yogitoes enthusiast VIDEO SHOOT

June 30, 2009
We wrapped last night around 12:30am!

First, we filmed the beautiful, talented Kathryn Budig (www.kathrynbudig.com) demonstrating with the ySTRAP. She showed us the poses she recommends her students to use ystraps with, as well as a few that she has mastered in her own personal practice with the help of "little orange" as she calls it! She is such a pro and a delight to have in the office. She has a bright loving aura and loves to laugh, just like all of us here at yogitoes! We LOVE her! (i was so excited to be shooting with her, i forgot to pull out the camera so I could take photos of her!) But you'll see what we shot on video soon enough!

Next was Senior Iyengar teacher Lisa Walford (http://tinyurl.com/lh8pqd). Again, i had not pulled out the camera for still shots... oops! Lisa was so amazing. She is so centered and calm and the perfect model for Asana. When I said that to her, she replied, "well after 30 years of practicing daily, I'd sure hope so!" She has been teaching in LA since 1982 and really understands yoga and is especially well versed in yoga props, being that Iyengar yoga always uses quite a few props. She is a big enthusiast of the SHIVA pillow and has given it to Guruji (Mr. BKS Iyengar) in person! She demonstrated SO many postures using our props, it was really an honor to have her in the studio!


After Lisa, we had the Yoga Doctors, Terra Gold and Eden Goldman.(http://yogadoctors.com/)
They showed some great theraputic uses for our props. We are definitely going to shoot more of these two, as they have a VAST knowledge of yoga, anatomy, and yoga therapy. It is so fun to see sports medicine variations that incorporate our props!

This photo is Terra demonstrating a kneeling psoas stretch using 2 SHIVA pillows (one under the knee and one under the forearm.)

We LOVE the yoga doctors. Everytime I meet with them I learn something new and want to go home and try it out with my husband!




Annie Carpenter (www.anniecarpenter.com) was next! Goa (the canine president of yogitoes) really wanted to be in Annie's segment, but Annie was able to buy her off with a ySTRAP!

Annie spoke at length about her CD, relaxDEEPLY and the importance of restorative yoga. (we couldn't agree more!) One-take-Annie who is just as comfortable in front of a camera as she is teaching one of her Vinyasa Flow classes, was a dream to have, as usual! She has such confidence and grace in everything she does! After speaking to the camera she demonstrated a few restorative poses that are taught on the relaxDEEPLY CD. Pictured here is Viparita Karani (one of my favorites)... also known as legs-up-the-wall and waterfall pose. Our camera man Grant, who doesn't practice yoga took a look at this pose and started to consider taking up a practice!




Next up was Krista Cahill (www.kristacahill.com) worked up a sweat and showed how useful the SKIDLESS can be! Now, let me just say that I have practiced beside Krista in the studio before and always wanted to watch her, but of course was focused on my own practice and tried to ignore the phenomal yogini beside me. She is SERIOUSLY inspirational! She is so strong and supple at the same time... a walking example of Sutra 2.46 "Sthira Sukham Asanam"... Krista is strong and stable but happy and comfortable. Not to mention funny and a pleasure to be around!! She also demo'd with the ystrap and ECODOT.



Our final yogitoes enthusiast was Brock Cahill. (www.gravitycowboy.com).
Brock also gave the slip-free SKIDLESS a run for its money with his intense, sweaty practice. Brock is a big enthusiast of the ECODOT. He has developed really cool abdominal sequences using the ECODOT that he shared with us and then played around using the prop for headstands and one handed handstands and more. He is so creative, it was awesome to watch... and I mean AWEsome. Our AWE-struck cameraman was seeing a broad spectrum of yoga from Annie's legs-up-the-wall to now Brock precariously defying gravity!
It was SO much fun to have the Fabulous Cahill Duo doing what they do at yogitoes! Their enthusiasm and energy is contagious! I would LOVE to go on a retreat with them one day... They have such a buoyancy about them individually and as a couple. They make everything they do look like such fun! It make me feel like, "ooh! I want to try that!"
Here is a youtube video of stills I took while Brock was being filmed... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPebJBuu34Y

Still excited and revved up after Krista and Brock left, we had Susan Nichols, our founder and creator sit down and tell her inspirational story of how yogitoes came to be. Who would have thought that slipping in an Ashtanga Room would bring about all that it has!
Here is a shot of Susan surrounded by our full collection of props by yogitoes!

