Review of FitTV’s Namaste Yoga
It’s not surprising that a shallow, exploitative yoga series would emerge that relies on hot babes instead of good yoga as its theme. That this came out of Canada is what surprises me.
Namaste Yoga is the regular yoga series seen on cable’s FitTV. They show a few episodes a day, and from what I can tell, this is the only yoga show currently on FitTV.
The initial concept was by (surprise) a guy, and the show’s yoga flow is directed and narrated by Kate Potter. Kate, however, is never to be seen in the show. I suppose by lowering her voice to a throaty whisper that’s limit of the “sex appeal” she provides - otherwise, she must not be attractive enough to appear herself.
Instead, Namaste Yoga relies on three hot young women as the draw. In each episode, two must be wearing short shorts, one wears a leotard, and all three are required to have large tracts of midriff showing. Fake boobs are mercilessly absent, but who needs those when you can take in the tight buns of these women as they sensuously arch into “down face dog.”
With Kate’s overly done throaty voice and the three hot babes, this is less of a yoga training show and more a new age form of soft porn. I can only imagine that most of the audience for this is either horny, lonely men, or women who don’t have a clue that there’s more to yoga than this.
But let’s get to the actual yoga. In spite of my initial reservations, I did try two Namaste Yoga episodes to see how they made me feel physically. I could put up with hot chicks and Kate’s lame attempt at a bedroom voice if the yoga was decent.
Sadly, it was not. The first session I got through OK but it felt fairly tame in terms of its intensity. The pacing of the second went so fast that I finally quit in the middle since it just wasn’t worth the bother, and I was frustrated that I was expected to move out of the poses so quickly.
This particular video involved jumping from standing up to plow pose to a forward bend and back up and down again. You barely had time to enter plow pose before she told you to move out of it again. Not only did I find this to be useless in terms of the yoga benefits, but potentially dangerous to yoga newbies. Plow pose puts extreme pressure on the neck and it’s not something you want to be messing around with like this. Let’s not forget that the majority of Americans are also overweight so expecting them to flip their legs up behind their heads and back again in the span of a second is just pushing it.
That Kate is rushing the yoga is no surprise though - she’s got less than 30 minutes to craft a routine, which is then interrupted by commercials. I found the commercials to be jarring (I would not mind slow, meditative commercials if I’m getting a free yoga class), but that wasn’t the killer for me. Commercials gave me a second to sit in a forward bend or other pose for a little length of time.
It’s just that this yoga series is all flash and no substance. The yoga isn’t great, the vocal direction consists mainly of sexy little soundbites (”Let’s try” seems to be one of her favorites), and the speed makes your head spin.
The production values and locations are what some folks rave about Namaste Yoga. Yes, the cinematography is beautiful, but it’s also distracting. During the asanas, the models (I’m not going to call them “teachers”) are often seen switching from a beach to an industrial setting to a forest during the same pose. This is more a yoga music video than a class. What happens is that so much attention is paid to the lush scenery (and lush bodies) that you really don’t get a good viewing of how to do the poses properly.
Not that you’d have time anyway - you’d need a Tivo with a freeze frame to actually see what’s happening. Yes, it’s that gripe about the quick pacing again. If you are completely new to yoga, I have no idea how you’d even get through an episode of Namaste Yoga.
“Flow” yoga has gotten very popular lately. I’m not a huge fan of it, since I like to sit in a pose for a while and really feel the stretch and develop my endurance. But to me, Namaste Yoga went beyond a flow class to become a full on speed yoga session.
To me, this yoga series is so useless I will skip it completely and turn to home videos or my own series of poses when I need to practice at home. This is what often turns me off about yoga. We’ve got a so-called qualified celebrity yoga teacher out there putting out crappy McDonald’s yoga. Namaste Yoga removes all the benefits of yoga and makes it no better than the cheesy aerobic videos of the 1980s showing off shiny tights reaching into women’s buttcracks.
A preview is available on YouTube. Note that one of the most articulate comments on this clip is “that girl is HOT.”
What a joke.
Update, August 2008: After over a year, I have finally turned off comments on this post, because nobody has anything intelligent to say and I’m tired of the idiotic responses here. A common charge in these less-than-insightful comments is “you’re jealous!” These guys don’t seem to get that I’ve had a slender body my entire life, and believe it or not, being an attractive female isn’t the end-all and be-all of existence.
