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Prenatal Yoga DVDs (July 2004)
In May and June the Portland meditation hall was transformed into a film studio as we began production of our first yoga DVD products. The project brought together the entire local community in a way reminiscent of the ashram’s early days. And everything we did was done superbly.
These DVDs are the result of years of refinement of The Movement Center’s curriculum. As the curriculum has evolved, Swami Chetanananda has encouraged our instructors to develop books and video products that would bring the Institute’s approach to hatha yoga to a wider audience. An area that seemed promising was prenatal yoga. Those classes have always been among the Movement Center’s most popular offerings. We have found our prenatal students to be very receptive to the experience that our particular yoga practice facilitates, and they also appreciate it very deeply.
Patty Slote has been teaching prenatal yoga for years and began doing market research on yoga videos several years ago. In February 2003, she sent out a questionnaire to survey 300 former Movement Center prenatal yoga students. Enthused by the 85 responses that she received, she developed a proposal for the scope and content of the product.
Patty worked with other Movement Center instructors to come up with a program that would capture the essence of our practice and meet the needs of women undergoing the life-changing experience of pregnancy. “Prenatal Yoga: A Complete Home Practice” consists of three short asana routines that can be done separately or linked together. Called “Open,” “Focus,” and “Surrender,” they embody central aspects of our practice. A second DVD, “Prenatal Sun Salute,” features a specially modified version of the classic Sun Salute sequence that uses props to make the poses easier and safer for a pregnant woman while retaining the benefits of an efficient and energizing yoga practice.
Last fall, Patty teamed up with Timothy Shiels as technical consultant and Bob Shoemaker as resource and logistics consultant to plan the production. They decided to go with cutting edge technology to give the product the longest possible shelf life: wide screen, high definition format. This spring, Guy Boster joined the team as art director, working on set design, graphics and packaging.
For filming, the team selected Picture This Production Services, the company that produced the Chöd video with Lama Wangdu. Filming began in mid-May. The initial shoot for prenatal sun salutes lasted one day; three additional shooting days were scheduled in mid-June to capture the other routines. Bob Shoemaker marshaled the peoplepower to carry off the events and keep everything flowing. He was gratified by the number of people who participated and by the efforts they made. The Picture This staff was wowed—they couldn’t believe we had never done a shoot here before.
Based on Patty’s research and the feedback from our students, the DVDs offer content that is distinct from other products currently on the market. They will offer something else that no other product has: the special environment at the Institute. Even in the rough footage, there is a serene and gracious tone to the production that elevates it far beyond the usual fare.
The decision to film on location at the Institute was made with the intention to showcase what’s been accomplished here. Throughout the process, the producers chose whenever possible to use “home-grown” talent: the models are all Movement Center students, the voice-overs were done by Patty, the make-up by Wally Chapman, and DVD authoring and other post-production work will be done by George Cohn and Marilyn Ritter (Creation Ground Media). We’re excited about this opportunity to share the quality of the inner and outer work that is done here, and that the project has given so many people in the community a chance to learn and grow.
We’ll be finishing the filming and post-production work and developing a marketing plan this summer and fall. Rudra Press plans to release the DVDs by year end. We hope that these are the first in a whole series of Movement Center yoga products.
We need donations to help cover marketing and post-production expenses, such as sound mixing, packaging, and advertising. Your contribution to this project will help us realize the potential of the outstanding hatha programs offered by the Movement Center.
Nityananda Institute, Inc.
P.O. Box 13310
Portland, OR 97213-0310 USA
Phone: 503-231-0383
e-mail: friends@rudrananda.org
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