Stay tuned to see what we shot and thanks as always for your love and support!

Namaste,
Zan Roberts and the yogitoes family

SKIDLESS® PREMIUM and ySTRAP®
by Marlize Joubert

"My first experience of Yoga was very slippery and scary. I actually practiced with my socks on and got very strange looks from fellow Yogis. A friend turned me on to yogitoes SKIDLESS and it changed my life. I can now firmly ground myself into each standing pose and experience the pose for what it is- experience the flow of life as it should be, fearless. When I moved to inversions the orange ySTRAP made it possible for me to go upside down and stay up. It was a miracle I thought :) Thank you yogitoes, you changed my practice, changed my yoga and therefore changed my life. I'm forever grateful.”


Marlize Joubert has been studying the healing arts most of her life. Curiosity and honest self-exploration has always been a source of tremendous healing for Marlize and her calling to be of service to the world at large has been clear to her since a very young age. Marlize teaches Yoga to a wide variety of people. She feels privileged to be a part of so many lives and is deeply grateful for the knowledge and wisdom of all the teachers that came and went for their guidance and support throughout the ever changing universe. Her Buddhist practice and her kind nature hold the secret combination to her radiance and wisdom- the place she teaches from. Marlize teaches at TruYoga in Santa Monica www.TruYogaLA.com. For more information visit her website www.MarlizeJoubert.com or 310-403-5461.

SKIDLESS® PREMIUM
by Greville Henwood

“I have been an enthusiastic user of yogitoes for years! The SKIDLESS towel turned my practice into a much more stable one and I wouldn’t dream of leaving home without it! So I’m a big fan of the SKIDLESS towel. From a teacher perspective I think the Orange arm straps (ySTRAP®) are fantastic. I see student after student improve their handstands and backbends without the rather cutting edges of the older straps we find so much in studios. And then there’s the colors! Very happy colors. My kids classes are full of the green frog mats and pink flamingo ones and once they see the orange and blue round block (ECODOT®) it’s a challenge to keep them focused! I love yogitoes!”

GREVILLE HENWOOD studied Yoga as a teenager in Paris, wandering through Bikram, Sivananda and Kundalini yoga, finally coming home to Iyengar and Ashtanga Yoga. His classes are fun, fast-paced and honor all eight limbs of Patanjali's Classical yoga. Greville believes that spiritual disciplines can be fun, and that lightness leads to freedom. Greville is proud to have studied with Maty Ezraty, Lisa Walford, Annie Carpenter and many other luminaries in the field. He has conducted teacher trainings and workshops in Japan and led retreats internationally.
visit him at www.grevillehenwood.com

SKIDLESS® PREMIUM
by Leah Kim

“My lifestyle changed a lot upon moving halfway across the globe from Santa Monica to Hong Kong. I now live in a very busy city where everyone is constantly on the move, out and about all day long, and usually getting around via public transportation. I no longer have a car trunk to lug around all my belongings and it’s just not feasible to carry my yoga mat with me everywhere.

What I can and always do have with me is my SKIDLESS!

Whether I’m heading out to teach or practice, or hopping on a plane to explore this magnificent continent, I don’t leave home without it. I’ve used SKIDLESS on a sandy beach, a grassy hillside, a carpeted conference room, dusty rooftops, and countless mats. It’s how I create my personal setting (not to mention maintain my personal hygiene!) for my practice no matter where I am on this beautiful planet!”

