Movies On The Mat

Yoga is the power to heal and unite,
not only personally but globally. The choices
we make (e.g., what we eat, where we shop, how
much we accumulate) have a wide-reaching effect.

Please join The Yoga Shala for our
“Movies on the Mat” series, highlighting the importance
of awareness in how we live, individually and
communally, to bring our Yoga to life!

SITA SINGS THE BLUES

Thursday, September 23rd at 6:15pm

Sita is a Hindu goddess, the leading lady of India’s epic the Ramayana and a dutiful wife who follows her husband Rama on a 14 year exile to a forest, only to be kidnapped by an evil king from Sri Lanka.  Despite remaining faithful to her husband, Sita is put through many tests. Nina (the filmmaker Nina Paley herself) is an artist who finds parallels in Sita’s life when her husband – in India on a work project - decides to break up their marriage and dump her via email. Three hilarious Indonesian shadow puppets with Indian accents – linking the popularity of the Ramayana from India all the way to the Far East - narrate both the ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the epic.

In her first feature length film, Paley juxtaposes multiple narrative and visual styles to create a highly entertaining yet moving vision of the Ramayana. Musical numbers choreographed to the 1920's jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw feature a cast of hundreds: flying monkeys, evil monsters, gods, goddesses, warriors, sages, and winged eyeballs. A tale of truth, justice and a woman’s cry for equal treatment. Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as "The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told."

ASHTANGA FEST :)

Saturday, October 16th at 11:00am

Join us in celebration of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and The Yoga Shala's One Year Anniversary!  We will have live music, food and drinks, and a contest giving away free goodies..  We will also show the documentaries: Guru, and Ashtanga NY.

Ashtanga NY

Ashtanga, NY was originally intended as a concert film celebrating the Ashtanga style of yoga, now wildly popular in the United States and around the world. It follows the aging yoga guru Sri K. Pattabhi Jois as he gives his final North American workshop in New York City in September 2001. Devotees were arriving from all over the world to partake in a rare opportunity to practice with the 86 year-old Jois. The 9/11 terrorist attacks took place in the midst of this celebration, and dramatically changed the meaning and purpose of this yoga gathering. In the difficult weeks that followed, Jois used the Ashtanga practice to help heal and fortify his diverse followers. This is no intructional video, and these are not your garden-variety contortionists. Ashtanga, NY is a real look into the intersection of ancient practice and modern life, New York-style.

Guru the Movie

Documentary about Pattabhis Jois: discover what it means to be and to have a Guru. The footage included people practicing the Primary through the Advanced series in the shala in Mysore, as well as interviews with Guruji and many senior Ashtangis, such as Rolf, Dominic and Saskia. The practice footage included Hamish, Saisha, Dominic, Rolf and Saskia and many other uber-yogis.

GASLAND

Sunday, November 21st at 7:00pm

"The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudia Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. But is fracking safe? When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination. A recently drilled nearby Pennsylvania town reports that residents are able to light their drinking water on fire. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called GASLAND. Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown."