Kripalu Yoga

Rating:
Summary: Finding it a great pace
Review: As an obese woman doing yoga, I find the Gentle Kripalu on this DVD particularly helpful and easy to do. Some of the positions themselves are tricky due to my lack of motion range, but the pacing is nice, and I enjoy being able to follow the verbal instructions, rather than stop mid-pose to look at the screen and figure out what I'm doing.

The trickier poses just give me something to strive for-- if I could do everything right away, it wouldn't give me the incentive to keep trying!

Rating:
Summary: Finding it a great pace
Review: As an obese woman doing yoga, I find the Gentle Kripalu on this DVD particularly helpful and easy to do. Some of the positions themselves are tricky due to my lack of motion range, but the pacing is nice, and I enjoy being able to follow the verbal instructions, rather than stop mid-pose to look at the screen and figure out what I'm doing.

The trickier poses just give me something to strive for-- if I could do everything right away, it wouldn't give me the incentive to keep trying!

Rating:
Summary: A Real Yoga Practice, highly recommended
Review: If you would like a "real" yoga experience, I would highly recommend this practice. These 3 sessions were previously published on 3 VHS tapes and you get them all on one DVD. It's a bargin for the price. Over 3 hours of practice!

One you get a beginner's workout, excellent instruction and even a good practice for experienced yogis on easy days. You can do either 1/2 hour session, or do together for a full hour.

Two, Couples practice. Well instructed and fun! You even get a poster of all the poses so you can practice on your own time. I found it to be a lovely way to connect with my partner. We practice yoga together, balancing each other (and looking in each other's eyes to feel our love).

Third (and the best), is the intermediate workout (Dynamic Yoga). Stephen Cope has a very soothing voice, challenging poses held for a good amount of time with plenty of time between poses to connect and meditate. Thoughout the practice he will have you ask yourself "how do you feel today?" He doesn't talk too much and the last part of the practice you tune into your own feelings, listening to what your body needs, and do the poses that feel right for you. Very nice relaxation at the end (and not rushed). I love this workout! I find it very self-enlightening and challenging. I feel so good afterwards.

Also, the menu system on the DVD is layed out very well. Easy to choose which session and where you want to start (you can bypass the intro/talking). My only complaint might be that the participants in the class are a bit serious. Not a big deal though.

See my other yoga DVD reviews on Amazon. Namaste.

Rating:
Summary: Gentle Yoga
Review: The trainers on the tapes are very calm which adds to the calming effect practicing yoga has on me. I like the clear instructions the trainers give me, both verbally and visually and the constant encouragements they add.

The only tape of the 3 that I will not get any use out of is the Partners Yoga as I have no one to do these exercises with.

I recommend the Gentle Yoga and the Dynamic Yoga heartily though.

Rating:
Summary: Gentle Yoga
Review: The trainers on the tapes are very calm which adds to the calming effect practicing yoga has on me. I like the clear instructions the trainers give me, both verbally and visually and the constant encouragements they add.

The only tape of the 3 that I will not get any use out of is the Partners Yoga as I have no one to do these exercises with.

I recommend the Gentle Yoga and the Dynamic Yoga heartily though.

Rating:
Summary: Very nice workouts-
Review: This is the same 3 workouts as in the boxed set, and I have already written one review for that, so this will mostly discuss the DVD interface.

The DVD is set up well. It is broken up into the 3 workouts, and you can choose one as played on VHS with one click. If you wish to customise, it is a bit harder, but possible. They have broken down the workouts into the postures, and you can choose individual postures, or go into program mode (if your DVD player has one), and set up a unique yoga session from within the different workouts. Of course, they are so very different that I don't see doing this very often, but maybe a bit of Gentle to relax after a few Dynamic asanas might work. The interface is decent, but I have seen DVDs that are easier to navigate. My biggest complaint is that they really should have made it easier to split Gentle in half the way it is on the VHS version. They also have chosen to array the asanas in an oval, and you need to switch buttons to travel through the oval, which is a bit annoying, but not a big deal once you do it once or twice.

The workouts are nice- Gentle is a good intro to yoga, and breaks into 2 short (30 min) routines making it a great short morning or evening routine. Dynamic is rather long, and much tougher than the Gentle. I would describe it as a well paced, workout that flows well, but much slower than a Power Yoga workout. Partner yoga is a nice way to connect with your spouse or SO. I find that is the one we use the least, as it requires us both to wish to practice yoga at the same time.

Rating:
Summary: Very nice workouts-
Review: This is the same 3 workouts as in the boxed set, and I have already written one review for that, so this will mostly discuss the DVD interface.

The DVD is set up well. It is broken up into the 3 workouts, and you can choose one as played on VHS with one click. If you wish to customise, it is a bit harder, but possible. They have broken down the workouts into the postures, and you can choose individual postures, or go into program mode (if your DVD player has one), and set up a unique yoga session from within the different workouts. Of course, they are so very different that I don't see doing this very often, but maybe a bit of Gentle to relax after a few Dynamic asanas might work. The interface is decent, but I have seen DVDs that are easier to navigate. My biggest complaint is that they really should have made it easier to split Gentle in half the way it is on the VHS version. They also have chosen to array the asanas in an oval, and you need to switch buttons to travel through the oval, which is a bit annoying, but not a big deal once you do it once or twice.

The workouts are nice- Gentle is a good intro to yoga, and breaks into 2 short (30 min) routines making it a great short morning or evening routine. Dynamic is rather long, and much tougher than the Gentle. I would describe it as a well paced, workout that flows well, but much slower than a Power Yoga workout. Partner yoga is a nice way to connect with your spouse or SO. I find that is the one we use the least, as it requires us both to wish to practice yoga at the same time.