Namaste: Yoga Podcasts
February 21, 2009 § Leave a comment
A while back on Paradoxologies I blogged about some great free yoga pod casts that I found through iTunes. (That was all the way back in June of 2007!) Since then I have developed a really nice home practice with the inspiration mainly from Phil Urso’s Baptiste Power Vinyasa classes. I decided to blog about it here because I consider these podcasts a positive use of technology, promoting health, peace, and namaste.
Phil Urso’s podcasts are wonderful, and throughout 2006 and 2007 he was uploading them pretty regularly. In 2008 and so far in 2009 the podcasts have been more sporadic. Nonetheless, there are numerous class-length podcasts here, enough here to mix it up or repeat your favorites. His classes are challenging, his meditations are insightful, and his suggestions and tweeks for the poses have offered some really helpful enhancements to my practice, taking me deeper into some of the poses.
I have recently noticed that there are some other teachers out there providing free pod casts. I have been checking some of them out, and these are worth mentioning.
Dave Farmar — I haven’t spent as much time with these podcasts, but the few that I have tried have offered a more aggressive and vigorous practice. One could almost say more athletic. These again are full-length class podcasts are good for those who are looking for a more athletic practice.
TeriLeigh — I discovered these podcasts just a few weeks ago, and I may be partial to them because TeriLeigh is someone I could have gone to high school with. She grew up just a few miles from my home town, and is just a few years younger than I am. She has podcasts going back to March of 2008, and so far what I like about them is the variety. She has podcasts of different lengths — from 20 minutes to two hours — and each one so far offers a different series of postures. I find that many teachers tend to follow the same series, with a little variation. This is fine, but it is kind of refreshing to find a series of classes that offers a little variety. TeriLeigh has a very spiritual approach to her practice, and I find her vinyasa flow to be slow and intentional, allowing for time to really deepen each pose. While the practice is gentle, I find that it requires a lot of stamina (and therefore builds stamina, which is one of my goals) I generate a lot of heat.
These three podcasts, are all in the Baptiste Power Vinyasa method, and the teachers assume that you have had previous yoga training and are familiar with the postures. I do not recommend these for those just beginning. They are really great for intermediate and advanced students who want to get a solid home practice going.
More appropriate for beginners is Yoga Journal’s podcasts. While Yoga Journal is a commercial enterprise chock full of ads for weight-loss products aimed directly at women, and I indeed have my criticisms of it, I still find it to be a helpful resource and inspiration for my practice. They have launched a series of podcasts, which are now videos. Videos offer the advantage of actually seeing what the posture is supposed to look like. For beginners this can be a really helpful reference. What I like about these videos is that they are short and focus on specific poses parts of the body. If you have a specific part of your practice that you feel needs a little strengthening, there are videos that are available to address your specific concern. I recommend that you warm up a little on your own with a few sun salutations before launching into the podcasts about hip openers or backbends.
Some other podcasts and videos that I haven’t tried yet may also be worth checking out. Please leave a comment if you know of another good one!
- Live Yoga Class with Alanna Kaivalya, The JivaDiva
- Alive Yoga — these are downloads for a fee
- EverythingYoga
- Yoga Today
InFomentation 
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