Rating: 
Summary: Yoga for real people
Review: A few years ago, I was at my local gym when I noticed a group of people practicing yoga on the aerobics floor. I wandered over and asked what they were doing, and Beth Shaw looked up at me and said, "I am teaching these people how to instruct Yogafit classes Do you want to join us?" I'm not a fitness proffessional, but It looked like fun. I filled an empty space in the class, and for the next two days I was emmersed in Yogafit. Initially, I worried about not being as "in shape" as everyone there, but Beth explained that everyone regardless of fitness level, or age could benifit from Yogafit. She was right. It was a great workout and for the first time in years, my back stopped hurting. I had been seeing a chiropractor for low back pain for years, but I didn't go back after my Yogafit weekend. I didn't end up teaching Yoga, but I assist at a local martial arts academy and use many of the stretches and poses to warm up the class. Yogafit is wonderful for preparing your body for higher impact activities. When I saw Beth Shaw's book in the store, I bought it immediately even though I already have her training materials. The photos are great and she explains the poses really well. It is a great tool. Beth Shaw is the real deal and Yogofit is an awesome way to take care of yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Emphasis on the postures, but inadequate explanations
Review: As someone who has been practicing yoga for years and teaching for almost two years, I can sympathize with a lot of the issues that Shaw surfaces in her book. In a nutshell, many people who are curious about yoga and want to take advantage of its physical benefits are either intimidated or turned off by what they perceive to be the rest of the "yoga lifestyle" and feel as if Yoga with a capital Y is an all-or-nothing proposition. To the extent that Shaw's book opens the door for those people, I applaud her. I also find her statement that she feels she has a mission to contribute to society by sharing yoga admirable. However, I feel like she unnecessarily insults "traditional yoga" several times in the course of the book. For instance, she writes in her preface, "What separates YogaFit from other forms of yoga is that YogaFit speaks directly and without pretensiousness to everyone, but especially to the needs of amateur and professional athletes." And later in the same paragraph, "...YogaFit holds the answers to all of these [sports-training] problems without boring you to death." Reading these words, I can't help but get the impression that Shaw is convinced that she is the only one who can deliver the goods to athletes and fitness enthusiasts; Baron Baptiste will be interested to hear that. One of the other notable aspects of the book is that Shaw can't seem to decide whether YogaFit is a form of yoga or something else altogether. She refers to it as an accessible, demystified form of yoga, then later has a full page chart contrasting the difference between YogaFit and yoga. Curious, since she went to great pains several years ago to have her training program recognized by Yoga Alliance, a registering body of yoga instructors and schools. The most glaring inconsistency presented by the book is that while Shaw's focus is clearly on the postures, her instructions are lacking. While I don't think one needs to spend paragraphs describing how to enter and hold a pose, some things are worth mentioning, like hip placement in the warriors and not locking your elbows in postures such as Tabletop and Upward Dog. Finally, the instructions that she gives for some of the sequences are difficult to understand in some places, and she appears to work sides unevenly (for example, in the YogaFit Classic sequence, you're doing more Pyramids on one side than another). Having said all of that, I do like the postures that she chose- most of them are basic and appropriate enough for both beginners and more advanced students.
Rating:
Summary: Emphasis on the postures, but inadequate explanations
Review: As someone who has been practicing yoga for years and teaching for almost two years, I can sympathize with a lot of the issues that Shaw surfaces in her book. In a nutshell, many people who are curious about yoga and want to take advantage of its physical benefits are either intimidated or turned off by what they perceive to be the rest of the "yoga lifestyle" and feel as if Yoga with a capital Y is an all-or-nothing proposition. To the extent that Shaw's book opens the door for those people, I applaud her. I also find her statement that she feels she has a mission to contribute to society by sharing yoga admirable. However, I feel like she unnecessarily insults "traditional yoga" several times in the course of the book. For instance, she writes in her preface, "What separates YogaFit from other forms of yoga is that YogaFit speaks directly and without pretensiousness to everyone, but especially to the needs of amateur and professional athletes." And later in the same paragraph, "...YogaFit holds the answers to all of these [sports-training] problems without boring you to death." Reading these words, I can't help but get the impression that Shaw is convinced that she is the only one who can deliver the goods to athletes and fitness enthusiasts; Baron Baptiste will be interested to hear that. One of the other notable aspects of the book is that Shaw can't seem to decide whether YogaFit is a form of yoga or something else altogether. She refers to it as an accessible, demystified form of yoga, then later has a full page chart contrasting the difference between YogaFit and yoga. Curious, since she went to great pains several years ago to have her training program recognized by Yoga Alliance, a registering body of yoga instructors and schools. The most glaring inconsistency presented by the book is that while Shaw's focus is clearly on the postures, her instructions are lacking. While I don't think one needs to spend paragraphs describing how to enter and hold a pose, some things are worth mentioning, like hip placement in the warriors and not locking your elbows in postures such as Tabletop and Upward Dog. Finally, the instructions that she gives for some of the sequences are difficult to understand in some places, and she appears to work sides unevenly (for example, in the YogaFit Classic sequence, you're doing more Pyramids on one side than another). Having said all of that, I do like the postures that she chose- most of them are basic and appropriate enough for both beginners and more advanced students.
