" [msg 6422] and he is looking for "a good video.
Preferably intermediate." [msg 6430]. This board is becoming
so peaceful that sunandmike and blondie may come
back.

try the yoga works videos, first or second
series. according to the ashtanga.com video section, it
is available thru jivamukti, but i could not find it
on their site anymore. the address for yoga works
is<br>Yoga Works<br>1426 Montana Ave, 2nd Floor<br>Santa
Monica, CA 90403<br>Tel (310) 393-5150<br>Fax (310)
656-5892<br>Wholesale contact (310) 664-6476 ext.5<br><br>i was also
unable to find a way to purchase the videos from the
yoga works web
page<br><a href=http://www.yogaworks.com/index.htm
target=new>http://www.yogaworks.com/index.htm</a>

Why did I specify audio not video? Because that's
what my friend wants - not something to learn from,
she has a perfectly good teacher for that - just
something to remind her what comes next while she gets used
to practicing on her own. Of course, she could just
use a video and not look at it.<br><br>The Yogaworks
video sounds interesting though, I might get it myself.
Does anybody know if American videos work in Europe -
aren't the TV standards different (NTSC & PAL)?<br><br>A
friend of mine studied with Karen Haberman in India for
a month last year and was very impressed. I'm
thinking I might go to her before or after I go to Mysore
next winter.

malsag,<br><br>"that habit of you Americans to
learn Astanga from videos" was not meant to be
offensive in any way - Good Lord, who wants to offend our
American friends?<br><br>It's a fact: the only European
video on Astanga Yoga so far available is the one on
Primary Series produced by Lino Miele. In America, you
have more to choose from.

Alan,<br><br>An alternative to the David Swenson
audio tapes might be the 2 tapes offered by The Prana
Studio: one is on Primary Series, the other one is an
"Ashtanga Shorty". See
<a href=http://www.thepranastudio.com/shopPrana.htm
target=new>http://www.thepranastudio.com/shopPrana.htm</a> .<br><br>But since I
don't use them, I don't kow
whether they are recommendable.

I believe you can also order David Swenson's Ashtanga Video Tapes in the
European format. He has all the info on his
<br><br>www.ashtanga.net<br><br>website.

OK so I am not the best speller. Can anybody give me a tip on the videos?

Yes, the Yoga Works second series video is as
wonderful as the first series one; it also features
Pattabhi Jois (!!!!) and the same six notables. I thought
that Jivamukti had both tapes (you're in New York,
right?), but if not I guess go to message #6433 and try
the information given there. (I have both - got them
at Jivamukti - but given my level of practice, I try
not to think too much about the second one.)

The David Swenson video of second and third
series is good. It does not include any of the standing
series or finishing series postures -- assuming,
correctly I believe, that anyone who is attempting second
or third series does not need this
information.<br><br>There is also the video Ashtanga Yoga: Second Series
with K. Pattabhi Jois which is a demonstration video
featuring Sri K. Pattabhi Jois guiding six of his senior
students through the Second Series of ashtanga yoga. I
have not seen this one but it is hard to imagine that
it would be anything but helpful.<br><br>the KPJ
video of second series [as well as the one of first
series] is available from Jivamukti -- $28.99 I think.
Their site is kind of hard to navigate. I simply ran
the word "Jois" in the search engine of their
"boutique."<br><br>Om Shanti,<br><br>Shambhala