Behind the Scenes of Sirasana with Dharma Mittra

Dharma Mittra is quite the character. After returning from a 10-day immersion with the modern-day guru at Kripalu Center for Health and Yoga, we've picked up a few of his "tricks" - and trust us he has quite a few of them.

It was pretty incredible to be practicing Sirasana with Dharma Mittra - surly every yogi has seen the iconic photo of him practicing the posture in Times Square.

A few little-known facts about DM: He drives a Segway, He has had a total of 26 bicycles stolen in NYC, He has also had his Segway stolen, He rocks an iPad, iPod, iPod Touch and an iPhone. He will not hesitate to check these devices during a class/lecture.

More Dharma Mittra posts to come - there's a lot to catch up on here in Miami Beach after being gone for two weeks. In the meantime, enjoy this behind-the-scenes video of Dharma's secret behind the unsupported Sirasana. Namaste!

Bienvenido a Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health

Bienvenido a Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health

We arrived midday on Sunday to Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health - it was a bit of a journey getting here. After flying into New York and staying for a few days, we hopped the Peter Pan Bus to Lenox, where Kripalu had a shuttle waiting.

There are 22 people in the Dharma Yoga - Life of a Yogi, 200-hr Yoga Alliance RYT. We were surprised when we arrived on Sunday that Dharma Mittra won't be arriving to the program until this Thursday - until then we are taking classes from some of (what I'm guess are) his main devotees.

So far the program has been led by Kim Jeblick and Lorie Bebber. They are doing a great job getting everyone ready for Dharma's arrival. At first we were a little bummed he wouldn't be here until later in the week, but can completely see why he sends some of his students to do the dirty work to prep for his arrival. Tomorrow Adam Frei will be arriving and conducting most of the day's programs.

So far we've broken down the Dharma Level 1 sequence and taken a few higher-level classes (led by Kim and Lorie). We've gone over adjusting and assisting the first sequence and tomorrow will be the first "Master Practice" with Adam.

In the spirit of retreat, the cell phone and computer are off as much as possible (and pre-arrival we received very clear email with instructions not to take photos or video during any of the course - cell phone policies are strictly enforced here, which we have to admit is pretty nice). We'll try to post mid-retreat with some photos and possibly some video. Namaste.