Tara Stiles is one of my favorite online yoga teachers. Her videos are generally short and straightforward, and I often find something I can remember and use in my practice.

She’s also very pretty.

I’ve been a fan of Tara’s on YouTube and Facebook for some time (since she first began her YouTube channel, I think). Recently, she’s attracted a huge following with her yoga studio, book, DVD, mobile phone app with Deepak Chopra, a DVD with Jane Fonda — and a feature article in The New York Times.

The article in The Times calls her a rebel. I understand the reasoning behind this label, but I don’t find her style rebellious at all. What’s so rebellious about being clear and accessible? It’s just good instruction. And even though she’s not chanting, it’s still authentic yoga practice, as opposed to some I’ve seen that seem to want to combine yoga with calisthenics and call itself yoga.

I like this vlog, her most recent contribution on YouTube. I thought it was going to be something profound about how we create being on hold in our lives and how yoga can free the body and thereby the mind from such holds.

Alas, that is what I said, not Tara. She demonstrates this by really being on hold and then breaking free (ie. making a video while she waits).