I think a lot of these guys are coming here because they are searching Google for pictures of the “babes” on the show. Seeing their hostile, sexist responses here is reason number one why I find this type of yoga-exploitation to be a bad trend for yoga in general. (And there are some really bad comments I didn’t even approve!) I don’t want yoga to be about hot babes and sex. If you think this is not an issue, search “yoga” on YouTube and look at some of the creepy stuff that comes up.
Bottom line: If you can’t possibly fathom why I might find this type of video to be a little disturbing, then you really don’t need to waste my bandwidth commenting here. Please go vent somewhere else. Namaste!
Hi Namasteph!
Thanks for the laugh…I always felt a little funny about this show but couldn’t really ever quite put my finger on why. Thanks for articulating your feelings about it; I really enjoyed reading it.
Hilarious.
I stumbled upon Namaste Yoga the day my high-def system was installed and admittedly kept watching for all the wrong reasons listed in your review. Then a miracle happened. Instead of cracking open a brewski to view the gals I actually did the yoga. Not long after that I signed up for a class and now I practice regularly at the studio and at home (sans any videos). Bascially I credit this program with renewing my interest.
I agree it’s somewhat in media res for beginners. Yet it’s not really what mid-level practicioners are looking for either. Maybe it’s for folks that will record a few episodes, move the coffee table to the side, learn the moves and follow along. If it inspires some to seek more, that’s great. If not, that’s fine too.
Check out this interview for info about the show in Potter’s own words:
http://yoga.lovetoknow.com/Interview_with_Yoga_Expert_Kate_Potter
In fairness to the women, they all have credentials. Although I’ll stop short of arguing they weren’t cast because they’re smokin’.
I’ll close by confessing, yes, I own the complete Season One series on DVD. Waiting for Season Two.
You were right about Kate.
It’s painfully obvious you ladies are just jealous. You can’t stand it how gorgeous and yet talented the cast really is. If you did some research, you find the cast would blow you away not only in looks but also in brains. One of them is a quite successful business owner who runs her own pre- and post-natal palates clinic as well as several other business endeavors. Not just some bimbo. Another is an established film actress (no, not B or porno). Before you go slamming someone just because they are beautiful, please get a clue. I have arthritus but play full court basketball M-F at lunch, and Namaste Yoga really loosens me up so I am able to function at a superior athletic level. It not only loosens me up and stretches me out, but it puts my mind and body in sync so that my motor skills are at peak levels when I play. I’m a beginner, but I have no problems keeping up with the Namaste moves most often. For me, it’s about results and this Namaste series does it for me. It’s an extremely professional production, with breathtaking views of background scenery, relaxing music, and I happen to really appreciate both the tone and substance of the narrator, all of which makes it very pleasing to watch. Having said all that, why would you then cast such a special yoga series with ugly bag ladies? I mean, again, get a clue!! They have to cast someone beautiful so that when you turn their show on you say “I would like to look like that…how does she look so good? Maybe I should start doing yoga like they do…” I don’t watch Namaste because the cast is so hot, I watch it because it’s a really great production and is extremely functional for me. However, I have not found one single other televized yoga show that has an instructor that you could bare to look at for the length of the show, let alone stay awake from the boredom of the production.
To each his own, but I think you are short-sighting some very smart and talented ladies, just because they are also beautiful, which in a way kind of makes you the bimbo, if you are at all good looking.
Randy, I have published a response to your comments here:
http://namasteph.com/general/do-yoga-instructors-have-to-be-young-beautiful-women/
Wow, I was disappointed when I read this but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. For me, after the first episode of Namaste, I was hooked. And after some research, I was lucky to finally find a way to purchase the series even though I didn’t live in Canada. Anyway, I think background scenery is awesome and the music and Kate’s voice are both mesmerizing and relaxing. I don’t think she is trying to sound sexy at all but calming just like the music. As far as the girls in the video…they have beautiful, toned bodies which motivates me and is what I would want to see in any exercise video. I found some videos of Kate Potter you can watch online, I can’t believe she is 50 years old.
http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=823375584&channel=44143153
Thanks for the link to those videos, Gina. Just a few days ago I read on another forum that Namaste Yoga had inspired yet another person to start up a practice. I think that is what’s truly important.