Rating: 
Summary: Do not support Beth Shaw.
Review: Beth Shaw does not practice any of the principles of yoga, other than the poses. She is a horribile person who treats others rudely and steps on people to get where she is. I urge you not to buy this book...there are plenty of better ones. Don't give money to a monster!
Rating:
Summary: Do not support Beth Shaw.
Review: Beth Shaw does not practice any of the principles of yoga, other than the poses. She is a horribile person who treats others rudely and steps on people to get where she is. I urge you not to buy this book...there are plenty of better ones. Don't give money to a monster!
Rating:
Summary: Lame
Review: Beth Shaw is to Yoga what Ashlee Simpson is to music. Surely there must be easier ways for either to make money.
Rating:
Summary: Yogafit - great for athletes and new to yoga people
Review: I found this book easy to follow, fun to read and inspirational as a new fitness yoga person. Beth Shaw makes yoga accessible to the reader- no religion, no sanscrit, no fluff - just the basics to get a good program going. If only more yoga books were so friendly and easy to follow. A great gift for the novice - no pretzel poses or weird moves . Yes YogaFit !
Rating:
Summary: This has little to do with Yoga
Review: I got this book for Christmas. It is hard to know where to begin. I suppose this book with its constant "we think yoga philosophy's just stupid and you should too" message might be suitable for those struggling to finish their G.E.D.'s. One would think that the emphasis on physical benefits alone would make the photo model healthier looking. Checking out the author's website the mystery is solved: two day yoga teacher "certification" courses at $329 a pop. Guess this must be the text book for that scam. Website says students are also required to perform community service before certification is granted, a complete perversion of the spirit of karma yoga on the part of the people selling these courses. I actually took a yoga class a while back taught by a "Yogafit" trained instructor -- a bored personal trainer at New York Sports Club reading off note cards. Hopeless. Bad as it gets. The author's bio on the website says her degree is in marketing. Figures.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Fitness Side of Yoga
Review: I really like this book. It is a great supplement to my yoga videos. I have found Yoga a great source for relaxation but also for sculpting. Beth Shaw's book really allows you to know which muscles you are stretching and/or strengthening with each pose. I guess the only draw back is that it is a bit short on poses. Only 50 which were mainly familiar to me from the videos I use. I hope she does another book with more advanced poses. THis is a great resourse!
Rating:
Summary: Only in it for the money
Review: Laughable exercise in marketing and self promotion. The author attempts to dumb down what she never understood to begin with, like so many other spandex-brained aerobics queens cashing in on the popularity of this ancient treasure. She refers to "Yoga" as something one might finding sticking to the bottom of one's shoe, whereas her trademarked "Yogafit" is portrayed as a modern miracle. She would have us believe she pulled her yoga-based exercise ideas out of a hat, as no acknowledgement is given to any sources or traditions (although I did see one of her CDs once where she credits her "love minx" for inspiration). The scary pictures of the stiff, spindly, unhealthy, unhappy looking author (liposucked abs? anorexia?) may be of interest to medical pathologists. Remember -- this is the individual raking in the dough by promising to train and certify yoga teachers in a weekend workshop. There oughtta be a law! Rating: bad, bad karma -- negative five stars.
| 
