All language subtitles for VisionsOfYoga

A common way to start a yoga session is
with Salute to the Sun, a series of easy

poses to stretch and warm up your body.

A slower, less strenuous version of
Salute to the Sun can be done if you let

your knees touch the ground during the
backbends.

Sue was a bit lethargic when she was at
the beach, but generally she's full of

energy.

This dance features a pose called the
half moon, which we'll see in more

detail later.

Olya also takes an energetic approach to
yoga.

Salute to the Sun is a modular series of
poses which you can modify or continue

as long as you like.

The V-shaped posture in Salute to the
Sun is called Down Face Dog.

It can serve as the start for many more
challenging postures.

In yoga, it is good to follow a stretch
with an opposite stretch.

This leg stretch is an opposite of down
face dog.

Willow enjoys exercising naked in
public.

She does a series of exercises, which
are good warm-up stretches for yoga.

Indeed, in the peace and serenity of
their movements, the exercises seem a

kind of yoga in their own right.

Yoga has many varieties and many
schools.

When we were in Ibiza making adventures
in Freedom One, Shannon showed me her

own stretching exercises, which feature
several postures of yoga.

Shannon also does stretching exercises
which feature aspects both of yoga and

of ballet.

After the warm-up exercises, it is
common to do several standing postures,

such as the triangle and the arrow.

As with all yoga postures that have a
left and right side, the left and right

versions are done one after the other to
preserve the balance of the body.

Many standing poses require balance as
much as strength and flexibility.

The table is a particularly difficult
pose.

It requires strong back muscles and
excellent balance as well.

Shannon makes yoga look easy, but for
most of us it isn't.

It helps a lot that she's a dancer and
so stretches and exercises regularly.

Okay, Katrina.

Katrina is also young and flexible, but
her

efforts show us how challenging yoga
poses can be.

Don't be discouraged if you join a yoga
class and find it tough going.

No matter what your level of skills, you
can benefit from yoga.

Remember, too, that yoga is not a
competitive sport.

The point is to work as well as you can
and strive to improve.

Yoga will serve you as an aid to health
and as a path to tranquility, no matter

whether you are an expert or a complete
beginner.

Okay

Shannon also taught Katrina one of the
most popular yoga poses, the wheel.

After the wheel, they did the lotus, the
world's most famous meditation pose.

And also that very difficult pose, the
table.

Okay, down.

In the Czech Republic, where she went to
make adventures in Freedom 2 and 3,

Shannon continued leading other people
into yoga.

She showed Ronnie how to do the tree
pose.

Even though it's the easiest of the
standing postures, Ronnie found it

somewhat challenging.

Shannon also showed the tree to Harriet,
who found it even more difficult.

Next, Shannon showed them the arrow
pose.

Harriet turned out to be a natural on
this one.

Notice that Ronnie does not have the cap
of her bent leg straight up and down, as

it should be.

This makes the pose much less stable.

There that's better

Okay

Okay

down

Here's a seated posture called a cow,
presumably because the feet on either

side look like the ears of a cow.

The trick here is to get your knees
down, which can be difficult if your

legs are strong.

Ronnie

gets

those strong leg muscles from being a
good athlete.

which makes her great at skipping rope.

Go.

But even a good athlete can profit from
yoga, for the increased flexibility you

get from yoga can help avoid sprains,
pulled muscles, and other injuries.

If I could, but I don't know.

I wanted to try it all at once.

From the standing poses we turn to the
sitting and lying ones.

A good introductory pose, which is
simple and yet challenging, is the

sleeping warrior.

And up.

Once again, it's good to counteract this
stretch with an opposite stretch.

In this case, the pose of a child.

The sleeping warrior puts a lot of
strain on your knees.

Katrina found she needed the support of
a couple of pillows.

This is very common for people just
starting out in yoga.

A pose which is somewhat similar to the
sleeping warrior.

is the reclining lotus.

