drizzlypeas If the practice of yoga or any activities relating to yoga, including watching yoga movies, causes stress, anxiety, consternation or anger - you're doing it wrong. I personally thought it was an intriguing movie. To each his/her own though. Not sure I understand the very strong emotional feelings that have resulted in personal attacks against the director. A movie is just one person's perspective, nothing more, nothing less. I would not have seen this movie if it were another infomercial-type production about how great yoga is. I've seen, and enjoyed a lot of that, experience the benefits of a daily practice myself. I get it. I was fascinated to see another's perspective - an outsider looking in. I think the director's motivation to "convert" was flawed, but that is the beauty of this film. both director and cast had some self exploration that needed to be done. and It caused a break down in her as she realized the futility of that goal. As to accusations that she defamed the biggest names in yoga. I really did not see that. She portrayed them as the humans they are- not gods, nor demigods - humans just like us struggling with self realization, just a little further along the way. I saw a beautiful, tragic, and sometimes insecure side to these instructors - facets we all have. The intro w/none of the instructors giving the same age for yoga was not about making them look dumb. It was a statement about its diverse origins - especially many of the western practices - not that no one knew the truth with a capital T. There is no right answer. Depends on what you are referring to when you say "yoga". On top of that, so much of Indian tradition is passed along by word of mouth family to family it is very difficult to really answer that question even for the "purest" yoga forms. That is the whole point of the movie - there is no one yoga with one history.While Nick may not have been has enlightened as some of us like to think we are, it took guts to do what he did. He dove into this head first and was really willing to open himself up to possibilities. As a self proclaimed skeptic I was worried the movie might die on the vine if he were to quickly dismiss the practice, he did not.Very thought provoking movie that I thoroughly enjoyed.

in1984 The style of the documentary reminds me of Super Size Me, but this comes at it with a more personal angle and the documentarian(?) clearly is not an independent third party, but she is very open about her appreciation for yoga and her initial wish to convert others.From her mission to reality is where the film takes us and the journey is very insightful, even if it relies too much on the personal stories of others as opposed to providing some more purely factual background. It's through those personal meetings and interviews that you grasp the present-day reality of yoga as opposed to a vague abstract.Based on how deeply affected the few IMDb reviewers (so far) were by this film, I'm starting to think I should raise my rank (currently 7). This film provides a very solid foundation in yoga with little if any bias and does so in a way that keeps your interest, and what more can you really ask for from a documentary on anything?

gokulrao Director Kate Churchill ends up with a non-story in her feature Enlighten Up! when her subject fails to experience the changes she had been expecting. Churchill might have taken Rosen directly to the impressive yoga potentates B.K.S. Iyengar in India, the reclusive Norman Allen in Hawaii (his advice to ease Rosen's way to spiritual ease is "F--k yourself"), and Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois, a veritable lion of a guru whose ashtanga yoga method is practiced all over the world.The journalist's encounters – too brief, too arranged – with these men provide a glimpse of the possibility of true revelation. Sadly, Churchill gets miffed with Rosen's inability to receive yoga wisdom.And, apparently in the interests of providing the conflict element demanded in modern storytelling, the movie gets lost for a while as their relationship deteriorates.So, the director doesn't get the story she wanted and the viewer gets only a fleeting taste of several good yarns that she allowed to slip through her fingers.

bottsford This is more a comment about a comment: The comment by "afriendofyoga" is full of weird projections onto this film. Almost every criticism "afriendofyoga" makes is tied up in his/her skewed assumptions about Kate Churchill's intentions. I saw "Enlighten Up!" yesterday -- Churchill clearly doesn't think she has any answers, the movie presents a wide variety of perspectives on the practice of yoga (some reverent, some practical, some skeptical), and the personal conflicts between Churchill and her "guinea pig" Nick Rosen are given a balanced and honest treatment. This isn't (and isn't meant to be) a conclusive statement about yoga, it's a snapshot of a personal experience. I found it more intriguing than the dozens of reverent beatific infomercials about the wonders of yoga.