titans of yoga: 25 modern masters

*** UPDATE: as a reader of the accidental yogist, you can now get $3 off the price of a general admission ticket to the movie premiere in santa monica! so that's just $8 instead of the regular $11 price!! click on this link to purchase your discounted tickets online: $8 Movie ticket for TITANS OF YOGA world movie premiere ***


we're almost halfway through august, which means that september, yoga month, will soon be here!

In 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services designated September as National Yoga Month, a national observance and awareness campaign to educate the population about the health benefits of yoga and to inspire both youths and adults to take responsibility for their well-being by focusing on prevention and healthy lifestyle choices.

in conjunction with the FREE DAY OF YOGA that will be offered by yoga studios located in cities around the country -- to date: austin, dallas, houston, los angeles, and philadelphia -- a new DVD, titans of yoga, will be released on september 1st; the proceeds of its sale will benefit yoga recess in schools.

TITANS OF YOGA tells a magical journey of self-discovery and transformation featuring 25 Modern Masters of Yoga, Meditation and Mindfulness. The movie features Dr. Dean Ornish, Lilias Folan, Kim Eng, Bryan Kest, Sharon Gannon, David Life, Dharma Mittra, John Friend, Rajashree Choudhury, Gurmukh Khalsa, Swami Kriyananda, Beth Shaw, Shiva Rea, Gary Kraftsow, Ana Forrest, David Swenson, Seane Corn, Larry Payne, Deva Premal & Miten, Vinnie Marino, Lisa Walford, Krishna Kaur, Saul David Raye, Sara Ivanhoe.

here in LA, there will be a world premiere screening of the movie in santa monica, followed by a Q&A with the director and some of the featured yoga masters:

World Movie Premiere
Titans of Yoga: 25 Modern Masters of Yoga, Meditation, and Mindfulness
Wednesday, September 1st 2010
7:30pm
Aero Theater, 1328 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica

tickets to the screening are $11; VIP tickets are $20 and include a pre-movie reception at 6pm, product sampling, movie screening, and the post-movie Q&A. you can purchase tickets online by clicking here.

i recently received this email from johannes fisslinger, founder of yogamonth, who's spent the past year traveling from yoga class to yoga conference to yoga festival, tracking down all the yoga masters he wanted to include in this movie:


The TITANS OF YOGA MOVIE TRAILER is online!

Click here to view the trailer.

After 7 months of researching, filming 25 amazing teachers and visionaries with 25+ hours of empowering footage and 3 months of post-production the movie is finally ready to be released.

We can't thank everyone involved enough. Making a movie is truly a team effort ... so
THANK YOU,
THANK YOU,
THANK YOU.

And please make sure you join us Sept. 1 for the MOVIE WORLD PREMIERE of TITANS OF YOGA at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. If you can't make it... and even if you can... please invite all your friends to the premiere.

Shiva Rea, Vinnie Marino, Sara Ivanhoe and other "TITANS" will be there for the VIP reception, movie screening and after-movie Q & A.

Looking forward seeing you Wednesday in 2 weeks.

Namaste,
Johannes


want to win a pair of VIP tickets to the screening? email your name and contact information to tickets@yogamonth.org

if you're outside of LA and/or can't make the screening, you can purchase you own copy of the DVD for $24.95 - click here to pre-order the DVD

those who purchase the DVD will be eligible for additional content plus a chance to win prizes such as a yoga retreat for two at the samasati beach resort in costa rica, lucy yoga clothing, gaiam online yoga club memberships, and even a personal meeting with one of the titans featured in the movie! the drawing will be held on november 1st 2010; buy your copy now so you can be entered before the deadline!

a musical prelude to bhakti fest

bhakti fest 2010 is a little more than a month away; it'll be held in joshua tree, california on september 9th thru 12th. if you have no idea why you should get excited about this kirtan and yoga festival, drop what you're doing, and buy tickets RIGHT NOW, i've found a couple of online kirtan shows that will give you a taste of what four days and nights of bhakti-full chanting will feel like. multiply the bliss by ten, and maybe you'll understand why you need to be there!