LEAH KIM graduated from UCLA with a degree in Economics, but it wasn’t long before she realized her life would be much better spent on the mat than in a cubicle. Blessed with Ally Hamilton as her mentor - and greatest inspiration - over the past few years, she has dedicated her life to yoga: to studying, practicing, teaching, living, breathing, surrendering to, and just trying to be yoga. She has also studied and trained with Bryan Kest, Erich Schiffmann, Seane Corn, and Twee Merrigan. After building her teaching foundation in Santa Monica, Leah moved to Hong Kong on an intuitive whim last summer and now teaches at Pure Yoga. She is humbled by and grateful for the opportunity to share her own realizations and discoveries, hoping to help her fellow yogis breathe, move, and flow... open, strengthen, and heal... together enjoying the journey of this ever-brightening path.

www.beyoga.org

SHIVA
by Lisa Walford

"As an Iyengar teacher of over twenty years, I own many different props. Rarely do I find one as versatile as the SHIVA pillow. I use it to support my neck and head when practicing supine supported pranayama, Viparita Karani and Setu-Bandha . The mild Jalandhara bandha in the later quiets my eyes and temples, especially at the end of a long day.

In forward bends, the SHIVA rests easily on my shins, is much more practical then a blanket to support my head, and helps me keep the throat open and relaxced. In any Padmasana oriented posture, including Bharadvajasana 2, the support of the SHIVA pillow beneath the knee helps me keep the pelvis balanced. For students with stiff knees, I place the pillow behind the knee in Virasana. The conforming material in the SHIVA pillow mushes down perfectly to allow for flexion, while maintaining space in the knee.

On a more pedestrian level, the SHIVA pillow fits nicely into my lower back when I travel, in car seats and airplanes. I even use it to prop my head up if I have a window seat.

The SHIVA pillow makes a great gift. It is personal, and encourages friends to practice. Perhaps a pillow is a small iconographic reminder that support comes in many ways. It symbolizes giving up the need to control everything, and it invites me to accept support, an idea that took me a long time to embrace. As I write this, my SHIVA pillow is waiting for my morning Pranayama practice, welcoming me forward on the journey inward."

LISA WALFORD holds a senior Iyengar teaching certificate and has been teaching yoga in Los Angeles since 1982. She continues her studies annually with the Iyengars. She is also the curriculum director for the Teacher Training Program at YogaWorks and was instrumental in its development. She is on the advisory board of the International Association of Yoga Therapists and the Yoga Studies program at Loyola Marymount University.

http://www.yogaworks.com/instructor_bio.aspx?tid=534

ySTRAP
by Krista Cahill

"without it... i would have never experienced the BLISS that is Bakasana to Handstand!”

KRISTA CAHILL fell in love with the practice of yoga in
1999 when she took her first Ashtanga class with Tim Miller. Since that day she has devoted her time and energy to exploring the numerous dimensions of yoga, both as teacher and student “I look forward each day to the possibility that my practice both on and off the mat can promote a greater awareness in our immediate need for global peace and unification. ALL is ONE.” Krista teaches retreats around the world and has regular classes based in Los Angeles for Home Simply Yoga. Krista teaches a vigorous Vinyasa Flow class filled with challenging arm-balances and inversions.
She believes that our obstacles are our greatest blessings.

LA Class schedule:
MON/WED 12:30-1:30 Vinyasa Flow with Core Work Level 2
TUE/THUR 6:20-7:40 Vinyasa Flow Level 3/4
SUNDAY 10:15-11:45 Vinyasa Flow Level 3/4

Krista and her husband Brock Cahill live their Yoga together in Venice Beach, California.
Email krista at: krista@kristacahill.com

SKIDLESS®
by Kathryn Budig

"my SKIDLESS magic carpet holds on so I am free to FLY!"

