Rating: 
Summary: Good Beginner Yoga Video
Review: If you're new to yoga, I'd definitely recommend this video. Kathy is very detailed in explaining each pose and how to breathe properly. She eases you into yoga and gives you a very thorough workout. Once you've been doing this video for a while and have the poses down, you may want to advance a faster paced yoga video as this one will not be as challenging. Overall, this is a great video and a wonderful doorway to the world of yoga!
Rating: 
Summary: the best
Review: Kathy Smith teaches perfectly in this beginner's level tape which can actually be kept forever. I still use it, although I now use, among others, her New Yoga and New Yoga Challenge - along with Baron Baptiste's Soul of Strength, Kripalu Dynamic and so on - but now I use it either on days when I am tired and have the energy to do more than a half hour Kripalu Gentle.I had gotten Patrical Walden's Beginner tape - yoga journal's yoga practice introduction - but it turned me off rather than on - made everything seem too difficult. Whereas Kathy makes it seem doable. I also like it because it is a kind of review of my technique. It is incredibly relaxing, gives great stretch and tone as well, and the relaxation at the end is fabulous. She is so mellow here - totally different from the slightly OTT whooper of Latin Rhythms and Timesaver Weights. Great!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent for absoute beginners
Review: New Yoga basics gives a thorough explaination and introduction to Yoga for the beginner. Even after using the tape for several months I still find something new in the narrative to help me improve my Yoga. If you are looking for a good introduction to Yoga and relaxation, this tape is ideal.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't be a better video for the beginner
Review: The use of this tape will lead you to thoroughly enjoy yoga, as I do. Having both of Kathy Smith's introductory and intermediate versions, New Yoga Basics and New Yoga, the former is the choice for the beginner. Even with New Yoga Basics, there are a couple of difficult poses; however, with several months practice, you should be able to do with ease. Three aspects make this tape stand out from the others. First, you are given sufficient time in the pose to feel the stretch. Second, during the time holding the stance, Kathy gives suggestions on correct form. I felt she thoroughly covered how ones body should be aligned while in each posture. Third, she reminded throughout the video to take long, slow and deep breaths. Also when you should inhale during the movement and exhale. This video is most effective in teaching the beginning student, because Kathy gives you adequate time and tips about proper form. She also emphasizes the importances of breathing to induce relaxation and supply the muscles and brain with the necessary element for energy - oxygen.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful introduction to Yoga
Review: This 55 minute tape is a wonderful introduction to Yoga. Kathy Smith starts with breathing, moves on to floor poses, then to standing poses and then to relaxation. Some of the poses are challenging for a beginner and she warns you about that in advance so you don't feel discouraged. Her voice over instructions are calm and easy to follow. Best of all, she conveys that she really enjoys yoga and that enthusiasm is great. This is a real treat.
Rating: 
Summary: WAY too difficult for a beginner!
Review: This DVD jumps from simple stretching and relaxation to quite advanced poses- there seems to be no middle ground. I agree with the other reviewer that the makers of this workout don't really have a clue about the limitations of a beginning yoga student. A few of the poses I can't fully do (i.e.-warrior pose), or can't hold for the entire length. On the other hand, I do think that this workout zips along- the 55 minutes is over before I know it.
Rating:
Summary: I can actually do this!
Review: This is an amazing tape (if you can get past the first 5 minutes of commercials for her other workout videos!!). I found after 3 sessions, I was able to do some poses on the tape that I couldn't do the first time! I feel so relaxed during and after the workout. Soothing music, not-too-crazy poses, breathing etc. I really like how Kathy does the voiceover....i think she taped her voice while watching the video after she made it. It is really helpful because she is so descriptive that when you are in mid-pose you don't have to look at the video to know what to do next. She constantly reminds you not to overstretch and to breathe correctly. I've been doing it for 2 weeks now and probably in another month I will try the intermediate video. It's not just a workout, it's a way of life. The whole thing takes about 55 minutes, but you can't imagine how good you will feel when it's done....relaxed and centered. FYI, I got the same intense muscle workout doing this yoga tape that I did with the Body-for-Life program.
Rating:
Summary: The best Yoga video I own!!!
Review: This is an excellent Yoga video. There is emphasis on proper breathing and form. Her calls and timing are right on the money so You can do the routine with just the audible cues after practicing the tape a few times. Easy enough for the beginner and hard enough to be challenging for people with some experience. I have taken Yoga from 4 different instructors and own over 20 tapes. I really like this video tape. When I do Yoga, I feel good and my back feels great.(after 3 auto accidents that is saying a lot) When I recently stopped practicing, my upper and lower back went into spasms for a week and my Dr. put me on medications. Within a day of practicing this tape, all back pain was gone. I can't promise you the same results, but it works for me. Thank You Kathy Smith!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Kathy Smith
Review: This is not Kathy's usual good stuff.
Rating:
Summary: I was a yoga absolute beginner
Review: This video was my first real intro to yoga (after first purchasing, viewing and returning yoga Journal's Yoga for Flexibility - for beginners (not)- with Patricia Walden). I love this tape. Kathy is great explaining the moves, all moves are done slowly and deliberately, and one of the things I love about this video is she focuses on the individual pose and the pose is held, rather than flowing more quickly from one pose to the next. Kathy explains how the viewer should be breathing through the pose, and she keeps reminding you to do so. she has an obvious passion for yoga and for instructing yoga and introducing yoga to newbies. She is excellent. I purchased this and New Yoga at the same time thinking that this tape might be too easy for me (having been out of shape at the time and with no yoga experience, I know better now). You can probably guess, I was WRONG. Just because this tape is slow and relaxing does not mean it is not challenging. I'm still challenged, 3 months later, but I've also graduated to New Yoga. This tape now for me is extremely relaxing yet deliberate and solid. I think it will be in rotation for a long time to come.
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