vr_in_da / Aatmiya Yogini

I live in India. I was born and raised here.

Even as a little girl, I loved to eat at local Chinese restaurants. A Chinese meal always started with Soup. Either Sweet Corn Soup (egg drop style), or Wonton Soup were my favorites. Then Starters. Crispy fried spring rolls. Or Wontons. Or Batter Fried Somethings.(I am vegetarian…the something need not be.) Already spicy on their own. With lovely chilli sauce to add to the heat.

The main course would be Fried Rice or Hakka noodles with a “Chinese Curry”. The Chinese curry equivalents had respectable Chinese names – Schezuan Vegetable Dumplings, Cauliflower Manchurian. Chilli, garlic, ginger, cilantro, vinegar, soy sauce blended into the “gravy”. And frequently batterfried somethings thrown in. YUM!

The first time I went overseas was to Singapore. I was aghast. This bland stuff was Chinese food? Where was the heat? Where was the spice?

I learnt that what we consider Chinese in India is a version customised by the smart Chinese immigrants to suit the Indian palate.

On my last visit to the United States, I was glad to see New Jersey has an Indian Chinese restaurant – Ming. And that palates of all color, not just brown, seem to think this is great cuisine. I liked it so much, I visited thrice.

A visit here is a great idea if calories are not something you think about.

Rodney’s non-intermediate and non-advanced DVDs are great for:
-> The experienced Beginner who is familiar with the poses
-> Physical Yoga (very little meditation focus – at least in the DVDs that I own) Practice
-> Challenging, yet attainable Yoga (minimum sit-it-out and gawk at the screen time)

I have these as two separate titles (Yoga for Strength and Yoga for Energy). On a single DVD they are a great buy if the above are what you are looking for.

Both routines are broken up into segments. So you can do one or more sesions when you are cramped for time, spread them across your day, or the segments within either of the routines all at once for a 60-ish minute practice.

Yoga for Energy is my favorite between these two. The Vinyasa choreography makes my heart sing. Apart from Vinyasa with my Yoga Guru Venkat, no other Vinyasa produces as much joy in any of the DVDs that I own. The flow here, is almost like dancing. The locales are lush Maui outdoors. In a few segments Rodney practices with one or more other Yoginis. The way this has routine been flimed (positioning of the Yogi(ni)s, synchronization, camera-angles, location) is breath taking. There is minimal instruction. Mostly, Rodney mentions the name of the pose and expects you to follow along. I love this. There is no talking to interrupt the focus and joy in my mind. A link to my experience with this DVD during my 43-in-43 days.

Yoga for Strength is shot indoors. The poses and sequences make it an effective strength building workout. Although the Energy is my favorite, I would rank this better for pose perfection and strength-building. Rodney is still strictly focused on cueing, bur there is more cueing compared to some of his other DVDs. A link to my experience with this DVD during my 43-in-43 days.

I enjoy this DVD. The title is apt. This is not “just-stretch” Yoga. It actually gives you a workout and elevates your heart rate.

A caveat is that there is very little instruction on alignment and moving into poses. You are expected to know the poses.

Rodney Yee is one of my favorite instructors. He does not talk a lot which I enjoy from a DVD instructor during Yoga Practice. (I like chatty instructors during aerobics and cardio.) He does not sprout philosophy or crazy analogies. His form is perfect and graceful. His Vinyasa feels beautifully choreographed. He has a nice voice. It is especially important for a Yoga instructor to have a voice that is peaceful.

Here is my post about practising with this DVD.

This link in Amazon has some more reviews.