I just got hold of a copy of the new Morning Mysore calendar to review. Antonia, Dave and Wendy, Ashtangis at Yoga is Youthfulness, emphasized taking photos of real yogis practicing in Morning Mysore as opposed to picture-perfect Yoga Journal-type “models”.

I am amazed at the quality of the production - the calendar could have been made by professionals, you cannot tell the difference. With the use of modern printing technology, the talent behind the photos and the care taken to produce it, this calendar is truly superb.

Apart from the quality of the photos, each picture has a caption taken from the students’ answers to the question, “What does this practice mean to you?“. These quotes are inspiring, an important and unique feature in a calendar! Here’s a sample:

What’s amazing to me is that as I enter the studio I instantly feel surrounded by this caring energy. I barely know my fellow yogis at the studio and yet feel that I do know them, and they know me. They understand my struggles on the mat, share the humor in it, know why I’m here. They are my friends.

From what I hear, as of today more than 100 calendars have already been pre-ordered.

Go to Divine Eye Productions to get a copy (you’ll also be able to see all the months in more detail there).

We are taking preorders only for this calendar. Deadlines for ordering are 11/17/06 Friday noon and 12/1/06 Friday noon. The price is $25 with shipping ($20 if you live near Mountain View, California).

The first step of the project was to take lots of photos of students practicing Ashtanga Vinyasa in the Mysore-Style classes at Yoga is Youthfulness in Mountain View, California. The best 500 (!) were published in an online photo gallery. Back in August I wrote a post about the calendar/photo project , which included many photos from the project.

The second step was to choose the best 12, and produce a real life calendar.

What a great gift for Ashtangis everywhere! Thank you Antonia, Dave and Wendy.