Rating: Summary: Perfect for beginners who exercise regularly! Review: I purchased this video a year and a half ago. It is absolutely fabulous! I am over forty, and have been excercising all my life. I run, lift weights, dance and play a lot of sports. I always felt like one piece was missing, and this was it. The scenery and pace is beautiful. I love the music, and the workout makes you feel great. I get up at 5:30am during the week, and do a half hour of SOMETHING each day, so several days a week I do HALF of this tape. On the weekends, I do the entire tape at least once. This is the first yoga tape I ever purchased, but not the last. Nothing else compares to it- I only wish Ali would make another one. I have four sisters and we are all hooked on this tape! Thank you Ali and Eric and the rest of the yoga participants- perfect!
Rating: Summary: A steal! Review: This video is great! When I finish it, I feel so incredibly relaxed and at ease. To purchase peace for less than $10 seems impossible, but it's great. I have gone to several yoga classes, but the experience is never as good as following Ali Macgraw in my own home. The privacy and personal space set me at ease. I need not impress any one and need not worry that I can't do the movements as Ali does them. Yoga is a great experience and my body feels so much more whole after I do this video. My only regret is not enough time to do it daily. Still, once or twice weekly makes a major difference in my stress level and attitude. The music, the scenary, the narrator -- it's all together an excellent production.
Rating: Summary: Love this video Review: I enjoy various exercises and decided to add Yoga to my exercise routine. This was the first Yoga tape I bought and is still my favorite. I'd advise to watch it at least once before you actually try the exercises. I really like the music and the voice of the man giving directions. I find it very soothing. He gives excellent direction, so you don't have to keep looking up at the screen. This tape has really improved my flexibilty and balance and I look forward to it as a treat at the end of my exercise week.
Rating: Summary: Very thorough mid level yoga routine Review: When I first got this tape I was at first put off by the slickness of the production and the music (which I felt was too intrusive). While I still think the music is a bit too loud and sometimes compete's with Erich Shiffman's instruction I do really like this tape overall. Even the music has become more enjoyable to me as I've gotten more used to the routine and have to concentrate less on the verbal instruction for cues. I have been doing yoga on a twice daily basis for several years and found this routine to be quite different from other tapes I have. It's a nice change of pace to help bring variety into one's daily practice. It's excellent for days when you don't want something as intense as an Ashtanga routine but still want to be challenged. It covers all the basic movements/countermovements that will leave you feeling quite thoroughly stretched and strengthened. Ali Macgraw is definitely a serious practicioner of yoga and has wonderful grace and form. Her sincere comittment to yoga comes across clearly on this tape and I found her inspiring. Eric Schiffman did a great job designing this routine and leads you through it smoothly. I would agree with the other reviewers who recommended that one start with a beginning yoga tape before trying this one."Yoga for beginners" by Patricia Walden is an excellent and thorough introduction. Also there is a new series of Vinyasa Flow style tapes by Rainbeau Mars. The collection is called "Sacred Yoga" and the first two tapes are "For Beginners" and "Pure Tranquility" which are excellent gentle practices, the last two tapes "Pure Power" and "Pure Sweat" are much more challenging and all are beautifully done and highly recommended. The "Total Yoga Flow Series" by Tracey Rich and Ganja White are also excellent. If you're newer to yoga try "Earth" and then moe on to "Water" (which is about the same level of difficulty as the Macgraw tape reviewed here). The last tape "Fire" is very challenging and advanced. Also I would recommend buying Eric Schiffman's book "Yoga, the practice of moving into stillness" which is the best book I've seen on the subject. He gets into the deep levels of yoga that make the practice much more meditative. You will also learn how to make the practice more of your own in terms of working with your own specific physique. Another amazing book is Donna Farhi's "Yoga Mind Body and Spirit". That and the Schiffman book are the best I've seen!
Rating: Summary: Wonderful for all levels! Review: I love this tape! It's great for beginners, and a nice break for the more advanced. I will continue to use this tape for years to come. Of course, I've always been a fan of "Dead can Dance", the group who's music appears in the background...and was pleasantly surprised with it the first time I did this routine. The scenery is peaceful and beautiful, and Erich Schiffmann is an encouraging instructor. BUY THIS TAPE!
Rating: Summary: Great way to start Yoga. Easy to follow,Well-paced,Stunning Review: The program covers many different poses, working different muscle groups. It isn't too fast or too slow like other yoga videos I've seen. The master gives just enough explainations for each pose without stopping, so you don't have to stop the flow and won't get bored after the first few times. It is relaxing and easy, but deceptively effective on your muscles. You will be sore the next day. And, the video is beautifully shot in nature setting, helping you to focus on inner poise.
Rating: Summary: Good for those with prior yoga experience. Review: This was my first yoga tape, given to me by a friend. I had not practiced yoga before so I had nothing to compare it to. It is a aeshetically beautiful tape, and I really enjoyed the music because it isn't generic. Some poses are difficult, but I felt that all were fine for a beginner, and challenging enough for intermediate. I did find that there was not enough instruction and modification for those who aren't as flexible. I bought another beginner's tape and thought, "I can't believe I have been doing the Ali Macgraw tape, with so little instruction, for this long!" I found that if I had done the other tape first I would have had an easier time, but alas . . . I have read other reviews that state the poses aren't difficult, and they aren't per se, it is the lack of instruction that makes this a tape for people that have had prior yoga experience. For example, for some of the floor poses it would have helped to use a strap, I have very short hamstrings and I felt really discouraged. But the tape does not mention this. I would say this tape is perfect, if not for the omission of INTERMEDIATE in large letters on the box. And Ali Magraw is great, it is not one of those tapes with a gratuitous celebrity. Yoga is life-changing for her and this tape can be for you!
Rating: Summary: One to return to time after time Review: Beautiful photography filmed outside in the a white sand desert of the southwest U.S. and engaging music make this a standout video for intermediate students of yoga. Erich Schiffmann is a master to emulate and Ali McGraw deserves note for bringing this video to us. Not really for beginners, but an example of what to work towards. My best tape.
Rating: Summary: Visually stunning Review: The video is set in a visually stunning environment, but I found that the choppy editing, which apparently was done to enhance the visual effects, detracted from my enjoyment of the practice. I am still relatively new to yoga, so the poses were too advanced for me, but I believe when I am further along in my yoga journey, it will be useful and pleasant to practice. It is about 50 minutes long. Not for beginners, but a good video overall.
Rating: Summary: Outstanding! Review: One of the GREAT yoga videos out there...hypnotic and resonant, Erich Schiffman uses some of the greatest postures, with several of his students (Ali is only one of them) for you to get a really tremendous yogic experience, especially if you are not near a good yoga center. I highly recommend it, as a yoga teacher, to anyone, of any level of yogic expertise. I first watched this yoga tape - without knowing a thing about yoga, I just liked the cover! - and it completely changed my life. I found a tremendous teacher in New York City and later became a yoga teacher. All from watching this tape! I'm not saying that you will become a teacher or even go down that path, but after watching just this one tape for one hour, you will know more about yoga and good yoga postures than after taking dozens of classes. There is no substitute for a live yoga class, but in the meanwhile, I highly recommend "Yoga, Mind and Body"!
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