The Peaceful Warrior

Warrior Yoga

When Lynn Powers, CEO of Gaiam, Inc., the leading distributor of lifestyle media, approached her with the idea for the DVD series, Styler’s first choice for a creative partner was naturally the man who has been her yoga mentor for the last four years, celebrity trainer James D’Silva. “James is a wonderful person,” Styler explains. “He is very calm, disciplined, nurturing, and hilarious. We have a great time together. He is just such a warm, inspiring man with a veritable army of devoted students and a very long waiting list of hopefuls.”

Styler and D’Silva went about developing the series based on the warrior pose. “From this one movement, we developed an entire workout in which we pay homage to the strength of a woman, because I do think that women are multi-tasking warriors who have to do a lot in life, particularly in this century,” she says. “From the homemakers to the career women to the fast-lane women who have to juggle home, family, and career, all while looking good—and in order to look good you certainly have to feel good—it is very much with them in mind that James and I created Warrior Yoga.”

The five-disc Gaiam series was filmed on location at Styler’s 900-acre Tuscan villa, Il Palagio. Styler credits the beauty of the estate as one of the main reasons they chose it for the shoot, where backdrops include the garden, the terrace overlooking the Arno Valley, and Il Palagio’s chapel. Although Styler does mention that it wasn’t just the scenic beauty that led to her decision to film at the villa—proximity to her husband, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sting, played a part in her decision-making process as well. The Grammy award-winner makes several cameos in the eco-friendly lifestyle series, reflecting on the couple’s holistic way of life. Offering the support of his musical genius, the DVDs feature tracks from his classical album Songs from the Labyrinth, as well as interviews with the songwriter, Styler, and D’Silva.

“Creatively, Il Palagio seemed like a good choice for the location, but it also meant that Sting and I could sleep in our own bed at night, in the comfort of our own home. Since we have spent most of our lives traveling, I thought, ‘Why not?’ It was a wonderful time and that we could actually spend two uninterrupted weeks together made it a win-win.”