3 Movie Recommendations - 2024
By Theresa Shay
The Winter Holiday Season is traditionally marked by my family with a trip to the movies. While I like watching movies, I find it challenging to identify peaceful (sattvic) entertainment that suits me. If you are also someone who lives with the intention to decrease violence in the world, these movie recommendations focus on expansive human nature. As we turn away from the drama of blowing up places and people, we collaborate with Universal Consciousness saying, “More love, more presence, more peace, and more connection, yes.”
May your movie watching bring you deeper into yoga this season.
Perfect Days
The opening line of the description of this movie says it all. “Hirayama is content with his simple life cleaning toilets in Tokyo.” Not only was I moved by the character, but I also loved seeing the toilets of Japan. This movie includes the line, “Now is now,” so you know it resonated with me. Perfect Days is touching and a “poetic reflection on finding beauty in the world around us.” Watch the trailer.
Unless you speak Japanese, you will be reading subtitles with this movie.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
I was drawn to this movie by the word “pilgrimage” when I came across it on the streaming service Kanopy. Harold walks out the door one day to mail off a letter to a former colleague who has entered hospice, and the pilgrimage begins. This movie is an uplifting tale of self-discovery, and not only for Harold. Watch the trailer.
Kanopy is a great streaming service for thoughtful entertainment, available through the generosity of your local library.
Conclave
A fictional account based on the factual process of choosing the next pope, Conclave is currently available only in theaters. This is the first movie I’ve seen in a theater since before Covid, and it moved me. While this movie is not absent of violence and suspense, the intriguing story and superb acting make me want to see it again. As I sat next to my husband, a former pastor, he quietly affirmed many of the lines in one important sermon during the movie. "There is one sin which I have come to fear above all others: certainty. If there was only certainty, and no doubt, there would be no mystery. And therefore, no need for faith." Watch the trailer.
I read too much about this movie before going to see it, and some reviewers unfortunately gave away the ending. I recommend walking in without knowing who ends up Pope.
TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania’s Best of 2024
With a nod to the “12 Days of Christmas,” we have posted on our calendar the top 12 videos members watched during 2024. These short practices, the longest 33 minutes, are presented one per day from #12 on December 23, 2024, to #1 on January 3, 2025. (I confess that I adjusted two videos to honor the energy of December 25 and January 1.) This entertainment, along with the fifth recommendation below, is the purest you can find. Spend time with yourself, close your eyes, and remember what’s important. A holiday season where you both move your body and quiet your mind will bring you all the gifts you ever hoped for.
These videos are available to those in our Flow membership. Flow: The Membership opens doors for new enrollment January 1, 2025. Others may purchase a drop-in pass to watch one of these videos.
Nature
Get outside. Breathe fresh air. Take a walk. Listen to the cold. Hike to a view. Admire our hOMe. You’ll soak up Prana and feel refreshed. Nature freely shares the illuminating energy of the Divine, the sattvic energy we aim to exude as we remember our true nature as a human being.
Theresa Shay is the founding director of TriYoga of Central Pennsylvania, where she teaches weekly yoga and meditation online and trains others to teach TriYoga®. Each week, she shares wisdom cultivated from decades of TriYoga study and practice.
Learn more about her here. Theresa can be reached at Theresa@PennsylvaniaYoga.com. Find her on Instagram @theresa_of_triyoga for more inspiration and light.