MOLI VIEW™

All day, while it rained ice pellets outside yesterday afternoon, my wonderful girlfriend and I kept cozy. So it would have been wrong to pull on wool socks and boots to trudge out to a yoga class — even though there's a yoga center three blocks away. Instead, we unrolled a couple of yoga mats and popped in Eva Barash's delightful DVD Livingroom Yoga. In a 45-minute class, Eva's expert knowledge of the body, her witty analogies, and her detailed instruction both enlightened and physically challenged us.

Sheesh, who knew I could work up such a good sweat from a yoga session in my living room? Kid me all you want, but I feel like a better person than I did an hour ago.

There are a lot of things to like about Eva's approach, including her suggestion that we imagine that we're "flying through the air" and that one position may actually be understood as "the counterpose for the rest of your life." At one point, after a complicated set of instructions, she casually connects with her students and says, "I feel like I've been talking a lot," then encourages us to practice the next set of poses in silence. Her timing is just right, and that silence, along with a subtle hand drum-and-synth soundtrack, creates a few moments of bliss.

Yoga is usually good for a general spiritual tune-up, but this class is not for beginners. Starting with the child's pose and gentle rocking to warm muscles, then a steady repetition of sun salutations with timing reminders on when to inhale and exhale, the progression feels organic and right for the body. Livingroom Yoga is an intermediate workout, and is based on Iyengar's principles of alignment. There's a combination of movement (vinyasa), breathing exercises (pranayama), and yoga calisthenics to help protect and strengthen the body (and mind!).

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