More Yoga DVDs
Additional Yoga and instructional DVDs for various assanas, yoga positions and sports.
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Beyond Basic Yoga for Dummies
Beyond Basic Yoga for Dummies presents 12 yoga poses that skilled instructor Sara Ivanhoe calls the "daily dozen." Ivanhoe is calm, clear, warm, and patient, demonstrating each pose as the screen flashes easier and more challenging modifications. The too-frequent voiceover "tips," "mythbusters," and "warnings"--announced by sound effects--are louder than Ivanhoe's voice and become disconcerting interruptions. Since they also appear in print on the screen, the jarring voice is unnecessary. Ivanhoe herself could give any tips needed for safety and effectiveness. Ivanhoe's careful, detailed instructions for each pose keep the progression slow, and an experienced yoga practitioner could get bored. However, a beginning exerciser who has mastered a basic workout will find this program a helpful next step before going to an intermediate level. The 70-minute DVD edition also includes a 15-minute guided meditation and the option to eliminate the music--you still hear instructor cueing and voiceover tips, but you can play your own music. --Joan Price |
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Kathy Smith - New Yoga
"New" yoga? Not really. The asanas (poses) in this 55-minute routine are essentially variations on the ones that have been around for millennia. But Kathy Smith and cocreator Rod Stryker for the most part avoid the pitfalls of many yoga videos, which tend to undervalue proper instruction in favor of displaying beautiful bodies in the kind of impossible positions usually seen at the Cirque du Soleil. Split into two sections--the first one concentrates on sun salutes (a series of poses to generate heat and build strength and balance) and various standing poses; the second, shorter one is devoted to sitting and prone asanas--New Yoga offers clear, concise instruction, emphasizing the use of the breath and proper form and alignment (although Smith fails to mention why the latter is important; it's to facilitate the flow of the breath and blood throughout the body). Some of the routine is quite demanding, but experienced yoga people will have few problems and newcomers should catch on quickly. Plenty of alternative and modified poses are offered to accommodate both intermediate and beginning levels. --Sam Graham |
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Kathy Smith - New Yoga Challenge
"Each of us has unlimited potential. How completely we realize it is the challenge," says fitness guru Kathy Smith. Smith has been enjoying yoga as part of her own program for more than 20 years. She finds yoga beneficial on its own, and complementary to her other fitness activities. Here she teams up with yoga master Rod Stryker for a rigorous, intermediate-to-advanced yoga routine. This workout is more vigorous than you would expect from yoga--you move from one challenging pose to another without stopping, building strength and stamina as well as flexibility. Stryker does almost all of the verbal direction, and he is a superb instructor: precise, personal, welcoming, and offering plenty of alignment cues. Both instructors demonstrate the poses beautifully with exquisite form--you may get distracted just wanting to stare at them. Occasionally they show modifications so you can do a pose in good form even if you're not as flexible as they are (and who is?). The production is polished and top quality. Running time is one hour, divided into deep breathing and warm-up (5 minutes), continuous standing poses (30 minutes), floor poses (20 minutes), and guided relaxation (5 minutes). If you're experienced in yoga and would like a new challenge, this tape will delight you. --Joan Price |
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Yoga Journal: Yoga Practice for Strength
In the first 10 minutes of this 75-minute video, expert yoga teacher Rodney Yee performs a truly stunning flow series that will motivate you and leave your muscles itching to work. The lesson begins with variations of sun salutations and poses such as the dog pose, triangle pose, and others. In the second, more intense sequence, Yee leads the bridge, shoulder stand, warrior, and balancing poses, his narration soothing and his technique inspiring. Very difficult poses, such as the crane pose and pendulum pose, comprise the end of the set. This session is not recommended for those new to yoga because it is quite strenuous; students should first be familiar with the vinyasas to ensure that the poses are reached and held correctly. Yoga Journal's Yoga Practice for Strength is an exceptional workout that will build stamina, power, and confidence. --Jhana Bach |
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Kundalini Yoga with Grace & Strength
Kundalini is a Hindu word that refers to energy that lies dormant in the spine until it is awakened and channeled upward through the chakras in the process of spiritual perfection. Yoga practitioners unfamiliar with kundalini may find Carol Carlson's 70-minute video a bit daunting, as it combines fairly energetic exercises with the "breath of fire": short, quick breaths pulsed by the diaphragm through the nose. Carlson uses a meditation mantra and a breath mantra as she moves through a series of stretches and strengthening postures. Kundalini Yoga with Grace and Strength is undoubtedly a good resource for experienced practitioners, but since it is a little short on instruction and explanation, it is recommended for intermediate-level students and above. People who enjoy the postures and practices of Iyengar yoga might do better with the Yoga Journal's series. --Jhana Bach |
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Yoga Zone - Introduction to Power Yoga
"Power Yoga" has gradually become the aerobics of the new millennium, driven by a no-pain-no-gain ethos that emphasizes sweat and strengthening over yoga's more subtle benefits. But this two-part, 40-minute Yoga Zone program takes a more mild approach, hewing to the philosophy that the power of power yoga depends less on aggressive, strenuous poses than on conscious awareness of oneself and the vital link between breath and movement. Both parts rely on brisk, flowing repetitions of several vinyasas (connected series of poses). The first includes some standing positions (mountain, warrior I and II, etc.), lunges, twists, side stretches, and the camel backbend; those new to yoga will find the sequence alternating between the downward dog and plank positions to be fairly demanding, but there's nothing outrageously hard here. The second part again concentrates on the downward dog, one of the essential poses in yoga, along with twists, stretches (like the "blown palm," a standing side stretch), forward bends, lunges and so on. The virtue of repeating vinyasas-- i.e., moving in and out of several poses, one breath at a time--is that it reinforces proper breathing patterns, and the instructors do a good job of reminding you when to inhale and exhale, which is not so simple as it might sound. More warm-up time would be helpful--beginners and experienced yogis alike should do some stretching before starting--but once you get going, the DVD menu allows for easy selection of either part, or the various series within them. You can also do the practice without the instruction, accompanied only by the music. --Sam Graham |
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