KATHRYN BUDIG has been featured in publications such as Yoga Journal, Yogi Times, LA Metro, E! Entertainment, The Elephant, LA2DAY Magazine, ’Y Yoga’ a documentary film, numerous print ads and is a staff writer for Quarterlife.com as well as a Yogamates teacher/writer for Gaiam’s Yogamates.com and a Southern California Ambassador for Nike’s 2008/2009 yoga line. She is the co-founder with Jesse Schein of ‘Poses for Paws’, an organization dedicated to raising money for animal
shelters through yoga. You can experience one of Kathryn’s classes at Yogaworks in Santa Monica or online at Yogichocolate.com and soon from Monthlyyogadvd.com and Yoga Journal’s new DVD “Yoga Therapeutics”.
www.kathrynbudig.com

ySTRAP
by Nora Mangiamele

"I love the ySTRAP!! This is a small prop with a big benefit. Conventional straps are very binding and restricting to me. They also have the long tail at the end after you buckle them up, (which you need a tutorial on how to assemble all the different buckle types)!! The ySTRAP has no “putting together” issues and it has just the right amount of give, so you can strengthen a pose without suffocating a pose. Every time I bring out my ySTRAP while teaching, to demonstrate it’s use in a pose, students always ask me where they can get it and if they can try it. Whoever tries it, buys it. It can be easily tightened or loosened and is also great for beginners as well as advanced practitioners. Here are some of the ways I use and teach with the ySTRAP: The Y strap works great around the triceps, and upper, outer arm, in Tripod headstand and in Pincha Mayurasana, forearm balance. These poses can be very “anxiety provoking” for beginners, but by using the ySTRAP it gives the student a firm guide for keeping the elbows and upper arms from bowing out, while strengthening the upper arm and shoulder girdle. In advanced practitioners, it is a constant reminder of uninterrupted power needed in the upper body while adding on advanced variations such as, Karandavasana, and Hanumanasana. For beginners and advanced practitioners the ySTRAP can be used around the quadriceps and ham strings for Urdhva Dhanurasana and Ustrasana. This is a really great tool to remind us that 75% of all back bends are grounded from the legs!!! You will realize how much you are not engaging your legs after doing Urdhva Dhanurasana and Ustrasana regularly with your ySTRAP. Trust me, you will be reminded the next day!!! One of my favorite poses to introduce the ySTRAP with is Natarajasana, dancer’s pose. I have not had a student yet, who has not gotten this pose by using the ySTRAP. That tiny bit of give in the ySTRAP is that tiny bit that takes students to the next level to get the full shoulder rotation and to feel what it is like to be in this auspicious pose!!! It is quite magnificent to watch first timers get in this pose they never thought possible. The ySTRAP is durable, has the cool orange color and it is small enough it can fit in your pocket. It is a great overall prop to take with you to every class. So, no excuses!! Use this hip little prop to enhance and bring out the beauty of your yoga practice.

NORA MANGIAMELE RYT is a one of a kind yoga instructor. Her love and passion for the art of yoga, shines through in every class she teaches. Her humor and eclectic music encourages everyone to strive further than they ever thought possible. Nora’s classes are truly an experience that will leave you confident, humbled and inspired. Each experience with Nora is physically challenging, musically freeing and spiritually honest. Whether you take a class, a workshop or go on a retreat with Nora, you put yourself in a place experiencing your greatest potential. Her current influences are Dharma Mittra, David Williams and Shiva Rea. www.yoginora.com

SKIDLESS® PREMIUM
by Bryan Kest


“Besides desire and effort, the only two essentials for asana are a steady ground and a SKIDLESS surface.”

-Bryan Kest


Now 41, Bryan Kest has been practicing yoga for more than 26 years. He initially studied in Hawaii with David Williams, the first person to bring Ashtanga yoga to America. He then studied in India with K. Patthabi Jois, the main proponent of Ashtanga yoga. Kest has been teaching yoga for 21 years. “my primary objective, “ says Kest, “besides turning more and more people on to a healthier, more peaceful lifestyle that continually challenges them to grow, is to teach them a system of exercise that fully integrates the body, mind and spirit.”

The new trend towards yoga is not surprising, given that the body is limited and the mind is limitless. The combination of body and mind creates an incredibly broad range of fulfillment, including top physical condition and a calm, peaceful, clear mind.” www.poweryoga.com