Enlighten Up!

Kate Churchill's brilliantly edited and often hilarious filmed record of her attempt to prove that “yoga can transform anyone physically and spiritually” will likely appeal just as much (if not more) to non-yoga devotees as to the faithful. A practitioner herself, Churchill chooses Nick Rosen, a New York City journalist and yoga novice, as her subject for a six-month experiment during which he encounters a variety of masters (and some merely self-proclaimed gurus) to seek wisdom and sample different methodologies (one relies on R-rated language that is apparently intended to be therapeutic). Ultimately, Churchill and her skeptic protégé Rosen (“I need facts”) wind up in India, where celebrity yogi Gurusharanananda describes yoga as a way to “try to get rid of what you are not.” Rosen is not convinced, but he eventually benefits from the experience, overall. “Yoga is different things to different people,” he concludes. “I'm not sure what it is for me. Basically, it's something I do every morning that makes me feel really good.” DVD extras include extended interviews with Gurusharanananda and other yoga luminaries, deleted scenes, a photo montage, and a filmmaker bio. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Zoretich)