Another variety of the lotus, which is
challenging to get into, is the toe

-holding lotus.

Got it.

Got that one.

Okay. Namaste.

Go ahead.

The sitting extension, or bum stand, is
an especially difficult pose because it

requires a strong leg stretch as well as
excellent balance.

Perfect.

That's the spirit.

You got it?

Yeah, that's good.

The relaxation effect of yoga comes
partly from deep breathing.

If you listen carefully as Lydia does
the wheel, you can hear the deep breaths

she takes.

Lydia is capable of doing some of the
hardest yoga poses, such as this one,

the rooster.

The rooster leads to this remarkable
stretch.

For a final demonstration of her
remarkable ability at yoga, Lydia did a

perfect shoulder stand.

Then she lowered her legs to go into the
plow, and after that, the inverted

lotus.

Daniel Relier, like Lydia, is an expert
at yoga, and it's a pleasure to watch

the perfection which he gives to some of
the most demanding postures.

Danielle's demonstration of yoga showed
the two inverted postures, the headstand

and the shoulder stand.

Shannon had a go with the headstand.

The important thing to remember with the
headstand is to support the weight of

your body with your arms and not with
your neck.

You should also not attempt it alone,
unless you're experienced, because of

the risk of toppling over.

The challenge with the shoulder stand is
to keep your back straight up and down

as you move your legs through many
different postures.

Bella, who starred with Shannon in the
Adventures in Freedom videos, had a go

at the shoulder stand too.

Then Bella tried the lotus posture.

Efforts like this show us that yoga
requires considerable practice.

For most of us, it's not as easy as
Shannon and others make it look.

But then Bella tried the headstand and
managed to achieve very good balance.

She did very well with the forward bend
too.

Her arrow pose too was very well done.

Yoga has many levels and there are
postures for beginners.

as well as other postures even experts
find difficult.

Ronnie and Eva are flexible enough to do
leg extensions with only minor

difficulties.

Ronnie in fact is capable of doing the
splits

The wheel, however, gave her the
giggles.

But she was able to do it okay with Eva.

The shoulder stand also gave Ronnie the
giggles.

Once again, we asked Eva to show Ronnie
the way.

Eva does the shoulder stand really well,
keeping her back straight up and down.

try again okay

It must do it.

I decided it was time to finish off with
a strenuous and earnest pose, the table.

Ronnie did this one very well.

For their session of yoga together,
Cordelia and Melo went to the beach.

Since it was a beautiful day, they left
their clothes in the car so they could

walk naked down the path.

The girls had agreed to try partner
yoga, which is a special branch of yoga

in which the postures are done in pairs.

One of the things I like about a naked
walk among trees like this is the way

the sun casts shadow patterns on the
naked backs of the girls.

On the beach, Cordelia was happy to run
into an old friend of hers, Simon, and

his dog, Lucha.

We were having such a pleasant time at
the beach that we were a bit slow about

getting around to yoga.

The girls wanted to continue their fun
and go exploring further.

I don't want to.

This tiny cove looked like a fun place
to try partner yoga.

This first pose is called the portal.

And after doing that both ways, the
girls tried the double warrior.

Well, maybe it was better to try it on
the main beach.

But first the girls had to get there.

Mela decided the best thing to do was to
walk back across the rock.

So eventually we arrived and started
again on partner yoga.

The first pose was the double down-faced
dog.

You may remember the single down-faced
dog that Lydia did as part of her salute

to the sun.

After that, the girls did the down-faced
dog backpack.

Next, the girls did the chair and the
standing backpack.

Oh, God.

Well,

our beach idle was nearly over.

We decided to do a few reflection shots
and head for home.

With the beauty of the beach and the
pleasant sound of the waves, it was a

tranquil day that perfectly reflected
the peace that comes with yoga.

Oh, yeah. What about the shot of Shannon
on the cover of the DVD box?

Here she is, doing the cosmic dancer on
the rocks and on the beach.

Okay, go to it.