Tag: Judith Hanson Lasater

Trends, Yoga13 Comments

Sarah McLachlan, Yoga Journal, and real journalism

Luci Yamamoto

For Yoga Journal‘s 35th anniversary issue, the cover girl and feature subject is singer Sarah McLachlan. I’m not surprised: McLachlan perfectly suits the magazine’s image of yoga. She is attractive, health-conscious, white, and “West Coast”; she supports progressive causes; she’s famous but, like many readers and the editor in chief herself, she’s also a single, working mom who practices yoga. Reading McLachlan’s interview, I found nothing blatantly off-putting (the woo woo design concept wasn’t her fault). That said, I also found nothing compelling about her thoughts on Lilith Fair or surfing or motherhood or yoga. Without the celebrity hook, would that story have … Continue reading Sarah McLachlan, Yoga Journal, and real journalism

Practice, Yoga12 Comments

What does savasana mean to you?

Luci Yamamoto

In the beginning yoga class that I teach, a student I’ll call Chris finds savasana uncomfortable. Neither lumbar pain nor mental agitation is the culprit. She tucks her shoulders to open her chest, and she looks fine. But she never feels quite right. She’s a side sleeper, so lying supine doesn’t come naturally to her. So, I am trying to help her find ease in stage one of savasana, the basic physical form. Savasana and me In my home practice (done at a community center, as I discuss in the footnoted posts), I skip savasana because I’m in a public … Continue reading What does savasana mean to you?

Teachers & Students, Yoga4 Comments

Gaiam Yoga Club’s Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman

Luci Yamamoto

Flipping through an old Yoga Journal, I noticed an ad for Gaiam Yoga Club, an online yoga program taught by “world renown instructors” (Gaiam can’t afford copyeditors?) Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman. It’s a 13-week program that costs $5 per lesson, $65 total for the first package. I watched the marketing video, featuring the married couple, ever smiling, buoyantly welcoming, and unmistakably American. Yee invites viewers to join the “this great community, the yoga community.” Here, “you can begin to share some of the most intimate and life-changing things that are going to happen,” he says. Saidman gushes that “the possibilities … Continue reading Gaiam Yoga Club’s Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman