{"id":3864,"date":"2012-04-05T18:10:23","date_gmt":"2012-04-06T01:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/?p=3864"},"modified":"2012-04-05T18:10:23","modified_gmt":"2012-04-06T01:10:23","slug":"y-yoga-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/y-yoga-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"Y Yoga Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On 13th<\/sup> September 2001, film-maker Arthur Klein received an email from a friend of a friend, who had escaped the collapse of World Trade Center Tower One, and had decided to put his feelings into words.\u00a0 The email was poignant, heart-felt and amazing, and after forwarding it onto some friends, Arthur left his desk in the middle of the day, and walked out into the Santa Monica sun.<\/p>\n

\u201cI left the office in my street clothing and went to a 1:30pm yoga class around the corner from work\u201d, remembers Arthur.\u00a0 \u201cIt seemed like a far better idea to regain a sense of peace and wellbeing, instead of going to the mall and shop or go on vacation as the American leadership advised.\u00a0 The teacher was Ashley Turner and her words were magic\u2026 I went to that class every day for many months after that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Walking into the yoga class that day, literally changed not only Arthur\u2019s life but his career too.\u00a0 Suddenly, going to a class every day was not only important but essential, and it wasn\u2019t long before the idea of a yoga-based film began to take hold: \u201cAfter a year of practicing yoga every day two of my teachers, who were aware that I was a filmmaker, asked me to capture what was going on in our community.\u201d\u00a0 Little did Arthur know that when he accepted the challenge of finding out why people practice yoga, his journey would take him around the world and take some six years to complete.<\/p>\n

The documentary that Arthur ultimately made, \u2018Y Yoga Movie\u2019 is not just a film about yoga; it is also an invitation to a better life; a journey into how and why yoga affects so many people and in so many ways.\u00a0 It is a celebration of yoga, and during the long journey Arthur met, interviewed and studied with many different yoga teachers, including Shiva Rae, Erich Schiffmann, Ally Hamilton and Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa.\u00a0 He filmed on the beach, in a charter school in South Central Los Angeles, and everywhere in-between.\u00a0 He even sent his camera equipment to Iraq in the arms of yoga teacher\/wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, who was teaching American soldiers there at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to go to Iraq\u201d, says Arthur, \u201cbut the United States Government refused my request.\u00a0 So instead, I loaned Diamond Dallas Page one of my video cameras and I taught him how to use it.\u00a0 I was pleasantly amazed at just how great, although shaky, the footage was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course the making of \u2018Y Yoga Movie\u2019 changed Arthur\u2019s life completely and he now practices every day.\u00a0 He says: \u201cYoga and meditation is now integral to every breath I take and every move I make, to use a Sting lyric out of context.\u00a0 This practice makes life the most it can be in every moment.\u00a0 It has changed everything about me in every way.\u00a0 It affects me on an atomic cellular level, as well as an omniscient observer of myself in the motion of life, light and love for my very conscious existence!\u00a0 It makes everything so much more meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luckily for Arthur, the making of the movie meant that he could explore his own practice in much more detail than normal, and as a result he ended up studying with many different teachers, and at dozens of yoga studios.
\nHe says, \u201cI have had the opportunity and passionate desire to immerse in many different types of practice; everything from Ashtanga Yoga, Power Yoga, Anasara Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Ghurmuk Kuhndalini Yoga, Raja Vipassana, Karma, and Prana Yama.\u00a0 Now I split the week between Erich Schiffmann (the author of the book Move into Stillness<\/a>) and Bryan Kest as my main stay\u2026 I also do my own personal practice, as well as I try to support all the teachers who invite me to be in their classes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the more inspiring \u2018characters\u2019 in \u2018Y Yoga Movie\u2019, are the children of a charter school in South Central Los Angeles, home of the LA riots in the early 1990s.\u00a0 Filming in the school was a big experience for Arthur, who remembers, \u201cI had the opportunity to take a class with these second graders a few weeks earlier and it was so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t enough time for Arthur to set up full interviews with the children, so it was a case of lining them up and asking \u2018How do you feel when you practice?\u2019\u00a0 The children didn\u2019t let him down with their answers, and one little boy stood out when he replied, \u201cIt makes me into a whole new person\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Another young man who made a huge impression was Andre, a former gang member, who had found strength thanks to yoga and his teacher Hala Khouri.\u00a0 Arthur kept in touch with the young student, who has just graduated from Santa Monica Community College with a two-year degree, and is now enrolled in a four-year course.\u00a0 Proof, if it was needed, that yoga can absolutely heal your life.<\/p>\n

And as a student himself, what was the biggest thing Arthur learnt whilst filming \u2018Y Yoga Movie\u2019?\u00a0 He thinks for a moment and then replies, \u201cInhale possibility, exhale fear and be in the cosmic beautiful moment of every breath\u2026 The only finite thing in each of our lives is the number of breaths left in our experience and journey through this life, because as Carl Sagan said, we are stardust observing starlight.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on Arthur Klein, his workshops and the \u2018Y Yoga Movie\u2019, please visit www.YYogaMovie.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Michelle Morgan Bio:<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>Michelle Morgan is an author, biographer and columnist who lives with her husband and daughter in Northamptonshire, England. She is the author of \u2018Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed\u2019 <\/a>and the forthcoming \u2018A Brief Guide to Marilyn Monroe\u2019 which will be published by Constable in the UK and Skyhorse in the USA. Michelle writes frequently for magazines and is currently writing a novel. View her webpage at www.Michelle-Morgan.blogspot.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Back to <\/strong>Stories<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 13th September 2001, film-maker Arthur Klein received an email from a friend of a friend, who had escaped the collapse of World Trade Center Tower One, and had decided to put his feelings into words.\u00a0 The email was poignant, heart-felt and amazing, and after forwarding it onto some friends, Arthur left his desk in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,11,16],"tags":[123,121,17,81],"class_list":["post-3864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-enlightenment","category-self-realization","category-spiritual","tag-enlightenment","tag-self-realization","tag-spiritual-2","tag-yoga"],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":4756,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}