This is exactly what I expected to find out after reading the title ph. Thanks for informative article
I love this show! It’s on while I’m at the gym, and it makes excellent viewing between sets. I agree that it is sort of soft-core pornish, I suppose that’s the draw.
I think it’s great too, it has been a great intro to yoga for me.
Thank you for sharing!
i am still trying to buy these videos and am having a really hard time finding them… never tried this type of yoga before (namaste yoga- fit tv) but it’s seems to be the most relaxing, calming, and professional show i have seem… any help on finding these great dvds would really be appreciated!!! sincerely…
I am a certified Hatha yoga and Pilates instructor. I like the show but agree that the pacing is way off at times and that it is NOT for beginners. And yes, the girls are overtly attractive, but heck, if CNN and CNBC can use “hot babes” to get ratings, why not exercise videos? It’s not as if they are faking the movements.
More importantly, does anyone know if they actually shoot the same routine 4 times in 4 different locations per episode? Or is it shot in front of a green screen?
And I just saw the DVDs for sale at http://www.namaste.tv/store_dvds.html
“but heck, if CNN and CNBC can use “hot babes” to get ratings, why not exercise videos”
That’s precisely the problem! It’s really sad that “legitimate” news outlets hire reporters more on their looks than their qualifications. Journalism should be about journalism, not sex appeal. (Although, CNN does have its fair share of older women who are not all skinny pretty young things.)
It will be very very sad if the only yoga shows and videos available cater to the lowest common denominator as well.
I liked your views on the Namaste and I thought it was entertaining. I’m new to yoga and it was hard to follow through some of the poses. Sometimes I can’t even see them well because those “green” screen sceneries are quite distracting. However I have only been doing it a few weeks but already I can follow just by listening to the narrator. I don’t even need to look . I must say, this is the only exercise video whether tv or cd I have actually followed. Tried tae-bo and others but I seem to be drawn to follow through the whole sequence of namaste. My husband and kids always make fun of me because I do the namaste every morning. It’s become a household term. Yo namaste! Believe it or not, I have been stress free and more relaxed. Your back fat will slowly disappear including the fat around your armpit. Added bonus is that my libido has been enhanced. Try it, there’s nothing wrong with it. Also if you see Kate Potter on fit tv website she actually looks OK.
I love it. I’m a little achey, but looking good. The women are beautiful, I have a similar physic (dancer’s). It’s hard work, but the music helps one to relax, not become fustrated that’s yoga, but I skip the praying aspect, I’m a Christian.
G’day Namasteph,
For the past year, I watch and practice Namaste Yoga twice daily. I’m a guy and I enjoy the show. The manner which Kate teaches has helped me control my breath with movement through postures. This is flow style is her style and I find it to be agreeable with me. I have adopted her style when I do yoga away from the show, such as at a park or on a mountain.
The music is nice. Kate’s narration seems to work well enough to perform the movements and if you are spending time on the scenery, you’re not watching the yoga. And the girls…In talking with Kate they are nice people. Businesswomen, actresses, artists, moms and of course yogi’s who are tying to make a living. If you think the speed is to fast, I must tell you to focus more on your breathing through the movement, and you’ll soon see how slow the show really moves.
Anyway, being a fan of the show, I have also had opportunity to meet Kate at a retreat. She is a wonderful woman. She is an absolute pleasure to speak with. She is engaging and open and really just nice. I think God blessed her with an opportunity to spread the joy of practicing yoga and she did her best in her own way.
Finally. Have you ever seen a fat yoga instructor? Seriously. Ever? Not me. My current instructor at my local recreation center is smokin’ hot. So what if the girls of Namaste are hot. Yogi chicks are hot. Like it or not, that’s just how it is. I’m even OK looking. I’m no Adonis, but I’m thin, lean and healthy. I see your picture on your website. You have a nice body too. Is that so terrible? Would you fell insulted or flattered to learn that some of your students pleasure themselves after one of your classes? (And not just the men…and you might actually be the fantasy) Is it really so bad?
Namaste.
