Testimonials

Swami Asanganand Saraswati sat on the bench and tucked in his feet. The moment he sat, his eyes lit up and a big smile came over his face. After adjusting his position a little he said, "This is really comfortable!".

Drat! I should have been recording this! I took out my cellphone and opened the camera. The moment had passed, alas, but then he closed his eyes and sat quietly for a few minutes, meditating. Great shot, I thought. I was watching it all on the screen, feeling good, when I realized that I never pressed record! Sigh. But as he opened his eyes, I did get a picture of him smiling and holding my book as he sits on the bench!

Once a year, Swamiji holds a workshop (shibir) on various aspects of the yoga lifestyle at various locations around the U.S and U.K. They're free, too. (Donations are accepted, but only at the end.) For information about events in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact the Yoga Shibir Google Group. For other events, contact yog-ganga.org.

Yoga Teacher Trainer

Beverly Bachoo, certified teacher trainer and Ayurvedic practitioner, specializing in Viniyoga and Restorative Yoga waxed enthusiastic about the Bench Yoga program. She immediately saw the bench's potential for a variety of Restorative Yoga poses. A few days later, we spent an enjoyable couple of hours trading notes on position-possibilities and teaching methods.

Yoga Teacher

Urvish Mahida remarks on it's potential to give people a "leg up" (so to speak) when it comes to finding a good sitting position for meditation.

 Friend

Golf buddy Jim Holmlund tries out the bench after a round. He finds it comfortable, and he never sat on the floor in his life!

(A moment after the video ended, I asked him to sit with one leg on the ground, and be aware of the position of his back. I had noticed that he was in the perfect "J" pose, when he did that—and after he put one foot down, he agreed that it was very comfortable. It was fascinating to find that even someone inexperienced found their back in the perfect upright position when sitting with one leg up. For many, that is a much better position than sitting either with both legs up or both legs down.