and even if getting to bhakti fest this year doesn't fit in with your budget and/or schedule, you should still listen to these weekly podcasts whenever you can, especially if you can't get to kirtans that easily. honestly, these shows are THAT good. and since that's coming from someone who considers herself a kirtan connoisseur (i've been to enough chant sessions to be on a first-name basis with a number of kirtan wallahs), consider that a rave review from yours truly :)


the full lotus kirtan show is hosted by blake tedder and airs every tuesday from 1-3pm on WCOM 103.5 in carrboro, north carolina. through the magic of the internet, you can listen to the streamed 2-hour webcast from anywhere in the world via the full lotus kirtan website. you can also subscribe for FREE to the itunes podcast by clicking on this link: full lotus kirtan show

since this is in a radio show format, you'll get some interesting chatter from blake between songs. he'll intro the music, do phone interviews with kirtan artists, and sometimes talk about his yoga practice. the shows usually revolve around a theme; there have been some that have featured chants to ganesh, hanuman, the maha mantra, and every now and then, he'll have a by-request show that includes songs requested by listeners.

full lotus kirtan, episode 40, july 13th features an interview with sridhar silberfein, producer of bhakti fest, and includes the following chants by musicians who are scheduled to perform at this year's bhakti fest:

Song ~ Artist ~ Album

Sri Krishna Arati ~ Bhagavan Das ~ Now!
Bhagavati ~ Dave Stringer ~ Japa
Jaya Hanuman ~ Girish ~ Diamonds in the Sun
Bhavani Jaya Jaya ~ David Newman ~ To Be Home
Shree Ram Jai Ram ~ Deva Premal ~ Embrace
Hey Ma Durga (Compassion) ~ Sean Johnson And The Wild Lotus Band ~ Devaloka
Be the Change (Niraj Chag's Swaraj Mix) ~ MC Yogi ~ Elephant Power
Mira's Song (Mharo Pranam) ~ Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits ~ Ten Million Moons
Guru Om ~ Michael H. Cohen ~ Om Dattatreya: Journey To The West
My Foolish Heart Bhaja Govinda ~ Krishna Das ~ Heart As Wide As The World
Sunrise Hare Krishna ~ Prema Hara ~ Sweet Surrender
Govinda Jaya ~ Jai Uttal (Remixed by Rara Avis and Shaman's Dream) ~ Dial M For Mantra
Om Namah Shivaya ~ Govindas ~ Endless Surrender Kirtan Experience


another kirtan show, new world kirtan, is hosted by kitzie stern, who's based in corvallis, oregon. unlike blake's longer full lotus radio podcasts, kitzie's new world episodes run for only an hour and are more appropriate for meditation and yoga practice. kitzie intros the show, then lets the music she's curated speak for itself. you can listen to her show via the new world kirtan website, or subscribe to the FREE itunes podcasts by clicking on this link: new world kirtan

by the way, kitzie plans to be at bhakti fest this year and will be posting podcast updates. so stay tuned!

new world kirtan, bhakti fest!, august 3rd is a collection of songs from artists who will be performing at bhakti fest 2010:

SONG ~ ARTIST ~ CD

Om ~ Mercury Max ~ The Eternal Om
Elephant Power (feat. Bhagavan Das) ~ MC Yogi ~ Elephant Power
Ma Jagadambe ~ Mukti ~ Light of the Sun
Sitaram ~ Krishna Das ~ Heart As Wide as the World
Parashakti ~ Wah! ~ Maa
Hey Shiva Shankara ~ Dave Stringer ~ Japa
Bhaja Mana Ma ~ Shantala ~ Live in Love (2)
Love, Peace and Freedom/Sita Ram ~ David Newman ~ Love, Peace, Chant