I was turned on to Yoga by Namaste Fit TV as well. This was 3 days ago. I am a 27 year old guy who goes tanning, has several tattoos and likes to stay fit. In 2006 I lost 70 pounds and I am working on my six pack for summer. I feel Yoga brings out the best in your body as far as working the muscles goes. My abs are still a little sore from the past 2 days. It’s more of a “good” sore than a bad one. I only lost pace like 2 times during each episode, which is good for someone who has never been into this type of fitness.
I also was suprised how un-limber I was. Some of those poses were kinda hardcore for me, but I gave em a shot even if it was for 1 or 2 reps.
I like this Yoga, it isn’t bad per say but a more experienced Yoga practicer will demand more most likely. Like that one persone up there said about holding the positions for longer. I think they should make the show an hour long and use the same amount of poses but increase the holding.
I suppose as a guy I get an added “boost” from watching 3 attractive honeys practice it.. but seriously.. my only reason now by watching is to strengthen my muscles and limber up. The girls are just an added bonus now.
Anyways If anyone knows of any Yoga Vids that would be good for a guy getting into it, send me a message on myspace! I am looking for a vid with an hour or so of content and some sexy bods. Can we get the best of both worlds? ahahha -Jason
myspace dot come slash inforce
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I love Namaste yoga on Fit TV. I do it about 5 days a week! I have bad dizziness that doctors aren’t sure of. They think it may be migraines or stress. The yoga stretching makes me feel really good and helps the dizziness. I am searching for the videos, but so far the places I’ve looked are all sold out. Just have to keep up w/ Fit TV!
Stephanie, don’t be so fast to put down this series. I’m a guy, retired and at 61, I’ve become tired of daily weight and treadmill workouts at the local fitness center. They’ve become boring and usually leave me feeling wiped out the next day. I’ve been working out all my life. I’ve never in my life tried yoga until last week when I stumbled across Namaste Yoga on FitTV. I watched the show and tried my best to follow along. At the end of the show and for the rest of the day as well as the next day, I felt more energized and relaxed than I have in a long time. Most of all, my body has become much more flexible. I’m hooked on this show and have decided to switch from weight machines to yoga. Maybe this isn’t the best yoga series available, that’s why I’ve ordered a few recommended DVD’s of different yoga methods to try so I can decide what’s best for me. I’m also planning on taking a local yoga course to learn the basics. The bottom line, this series got me started to pursue a new, healthy pastime interest to replace the one that burned me out. Yoga is great! I googled for reviews of this series and found your article. Frankly, I’m glad I read through your review to get to some of the more positive comments at the bottom. Otherwise, I would have given this show the boot. Although I agree with a few of your comments regarding pacing and some of the moves being potentially dangerous to newbies, it’s really not fair that you spent the rest of the article with useless, negative diatribe of it being ‘all flash and no substance.’ ‘Soft porn?’ Oh puh-leeze! Hey, it’s television! Sadly, cosmetics is what gets viewers. I worked in the TV production business 34 years, I should know. I am grateful for discovering Namaste Yoga for rejuvenating my interest in maintaining a healthly lifestyle and I hope it does the same for others. If the show gets lazy people off their behinds to pursue good health, then it’s done its job!
I’ve run across your review of Kate Potter’s Namaste Yoga after doing a search for the DVD set. First of all, I’m a 22 year old male who was mildly active until about 2 years ago. In the show’s defense, I have to say that I would have never gotten into yoga with out seeing it. You’re right that most of the instructors are beautiful and the poses are rushed but that was perfect for me at the time I picked up doing the routines. I’ve since then picked up more poses and sequences from classes and friends here and there and now acroyoga with my chronic yoga buds. Now, not a day goes by that I don’t spend at least 40 minutes stretching and on most days doing sequences. I do owe Namaste Yoga for getting me interested in yoga in general.
I think that before you bash it so hard, maybe you should think about all the people out there who didn’t have any exposure to yoga and Namaste Yoga got them started. It sounds like you are an accomplished yoga “master” and to pick on a silly 20 minute yoga show is kind of like the big strong bully beating up the nerd with glasses in 4th grade. Well I was friends with that nerd in 4th grade and I don’t appreciate you talking like that about him.
Just my two cents.
