When you aren’t lucky enough to practice near a teacher, with other students, in need of some inspiration, or just like to watch, here is a list of Ashtanga yoga practice videos listed in alphabetical order. By all means, if you know of a video that you think should be mentioned, let us know.
- ANNE NUOTIO
Title: Anne Nuotio Ashtanga Vinyasa YogaThoughts
This video is amazing! Anne demonstrates the evolution of her practice with commentary. You can watch her practice 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. This is perhaps more for observation than for practice. What is amazing is that you watch a body move through the different series and also that it is *gasp* a woman! Her commentary is thoughtful and inspiring. Check out Anne’s article over at Living Mysore…
PS- Anne is currently authorized by the KPJAYI.Buy
You can purchase the video at Anne’s website.Preview
- DAVID SWENSON
Title: First SeriesThoughts:
This is a bit of a cult classic. That said, there are many things in this video that differ from how ashtanga is currently being taught in Mysore by the KPJAYI. It is definitely instructional.
PS- David is authorized and listed on ashtanga.com, but is not listed at KPJAYI.Buy:
Click here to purchase at our Amazon storePreview:
- JOHN SCOTT
Title: Ashtanga Yoga the Primary SeriesThoughts:
People really enjoy this dvd. It is instructional and inspirational and his accent is adorable.
PS- John is certified to teach by the KPJAYI.Buy:
At our Amazon storePreview:
- KINO MACGREGOR
Title: Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series with Kino MacGregorThoughts:
We haven’t seen it, but the fact that it features a woman, and a fierce one at that, is enough to convince us. It is our understanding that the video is instructional. Be sure not to confuse this with her “A Journey, A Workshop”.
PS- Kino is currently listed as a certified teacher with the KPJAYI.Buy:
You can purchase both DVD’s at Kino’s websitePreview:
- LINO MIELE
Title: Primary Series with Lino MieleThoughts: From the trailer, it looks good… This is probably great for guys who are intimidated by taking instructions from men who look like they have a lifetime of dance experience. Not sure if this is more instructional or demonstration as we haven’t seen it. But we agree that this is probably a good choice as Lino is the “correct vinyasa” man.
PS- Lino is certified by the KPJAYIBuy:
Check Lino’s site under “resources” or purchase at ashtanga.com
Preview:
- MARK DARBY
Title: Ashtanga Yoga Primary SeriesThoughts:
We’ve heard nothing but good things. Mostly instructional.
PS- KPJAYI certifiedBuy:
At the Elephantbeans storePreview:
None available
- MELANIE FAWER
Title: Mysore Style Ashtanga Yoga: Primary Series with Melanie Fawer Certified by Sri K. Pattabhi JoisThoughts:
…Tumbleweeds… Maybe you can help us out with this one?
PS- KPJAYI CertifiedBuy:
In our storePreview:
None available - NICKI DOANE
Title: There are 2 videos available “Beginners class” and “Introductory poses”Thoughts:
Great for yoga newbies. Can’t remember the difference between the two.
PS- Nick is authorized and listed on ashtanga.com but not KPJAYIBuy:
You can purchase either video herePreview:
- PATTABHI JOIS
Title: Ashtanga Yoga with K. Pattabhi Jois – First Series from Yoga Works ProductionsThoughts:
Whether you plan on practicing with the video or simply watching, it doesn’t get much more authentic than this. Guruji counts a full led primary for a class of “big name” yoga teachers My how yoga clothes have changed!
PS- Guruji is GurujiBuy:
In our Amazon storePreview:
- RICHARD FREEMAN
Title: Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series & Introduction
Thoughts:
He kind of sounds like a robot but that aside, tons of useful information. Rumor has it that when asked which western student “gets it”, Guruji repled, “Richard Freeman”. It is hard to argue with that kind of endorsement! Mostly instructional.
PS- Richard is KPJAYI certifiedBuy:
Both videos by clicking herePreview:
- SHARATH RANGASWAMY
Title: Primary Series
Thoughts:
If Sharath had a fan club on facebook, we’d join. Oh wait, he does. And for good reason! Sharath is the grandson of Guruji and has taken over KPJAYI. If you can’t study with the source in India, this is the next best thing. Sharath leads himself through a led primary class. Read more at Ashtanganews…
PS- Totally certified and come on, it is Sharath!Buy:
Purchase the DVD at the Ashtanga Productions website.Preview:
Do you practice with any of these videos? Which do you like the best?
