Pulse Legacy Archive December 2011 | Page 21

P: Making this film, you met women of all ages and The Academy Award nominee Annette Bening lends her voice for the documentary film. P: Yoga, according to the film, has come out of the fitness studios and into clinic centers, African villages, streets and even prisons. What should yoga believers do to continue to fuel this grassroot movement? M: We want people to be inspired to take hold of their own lives, their own destiny and be the change they need. Yoga makes so many things in life possible because it teaches us not to be afraid of things that are difficult. It teaches us to honor intuition, family, flow, connection, community, activism and the cyclical nature of our own lives. It teaches us how to live fully as women, celebrating our lives. When we feel empowered and awake through yoga, we see the opportunity to give back. Instead of feeling like a victim to the circumstance, there is a new energy where women becoming leaders and change agents. background—mothers, CEOs, prison inmates, to name a few. Is there a character in the film who left the most impression on you? M: So many of the cast inspired us. Of course, teachers like Patricia Walden and Seane Corn are both exceptional contributors to yoga today. One teacher we met in Kenya, Mary Wanjiru, made a deep impression on us. She was born in one of the country’s largest slums and had very limited life choices until being exposed to yoga through the Africa Yoga Project. As a yoga teacher, Wanjiru is now a well-respected, valued member of her community. Yoga has changed her life, and the lives of hundreds of people she teaches. She once had trouble looking people in the eye, but today, she says she could stand in front of a million people and teach them yoga. Another teacher we met, Tari Prinster, is leading her own inspiring revolution through yoga. After being diagnosed with breast cancer, the healing qualities of yoga led her to develop a yoga program to support other survivors. She is now considered one of the country’s leading experts in yoga as therapy for the physical and emotional challenges that cancer creates. P: How did the Academy Award nominee Annette Bening become involved with the film? What’s it like working with her? M: Bening’s teacher, who appears in the film, shared the project with her and she agreed to narrate. She is an incredible talent, funny, authentic and a talented actor to work with. She has been studying yoga for 30 years herself and she added a richness and depth to the final product. P: One of the issues raised by the film is society’s ongoing battle with body image. What was the biggest discovery you’ve made on yoga’s far-reaching impact on addressing this issue? M: We knew from the start that body issue was one of the topics we had to cover in the film. [Harvard-trained gynecologist and yoga teacher] Dr. Sara Gottfried tells us in Yogawoman that 90 percent of women in the U.S. are dissatisfied with FOR A SNEAK PEEK of Yogawoman, visit digital Pulse at experienceispa.com. December 2011 ■ PULSE 19