Film Overview

This is not an instructional yoga video in the usual sense of the term. It is instructional, however, in the very best sense. What follows is a group of friends doing yoga together, as they really do it. There is no teacher guiding the session. Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday friends come over and do yoga with me. I'm usually in the room from 5–8 PM. People arrive and leave as fits their schedule. There is no structured format, no rules. It's freeform yoga practice. We often have music playing, but often we don't, and we spontaneously alternate between silent doing and casual talking. It's fun. I enjoy practicing like this. I think you will enjoy what you are about to see. I would recommend that you sit back, watch, and enjoy, then get down on the floor and join us. The practice or discipline in Freedom Style Yoga involves not deciding in advance what you are supposed to do. Instead, listen inwardly for guidance and give yourself permission to do as you are prompted. This is the real thing. Yogis doing yoga.

“I love this video — it's two and a half hours in Erich Schiffmann's home studio. Two discs of freeform yoga with Erich and his friends. I find it fascinating to watch these yogis work their way into poses in the same room together. Nobody does the same pose at the same time. The focus is on individual practice, although there are a lot of assists and advice re: particularly difficult poses. The music is whatever happened to be on the sound system: Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen...

The 2-disc set begins and ends with Erich practicing by himself.

This is absolutely-not follow along yoga. I often put it on for company while I practice.”