Power Yoga for Every Body

Rating:
Summary: If you want one Vinyasa DVD - this is it!
Review: Why aren't more yoga DVD's this thoughfully produced? Instead of just putting a VHS session on DVD and breaking it up into segments - this DVD provides many begining,intermediate, and advanced workouts. The instructor give great cues with out being distracting. The pace is great - time to get into and out of each asana - but still provides the flow of power yoga. This is a DVD that you can grow with and learn a lot from. I bought a few power yoga DVD's all at once - and had I known how much this offered and how well it was put together I would have only bought this and Yoga Shakti with Shiva Rea. Moderately good was Power yoga with Rodney Yee and moderately moderate was power yoga with Bryan Kest (a bit fleshy and flashy for a yoga dvd). Poor was Ashtanga Yoga with Nicki Doane. Not that the instruction was bad, just so little for your money spent. Again if you are beginer or intermediate practitioner that wants to expand into Vinyasa/Power/Ahstanga/Flow than Barbara Benagh's Power Yoga For Everybody is the only DVD you need (though you may just want yoga shakti also)

Rating:
Summary: Variety of Slow Flow Vinyasa Yoga for Beg, Intermed, or Adv
Review: Workout Description: a variety of yoga programs ranging from 15 minutes to 2 hours
Workout Level: (high) beginner / intermediate / advanced
Instructor: Barbara Benagh (yoga practitioner for 30+ years and yoga instructor for 25+ years; 2001 asana columnist for Yoga Journal) via voice over. Barbara offers enough but not too many form pointers and is very focused on finding the right point for you.
Class: Jason Gordon (advanced level yoga student) only
Music / Set: The instrumental music is soft. The interior set is minimal-just a floor and a wall.
Equipment Needed: sticky mat (in a pinch, any mat will do), yoga strap (in a pinch, a tie or belt) for some segments, chair for some segments, folded blanket for some segments, optional yoga blocks
Caveats: Familiarity with yoga is helpful. If you are learning yoga by video, you should attempt to take a class and/or work with someone experienced in yoga to check your form before moving on to advanced routines. There is a little bit of a warm-up at the beginning of some sessions, but not always, so take care to warm up and/or center yourself before beginning by doing cardio, stretching, or meditation for a few minutes. Do not move onto the next level until you feel your body is ready. (I have been practicing yoga for almost two years and still find myself challenged at the beginner level because the flows are so intense and because my flexibility and strength still have room for improvement.)
Additional Comments: The power yoga contained in this program is not a fast-moving series of poses that will raise your heart rate and leave you sweating buckets. Instead, it is a series that slowly flows from one intense and deep asana to another with a strong emphasis on breath. The beginner flows offer modifications with props, which is great if your flexibility is limited like mine.
This is not an exciting or flashy DVD. Instead, it offers a wide variety of programs at three different levels so you can choose your practice based on how you feel each day and progress at your own pace. There are a total of 24 programs: 8 for beginner, 8 for intermediate, and for 8 advanced. There is a written introduction for each level that gives you a general idea of what sequences are contained in each program. The programs are actually made up of pre-programmed routines, so there is a little pause between segments. In addition, the DVD contains an interview with Barbara Benagh by the producer about her yoga philosophy. Of the Body Wisdom Media yoga series, this is the best produced.