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The Total-Body Yoga Workout: Lower Body, Abs, and Upper Body Yoga for Beginners

The Total-Body Yoga Workout: Lower Body, Abs, and Upper Body Yoga for Beginners

List Price: $19.98
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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Be on your toes
Review: I took a Yoga class at my gym for about a year and a half. My mom bought this DVD for me for christmas. They change the positions to quickly, it was not relaxing at all. You are supposed to hold your position for a least a minute. You really need to be on your toes for this video so don't expect to be relaxed when it's over. I found it to be very annoying and haven't watched it since.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not for beginners!
Review: I've been doing yoga for a few months now and have really enjoyed it. This series did not seem like it was for beginners at all. It moved way too fast for me and did not give me enough time to fully stretch into the parts I needed work on the most! The abs section is ok (you feel the burn) but not long enough.. I say rent it from Blockbuster 1st and see if you like it! I've really enjoyed Crunch's yoga video and Kathy Smith too.. they're easy to follow and a great workout!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Beginners Take Note
Review: I've never practiced yoga before, but decided to give it a try in order to improve my flexiblity. I liked this DVD a lot - the instructors are very clear, the backgrounds are calming, and the music is very relaxing. A few words of note for beginners:

1) This DVD does NOT have an instructional segment to introduce novices to standard yoga poses, which I think is the primary weakness. If you're completely new to yoga and are not familiar with any poses, it would be helpful to watch the entire DVD first to familiarize yourself. Craning your neck to see the television when an instructor says "military pose" is not a good idea. I actually strained my neck this way.

2) The back of the DVD says that you need a mat, a strap, and a brick, which is a little deceiving. I work out on carpet, and I find this to be adequate. If you're not flexible, or haven't exercised recently, it might be a good idea to buy a yoga strap and brick which will help you build your flexibility in modified versions of the pose. They are not necessary in order to do the exercises, so don't buy them unless you feel that flexibility is an issue.

Overall, this is a very good intro to yoga. You won't break out into a sweat, but you'll wake up sore in places that aerobics and weights never really reached before, and it's amazing in terms of improving flexibility.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good even for beginners
Review: I've read the reviews for this DVD, and while it's true that some of the moves are difficult for beginners, I think it challenges begginning students of yoga with lots of interesting and quick moves. Quick moves is all Rodney Yee style, as evidence by some of this other DVD/videos. While it may take the beginner a while to be able to keep up and do ALL the workouts, it tends to have a lifespan that is longer than most very basic yoga workouts that get boring after two or three viewings.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Varied yoga practices for toning and building strength
Review: In this set, Living Arts offers three solid yoga practices, each focusing on a separate area of the body. However, with the exception of the abs video, I definitely would not recommend these practices for the beginning audience to which they are marketed, as the instruction is not overly detailed and the upper body practice in particular is quite challenging. Also, although these are billed as being 20-minute practices, each one is actually a bit longer.

That being said, I have owned these videos for some time and really enjoy them. The 22-minute abs video was my first-ever experience with yoga, and I found that I was able to follow it without any prior yoga knowledge. The practice gradually builds from gentle warm-up stretches to isometric-type movements which challenge your core strength. It is led by Rodney Yee, one of my favorite yoga instructors; he provides excellent cuing, and his voice is particularly calm and soothing. The upper body practice is lead by Suzanne Deason. She begins on the floor but moves on to standing postures, including several balancing poses such as Warrior III, King Dancer, and Half Moon. Those who have not tried these postures before will definitely find them challenging (particularly given how quickly Suzanne moves in and out of the poses). When I first started using this video, I needed to modify most of the standing poses with a block (Suzanne shows how to use props at the end of the practice), but after using this video for several years, I am now able to follow along with good form and no props (although I still wish Suzanne moved a bit more slowly). This practice is 25 minutes long. At 27 minutes, the upper body yoga practice is both the longest and the most challenging in this series. It is again led by Rodney Yee, who builds heat by taking you through several series of sun salutations, gradually adding more strenuous postures such as Bow, Camel, and Upward Bow. The latter is a backbend which you push up into from a lying position, and on my first few tries, I thought it would be impossible for me to ever acheive this pose. However, I persisted in using the video, and one day, I was finally able to push up. At the end of this practice, you will definitely feel like you have had an intense workout for your upper body.

These practices provide an excellent opportunity for experienced beginners to expand their home practice and move towards an intermediate level; those who already consider themselves to be intermediate will enjoy the intensity of the practices within short time periods. In conclusion, this set would be an excellent addition to virtually any home practice collection.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Yoga for beginners?
Review: It may seem to some that I have rated this a little low; however, it is due to the fact that the dvd is presented as one for beginners. I am sure that these routines are a cakewalk for the more seasoned veteran, but they are certainly not for true beginners. I am a fairly flexible person, and I could not even get into a proper downward facing dog, much less the rest of the postures the lower body instructor zoomed through. I will stick with my beginner pilates routine for now and perhaps revisit this dvd in the future when I have gained more muscle tone and flexibility (I hope). Otherwise, I suggest it be retitled.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great DVD to add to your yoga set
Review: My husband and I previously purchased the All Day Yoga Workout and Power Yoga on DVD. We found the All Day Yoga Workout to be an excellent introduction to yoga poses, although it took several months to master every pose in each workout. Power Yoga is definitely more advanced, with high-speed, flowing movements, and demand for increased flexibility and strength.

However, the Total Body Yoga Workout is a great stepping stone for those who have mastered the basic yoga poses in the All Day Workout. The abs workout is the least demanding, followed by the upper body workout. The lower body workout is the most demanding, but provides an excellent transition to the Power Yoga DVD.

We recommend you purchase the following sequence and master each workout before moving on to the next DVD:
1. All Day Yoga Workout
2. Total Body Yoga Workout
3. Power Yoga

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent Workout - but not for Beginners
Review: My wife and I bought this to round out our normal impact aerobic activities and found this workout to be effective and challenging. The problem with the workout was the movements went by to fast and it took a few weeks of "memorization" to be able to conduct the moves as they appeared on the television.

This workout is more then just stretching. As you are practicing yoga - you can feel your muscles work and you actually begin to sweat! I would recommend incorporating a yoga workout into a normal impact aerobic/Tae Bo workout.

Gone are the days when we think of yoga as only something so mystical. Yoga is a healthy alternative to relaxation exercises and to impact exercises.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: NOT for beginners
Review: other than this DVD not being what it states it is ("for beginners") i have no other gripes about it. however if you do not know ANY yoga and ARE a "beginner" stay away from this one as they move through the poses so fast you will never be able to keep up.

however, if you are not a beginner this may be the DVD for you.

but a title should really tell the truth about the contents.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Somewhat difficult for beginners
Review: The actual work outs were GREAT, however, I felt that some of the poses were very hard for someone like myself who is a total newcomer to yoga. I have had this DVD for about 3 weeks now and finally I am getting a good sense of the poses. Also, I found the workouts to be rather short. (20 minutes each for abs, upper, and lower)


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