Press For “Iyengar Yoga With Gabriella” (Instructional DVD)
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Yoga Journal - 10/1/2006 , “Iyengar Yoga With Gabriella” – Voted top 10 Yoga Video
“A must as a foundation for all schools of modern Yoga”, by Richard Rosen
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Gabriella Giubilaro, director of the Iyengar Yoga Center of Florence, Italy, is an internationally known yoga teacher who has given workshops throughout Europe and the United States. She began studying Iyengar yoga with Dona Holleman in Florence in 1973 and with B.K.S. Iyengar in Pune, India, in 1983. Since then she has gone to Pune nearly every year to study with Mr. Iyengar and members of his family. In addition, she is co-founder of the Association Light on Yoga in Italy and holds a doctorate in physics from the University of Florence.
In this 85-minute DVD, Gabriella presents a program of 40 basic yoga poses that students can play continuously as a guided practice or select from to work on individually. The program includes a variety of Level I and II seated, standing, balancing, twisting, forward-bending, back-bending and inverted poses, as well as savasana. But two fundamental asanas you might expect to be included—tadasana (mountain pose) and dandasana (seated staff pose)—are not.
Like Gabriella, the presentation is simple and straightforward. Wearing a lavender unitard, she demonstrates getting into and holding the poses, giving basic instructions in a voice over. For the most part, the pose is shot from a single camera angle (typically straight on) against a plain background, with an occasional side shot to show the pose from a different angle or a close-up to show details of a hand or foot position. The use of props—folded blanket, block, strap and chair—is minimal and included primarily to show how to make a pose more accessible for beginners.
Because she is such an accomplished yogi, Gabriella does each pose with exquisite form and ease. So if you want to see how various poses look when someone of her ability does them, this DVD will show you. Another strong point, especially for beginners, is that each pose is introduced with the Sanskrit name both spelled out and properly pronounced, and then explained in English. This enables you to easily learn what the poses are and what their names mean.
If you’re looking for detailed instructions about how to deepen and work a pose, however, you won’t find them here. Unlike the more esoteric instructions you might hear from some Iyengar teachers, such as ‘take the left inner kidney skin to the right inner knee,’ Gabriella gives you much simpler and accessible ones, such as ‘sit with the back straight’ and ‘breathe normally.’ Some Indian-inspired music runs in the background. Though pleasant, it tends at times to overpower Gabriella’s soft, Italian-accented speech, so you may have to pay close attention to fully catch what she’s saying.
As the introductory text on the DVD points out, ‘Qualified instruction is highly recommended with the video used as accompaniment.’ I would agree. This DVD is a good reference, especially for beginners or students of Iyengar yoga wishing to deepen their understanding of the basic poses. But unless you have Gabriella’s strength and flexibility, you might find doing the poses not as easy as she makes them look, and you’ll probably want to be shown how to get into them more gradually. Also, she spends so little time (barely 30 seconds) with simple yet complex poses such as downward facing dog that you’ll definitely want to get more information or instruction about them from elsewhere.
Of course, if you’ve ever taken a workshop with Gabriella, you’ll want to buy this DVD simply to experience again her soothing voice, clear directions and beautiful presence. She does the kind of focused, well-aligned poses we all aspire to, and just seeing how to do them so well is valuable instruction in itself.
Iyengar Yoga With Gabriella is available for $18.00 (shipping included) at www.henhousestudios.com. For more about Gabriella and the Iyengar Yoga Center of Florence (looks like a place definitely worth visiting), go to www.yogawisdom.com.
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Yoga Journal - 6/10/2001, Talking Shop with Gabriella Giubilaro
‘Talking Shop with Gabriella Giubilaro’ — Gabriella Giubilaro combines the warmth, earthiness, and high spirits of her Italian homeland with the precision and love of detail that led her through bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics. Since 1977 she’s been teaching Iyengar-style yoga in Florence, Italy, and at workshops worldwide.
Yoga Journal: How did you discover yoga?
Gabriella Giubilaro: It was just by chance. I met a friend who was going to a yoga class, so I joined him. That was in 1973 in Florence, with Dona Holleman. I liked it from the beginning, so I stayed. I studied with Dona and assisted her for 16 years.
Yoga Journal: Who else has influenced you?
Gabriella Giubilaro: B.K.S. Iyengar has been my biggest influence. I first went to India in 1983, and since then almost every year I study with him and his daughter Gita. The most important thing he passed on to me is not just knowledge; it is the tools of how to work on myself, how to understand the wisdom of the body. The body has its own intelligence: the ways it should move; the proper relation of the outer body with the organs and with the mind. The intelligence of the body is always the same, no matter whether we are practicing forward bends, backbends, twists.
Yoga Journal: Do you think there’s anything quintessentially Italian about your approach to teaching yoga?
Gabriella Giubilaro: Well, the Italian people use the hands a lot when they talk, yes? So when I teach a class, I do this. It looks very funny sometimes to American students.
Yoga Journal: You teach a lot in both Europe and America. Are students different in different places?
Gabriella Giubilaro: A bigger difference is between southern and northern or eastern Europeans. The Italian people, when they do yoga, you can never stop them from talking. I make fun of them; I say their favorite asana is ‘Talkasana.’ And the thing they like to talk about is food. Sometimes I will try to do something serious in class, and someone will interrupt, “Would you like a new recipe for artichokes?” or “Have you tried this apple cake?” People from the eastern countries like Poland and Russia, they work so hard and never want to stop. They are very serious.
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