8 responses so far ↓
grimmly // February 18, 2009 at 08:35
The Anne Nuotio DVD looks great, but £60! bit steep. At least with the others you can just buy the series your working on.
I started with the The Mark Darby one and still think it’s the best for starting out. Sharath’s was a revelation, in that following it I realised I could do all of primary in an hour a llowing me to practice the full series before work. Still getting a lot out of Kino’s, her beginner options at the end are great. Swenson is just essential. Lino’ old DVD and John Scott are probably a bit off putting for the beginner but John Scotts made me fall in love with primary all over again and all it’s possibilities. Lino’s new primary DVD above looks interesting. Never got on with Richard Freeman’s primary but really into his Intermediate series at the moment.
ebean // February 18, 2009 at 22:24
wow, thanks for commenting! it is steep. the thing is that you get to see 1, 2, and 3rd series… but still — expensive. that said, when i ordered the kino dvd (the first one) it was nearly $40. i think they have since lowered the price.
Surya namaskar B // March 2, 2009 at 16:48
[...] We Anne Nuotio: Ashtanga Yoga Practice Videos (Primary Series … [...]
James White // October 1, 2009 at 13:47
To provide you with some thoughts on Melanie Fawer’s DVD. It is broken up into two DVDs. One is the straight Primary Series from opening prayer to final rest. This DVD is a little under an hour and half. The second DVD is an instructional DVD of every pose in the series it’s 3+ hours long. It discusses and demonstrates how to build up to a full primary series daily practice, and provides some instruction on every pose in the primary series. Fawer’s Ashtanga is very clean and straight forward (e.g. no hand stands between vinyasas). Overall, it is the kind of DVD you may want if you either wanted a few pointers trying to teach an Ashtanga class, or wanted something to augment/substitute for a teacher. Yeah I know you should always try and find a teacher, but certified Ashtanga instructors are not exactly a dime a dozen, so this DVD works pretty well.
admin // October 2, 2009 at 11:59
Thanks, James!
-ebean
ebean // November 23, 2009 at 10:52
In depth Anne Nuotio video review at Mayaland.
http://mayalassiter.com/blog/2009/11/anne-nuotios-awesomeness/
Maya Lassiter // November 25, 2009 at 16:39
Hi ebean, thanks for visiting my blog and linking to it. I’d be happy to comment here–in fact, this post is where I first heard of Anne Nuotio’s dvd. Here are my beginner’s experiences with some of these dvds:
Anne Nuotio, see my review mentioned in the comment above, but basically, I loved it.
Swenson is great for practicing to, lots of support and encouragement to beginners and lots of variations. Smooth, friendly, plus funny white spandex shorts.
John Scott has perfect poses, no variations, full vinyasa, beautiful but overwhelming and a bit intimidating to me. I don’t like this one to practice to, but I got a lot of great info from the voice over. I’ll probably return to it when I’m further along.
Kino is awesome because she’s this tiny chica doing powerhouse yoga, I love her. Good variation section at the end, although not as much as Swenson and not integrated in. Quick pace, a little too fast for me now, but I like it sometimes. Pretty to watch, and it feels friendly and not intimidating, even though she throws down on the fancy handstands at a moments notice. I’m not sure why that is, but it is.
Melanie Fawer’s is nice, a complete treatment. Her style is very functional feeling, clean. 90 minutes, lots of breaths in the finishing sequence. Doesn’t dazzle, more of a workhorse primary depiction. Valuable info.
Nicki has the gorgeous production values–ah, Hawaii!–but it only goes up to part of the standing. Great place to start if a few surys leave you winded and you need time building up (that’s what I used it for). Gets left behind pretty quickly, though.
Sharath is FAST. He counts to 5 but I’d be hyperventilating if I really tried to breath to that count. I get two or maybe three breaths in there per pose, but you can do the whole primary in less than an hour that way. Instead of practicing to this one, just watching it is valuable–his primary feels sort of…humble? Like he’s just doing this thing, even though you know he can do yoga miracles if he chooses to, probably can balance on his left earlobe or some such. But there’s no drama here, not an ego feeling in the accomplishment. I really really like that. Less like a performance. Watching it has helped me iron out the transitions and the breaths. He does not talk you through the poses, just gives the sanskrit name and the counting, so the info is all in the watching, not the listening. Some weird camera angle transitions, like the director had to try out all the filters on his movie software.
Okay, I’m out. Thanks again for this post, ebean, it helped me when I was starting out.
admin // November 26, 2009 at 00:27
“even though you know he can do yoga miracles if he chooses to…”
amazing