Joshua
i am a seventeen year old female, and i am shocked that all you got from Namaste Yoga was sex appeal and short shorts. i discovered the show last week, and i had never before practiced or had an interest in yoga. after watching the show, i did rewind my tivo, move the coffee table, and started trying it out for myself. i discovered this post after searching for DVDs of the show, because it has gotten me that interested. I enjoy the peaceful and beautiful scenery as well as the music and Potter’s calm instruction. Yes, the women are beautiful and have toned healthy bodies that they no doubt acquired practicing yoga for years. They are good at what they do, and i think it a fault of yours if all you see are tight buns in short shorts. Their bodies are beautiful, strong, and toned. It is your handicap if all you see are objects to lust over.
“It is your handicap if all you see are objects to lust over.”
Dear 17-year-old female. You are a product of the 1990s and 2000s. You weren’t even born in the 1980s. So you don’t remember the days before Howard Stern, stripper chic, and Bratz dolls took over America. I do. And so I definitely see a trend towards making yoga into something “sexy” instead of something “spiritual.”
Unfortunately, a lot of young women your age are simply blinded to the ways in which women are objectified on a regular basis. I don’t personally see these women as objects to lust over (I’m a straight female, for one thing), but I’m not naive enough to think that they weren’t chosen mostly for their sex appeal.
Go read the comments above. Most of them defending this series are males, many of them young males. Some have even admitted to getting turned on by yoga teachers. This the audience for Namaste Yoga.
There is an absolutely frightening trend to turn yoga into something that is performed only by 20something “yoga babes.” Your darn right I’m going to speak out against that trend on my blog here.
I’m sorry that you are too young and naive to see it yet, but trust me…you’ll be old some day, and when that day happens, and you realize you no longer look like the young babes getting forced on you by the media, you’ll realize what it was I was speaking out against here.
I think is a great show!!
There’s nothing worse then an amateur review by a keyboard worrier who has nothing better to do than sit behind her desk a badmouth others trying to there job.
Your probably an overweigh and a un-happy woman who gets off on tormenting hard working people because your sick of the life that you maid for yourself. You had said in one of you useless points that the narrators voice was like a “throaty whisper”or “ bedroom voice”, is it not the point of yoga to have you relax? What would you rather have a boot camp DI yelling at you through the TV screen? Another useless point you made was the Woman all have breast implants “fake boobs”, well from what I can see none of the 7 or so woman have had them so maybe you should look at the show instead of wishing you were more attractive. What is it that you’re proposing? Put actors in front of the camera that are obese that can’t inspire the viewers to try harder to improve them selves? It looks like to me the women that are on the show are very fit and attractive and hard working people that have spent years to learn yoga. There all probably all “multipara”. The last useless point you were trying to make was “soft porn”. What a joke you are. It looks to that the editor goes’s out of there way not to show any camera angle that comprising the actors or for the viewers. So in closing I find your review pointless and amateur at its best!!
Thank you Jeff C.
Once again, another angry guy telling me that I must be unhappy because I’m calling this show out on its pandering to sex appeal. Nope, sorry, I’m not unhappy, nor am I overweight or unattractive. You can look at the photo in my bio if you need some proof of that. But even if I were overweight and unattractive, would that mean that I can’t have an opinion?
According to you, yoga teachers should only be skinny attractive women, and the opposite of that is “obese.” It is precisely this attitude that I am speaking out against in this entry.
The vitriol from men like you only prove that my point is necessary to make.
“It looks like to me the women that are on the show are very fit and attractive and hard working people that have spent years to learn yoga.”
Speaking as someone who has never had to go on a diet my entire life due to my high metabolism, I doubt very much these women had to work hard for their bodies whatsoever. In this sense, they are truly bad role models for those who need “inspiration,” because someone with a different body type and metabolism (never mind older age) will never look like these women.
I have worked with plenty of yoga teachers who were older, not super skinny (some even larger women with big frames who would never be thin no matter how much they worked out), and they were great yoga teachers.
It is absolutely a shame that yoga has become something where people expect the teachers to look like models. That is not what yoga is about.
It is what it is. There is no shame in it, only acceptance and giving.
=
………….jealous and negative!……not good!………if people can find something to gripe about, they will. Should this show use unattractive women? The negative comments are destructive and come from insecurity. This show is inspiring and so well put together. It’s obviousley more than an instructional class. This is ART. ………HELLO!!
Comments are closed. Please read the update in the post to find out why.