First Hit: Interesting idea and the execution, although uneven, was thoughtful and engaging.
The idea was to take a person; in this case Nick Rosen skeptical journalist and the director’s friend, and let him spend 6 months trying different yoga techniques to see if the there is, or if there can be, some form of spiritual enlightenment at the end by becoming involved in yoga.
Kate Churchill, who directed and produced this film, was curious about her own yoga practice and felt that maybe she could begin to uncover some of her own questions about her own practice by following and filming someone who had no experience at all. She chose Nick because of his practical and journalistic background and after telling him the story about what she wanted to do, he wholeheartedly joined the adventure, besides he had just left his most recent job.
The film begins in New York where they both live. Nick attends numerous classes with different teachers all claiming to have the best type of yoga. Soon after attending some of these classes the film audience and Nick see the fallacy and ego of the teachers which gets in the way of “the practice”. There is quite a bit of posturing by teachers as to who has the best technique and who has the best classes, like it is a popularity contest.
Nick and Kate head off to Hawaii to meet up with Norman Allen a revered teacher who keeps a low profile and he begins to create questions in Nick’s mind about his perception of yoga and the idea of self. It is at this part of the film that it starts to really delve into some of the spiritual aspects of having a yoga practice, or any practice.
Then it was off to India where Nick met up with various teachers including B.K.S. Iyengar and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois who have their particular view regarding the power of yoga, self-inquiry, and practice. Slowly and subtly Nick and the audience begin to see that it isn’t really about the asana positions (postures) of yoga just like it isn’t about one’s sitting position in meditation, it is how one approaches everything with a level of openness, compassion, and equanimity.
A number of the teachers touch on this in their own way and as the audience watches Nick, and despite Kate’s irritation with Nick, you sense that something has shifted in his life and yet he won’t be able to put hard journalistic facts around it.
I think Nick was typical in his behavior as a good looking, semi avant-garde, late 20’s New Yorker. He likes to party and likes to think of himself as a ladies’ man. As a subject he’s good because he is curious enough to ask questions and bright enough to know something is going on within him as this journey unfolds. He’s real. Kate’s direction was a bit uneven and I found myself wondering why there were scenes of her voice telling Nick to ask a teacher a question. Her irritation with Nick grew during the filming and I liked that it felt real in that way.
Overall: An interesting and amusing film which carries some insight as to where one finds their spiritual path. Listen closely and some of the truth does reveal itself along the way.