Rating: 
Summary: Beryl's the Best!!!
Review: Beryl Bender Birch Power Yoga: The Practice is the best dvd!!! Beryl is amazing!! The dvd motivates me to keep practicing. Thank you Beryl!
Rating:
Summary: Beryl is a role model
Review: Beryl is a role model for those of us who hope to stay fit, limber and young. She gives great advice and I am happy to finally have a video class I can do at home.
Rating:
Summary: Beryl is fabulous!
Review: Beryl's video is simply fabulous. It is wonderful to have the use of her video in home practice. If you are an astangi this video must be in your library. If you are familiar with the primary series it is easy to follow. Though I know I will never "be" as flexible as some of the students in her video, I know I have a goal to work towards. This is very inspiring. It is nice to see the different levels of the students. A practice for anyone the flexible or inflexible. Having a led class by Beryl Bender Birch in your own home, what more could we ask for? Wonderful!
Rating: 
Summary: good if you like ashtanga yoga
Review: but why did they film the class with that stupid post in the way?!?the DVD really makes you feel like you are in an ashtanga class. I wouldn't suggest it for someone who has never taken ashtanga before because the positions are not explained.
Rating: 
Summary: No Fun At All. Blech.
Review: I admit it -- I've only done this tape once. So please take my review with a grain of salt... As an at-home exerciser, I've been doing yoga videos for years. All kinds, from Living Arts's mellow hatha yoga routines, to Bryan Kest's & Baron Baptiste's "advanced" power yoga workouts. Some I enjoy more than others but until now I had never encountered a yoga workout I did NOT like. This one, unfortunately, changed all that. First, at 75 minutes in length it seems mercilessly long. However, I've done other yoga tapes that go on for a similar stretch of time, and did not feel the need to watch the counter on my VCR, as I did with this routine. Maybe the problem is the constant repetition. After EVERY pose, you jump back to staff, down slow to a low push-up pose, pull thru to updog, push back to downward dog. I understand, this develops strength and gives this yoga it's "power," but doing this series of moves after every single posture for 75 minute straight was maddening for me. Other tapes, you do this for half the routine and then move to mat stretches and then a final cool down. With Birch's yoga workout, though, even the mat work is punctuated by these movements. The cool down, too -- she has you stretch out like we're getting ready to relax and then oh here we go, more power moves... The only break we get is when she instructs the class to go to the wall to practice hand stands. Well, I don't have one bare wall in my house that I can kick my feet up against & not worry about slamming into furniture on my way down (or denting the drywall with my heels on the way up). There's also a headstand segment, but Birch doesn't provide any instruction. It's more like "OK, class, time to do your headstands. Nice! Alright now come on down to staff....etc." I was a bit disappointed by the lack of explanation, because I was looking forward to learning some new poses thru this routine. Unfortunately, while I was eager to learn handstand & headstand, these postures were not TAUGHT, they were merely demonstrated. Sigh. If you do a lot of power yoga and are really into the moves, you'll probably find my review pointless. However, if you're a home exerciser like me and were looking for a challenging workout to introduce you to some new moves & poses.... Sorry. I don't think this tape will deliver.
Rating:
Summary: A great practice for the patient and well-informed
Review: I am a 41 year old yoga teacher, and I been studying and practicing yoga about 8 years, and doing Bikram-style and power yoga for about three years. My prefernce is a very challenging practice that makes me sweat and try asanas I am not familiar with. This DVD is not for everybody, but I loved it. I also loved Beryl's book which I found at a used book store last winter (which you really MUST get UNLESS you have a great Ashtanga Primary Series class locally) so although many of the reviews were negative, I decided to try the DVD. I am so glad I did! I learned so much just from doing it for a week! I find Beryl very knowledgeable about all aspects of practice, her cuing is very nice but I can see how you could get lost if you are not familiar with the series. I have to modify many of the postures that require lots of hip or shoulder flexibility, but... so what? As Beryl's guru Patthabi Jois is often quoted, "Do your practice, all is coming." It sounds like many of the disgruntled reviewers were expecting to be able to just "DO IT" and were frustrated that they weren't "told" this practice takes TIME (1.5 - 2 hours), Patience, and ongoing practice to master. People -- this is yoga. That's the deal. Yoga is a process of self-awareness. If you just want to jump around and get in shape, The FIRM workouts are nice. Baron Baptiste's power yoga videos are sort of "Ashtanga Lite" and may help prepare you for a more rigorous practice like this. But I think Beryl is a great teacher, and her only mistake was not making a package out of her book and DVD, because they really have to be used together to get the most out of it.
Rating:
Summary: Label your product
Review: I am very frustrated with this purchase. NOWHERE on the cover does it even state that this video is not for beginners, and after reading the reviews by others on this website, it obviously is only for the very advanced. The back of the dvd box reads "The students on-screen, ranging widely in age and ability, demonstrate modifications" ...... LIES!!! To repeat... At least MENTION IT IS NOT FOR BEGINNERS. Now I am stuck with the purchase. Oh yea, the claim "with detailed explanations" is a JOKE. Just read the other reviews. Summary- purposely concealed the intended audience to increase sales to unsuspecting consumers. An HONEST description would have been the ETHICAL way to go about promotion of her product!
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Summary: Too fast, No backbends
Review: I do not recommend this DVD. I consider myself pretty experienced and I enjoy more challenging workouts (Brian Kest, Eion Finn). This workout goes too far though. She moves so quickly between poses that I find myself becoming stressed out trying to keep up! That is certainly not what I want from my yoga practice. I found it really ironic that several times during the workout she actually preaches "Don't rush". Ha, that is exactly what she is doing, and unless you rush, you can't keep up with her. There are no backbends such as camel or bow so at the end of the workout you feel unbalanced because your hamstrings are really streched but your front side is still tight. I've tried doing this workout many times just thinking that I needed to improve my attitude or try harder but I've finally given up. I don't think I will ever enjoy this and I doubt many others will either.
Rating:
Summary: Too fast, No backbends
Review: I do not recommend this DVD. I consider myself pretty experienced and I enjoy more challenging workouts (Brian Kest, Eion Finn). This workout goes too far though. She moves so quickly between poses that I find myself becoming stressed out trying to keep up! That is certainly not what I want from my yoga practice. I found it really ironic that several times during the workout she actually preaches "Don't rush". Ha, that is exactly what she is doing, and unless you rush, you can't keep up with her. There are no backbends such as camel or bow so at the end of the workout you feel unbalanced because your hamstrings are really streched but your front side is still tight. I've tried doing this workout many times just thinking that I needed to improve my attitude or try harder but I've finally given up. I don't think I will ever enjoy this and I doubt many others will either.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but impractical
Review: I found most of the positions impossible. It was interesting to see a woman of BBB's age able to do the positions, and also the people in her class; but I don't think the tape is practical for any but those very advance in yoga - or double-jointed spiders. She also says in the tape, it's meant to be used in conjunction with her book. This must be so, because she isn't clear at all in what you are to do, except for spurting out the Indian lingo for positions, and she assumes you already know what they are. If you can do her tape, you'd be making your own.
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