Yoga for Beginners

Rating:
Summary: This has been a guide to judge other yoga videos
Review: I thought the video was great for basic thorough instructions, but after learning the positions, I found that it was aggravating to have to wait for all the instructions between positions. I also found that because I can't possibly work all the props in my limited space that I can't effectively use the video. For instance, I don't have any vacant wall space, and I don't have an acrylic "wall" prop to use either. I have bought a number of other yoga videos, I look for good instruction, but I also look for flow, and the main thing I look for is if the positions can be done with minimal space and props.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction for beginners
Review: It's been 16 years since I took a yoga class in college, and this tape (and the accompanying booklet) was a great re-introduction to 17 or so of the core yoga poses. I really like how Patricia takes the time to explain how to properly come into and out of a pose, as well as proper alignment. I also appreciate the use of props, not being as limber as I once was. These props can be easily improvised from things around the house, and allow you to receive the benefits of the poses without straining. As I've progressed in my practice, I've moved on to other, faster-moving videos like Yoga for Energy with Rodney Yee (which I was not able to keep up with at first, not being sure about proper alignment and position), but I still come back to this video (and the accompanying booklet) for review. As I've advanced a little now, I find myself holding some of the poses longer as she goes through the explanations. Eventually, I will completely move beyond this level, but I sure am glad that this video helped ease me back into yoga. I highly recommend it for beginners.

Rating:
Summary: A Solid Beginning
Review: Patricia Walden's Beginners tape is a great instructional video on Iyengar yoga fundamentals. I took Iyengar Yoga in college as an elective, but I didn't like it and could't wait for the classes to end because they were painfully slow. Cutting yoga classes brought my GPA down, but I just couldn't bear holding the poses for infinity when I had jobs, sleep, exams, books, and lectures waiting for me.

I knew enough from taking ballet and yoga classes recreationlly that I had to do body work outside of the classes to progress especially as I age. I later bought this tape impulsively in a video store when I was a young working professional to keep my body moving and to relieve bodily tension without realizing that it was an Iyengar yoga tape.

Patricia Walden and this tape inspired me to practice yoga. She is very graceful and her instructions encouraging. In the beginning the tape might feel exceptionally slow and unusually long, but Patricia's slow calming voice and the noninvasive background music forced me to slow down and to concentrate on my alignment and poses. The detailed instructions on the poses taught me to become aware of my body and to stretch properly. The slowness that I resented in my younger days has become a teaching tool to develop my bodily awareness. I can't order flexibility on demand. My muscles (and mind) need time and practice to learn to relax.

I was not progressing much in the first few years of doing this tape because I was doing the tape only once or twice per week or when I got motivated. Although I always felt stretched out and refreshed on day 1, I also felt sore and stiff enough the next day that I could not do the same poses with the same flexibility as on day one and would rest my body instead. My practice would then invariably lose momentum and became sporatic. It's difficult to be disciplined, but I suggest that you push through the stiffness gently and discipline yourself to practice yoga DAILY in order to see any noticeable changes in flexibility. This tape teaches the fundamentals of the static poses and therefore does not overwhelm a newcommer so one can really learn the basics. Because this tape helped relieved my physical tension, I gave this Beginners tape as a gift many times to help someone relieve bodily tension or start practicing yoga.

I have since then moved on and now use mostly Patricia Walden's Flexibility tape and other Yoga Journal tapes. I like her instructional tapes for two reasons. First, she speaks only to teach yoga and so I can turn inward to learn about my body and not be distracted and turn outward to focus on the music or an instructor's joke, personality, or ability to motivate. Now when I am doing vinyasa, i.e. moving from one pose to another, or doing other forms of yoga to challenge my body and mind, I can appreciate the fundamentals I learned from holding these static poses in this beginners tape. The basics that I learned from this tape keep me in proper form, help me move from one pose to another more manageably and in a more controlled manner, and I continue to practice awareness in motion. Secondly, her Beginners and Flexibility tapes tend to have longer holding time (but still shorter in duration than those held in my college yoga class) which allows me enough time to practice concentration and to relax deeper into a pose to develop flexibility. My flexibility has improved with a regular practice and perhaps I am ready for a teacher.

At any rate, it's a good idea to have a collection of differnt instructional tapes with different teachers to meet your various bodily and emotional needs, but the Beginners tape (and Patricia Walden's Flexibility tape) covers how to come in and out of poses safely and is great for someone who's new to yoga, wants to relieve bodily and emotional tensions, and to develop grace and flexibility. 75-min tape covers: Simple Sitting pose, Mountain pose, Tiangle pose, Side Stretch pose, Standing Forward Bends, Proud Warrior, Extended Leg Pose, Downward-facing Dog,Staff, Sitting Forward Bend, Cobbler's pose, Supported Shoulderstand, and my favorite: Relaxation pose. Beginners or experienced yoga practitioners can practice these basic poses in the Beginners tape at their desired intensity, but experienced yoga practioner may want to start with her Flexiility tape which has added poses and routines and her unmistakenable trademark - teaching yoga with precision and grace.