Yoga Journal: Yoga Practice for Flexibility

Rating:
Summary: Superb to work on your flexibility
Review: "Yoga Journal: Yoga Practice for Flexibility" is a superb video and it is purely to work on your flexibility. Although I found some parts extremely difficult to do and I know that some other parts will take me months of practice to do them well, I am very please with the whole workout.

I advice you not to let the challenging exercises scare you. I am in my late 30's and after I practice this video I feel great because I feel parts of my body that before, I did not know I had. I feel like saying: "Thank you God for every tiny, microscopic, and big part of that body you gave me". If you buy it, I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.

Rating:
Summary: Good overall workout for calming and stretching
Review: I'm a Yoga beginner and found this tape surprisingly good. Ms. Walden provides modifications to exercises for less flexible individuals. When the repetitions are too much or the pose too difficult I fast forward or just sit quietly until she moves on. As a person with chronic back problems, I've found this video very helpful in keeping my back loose and free from spasms. However, the Upward Bow (backbends) seem excessive. Yoga Journal publishers - STOP PUTTING THOSE LONG ADS ON EVERY VIDEO!

Rating:
Summary: Get Flexible, but feel challanged
Review: This is definitely a challanging video (and only the second session seems like a beginners practise to me)- but, it has become one of my favorites. I was a cheerleader in highschool and very flexible, but, hadn't done any flexibility exercises in *years*.

Poses you learn and do:

Downward facing dog, Standing forward bend, Mountain pose, Warrior pose, Triangle pose, Revolved Triangle pose, Side angle stretch, Wide angle forward bend, Camel pose, Cobra Pose, Upward Bow pose, Staff pose, Heros forward bend, Heron pose, Head to knee pose, Seated forward bend, and Seated wide angle forward bend.

I still find the first segment challanging, but after doing it for a few months (no more than once a every other week- its so challanging that I *dread* it) and practising some of the poses on my own, I can now do the first segment well. I would warn those though- the last segment in the first series is very challanging. Although it is not too difficult to do camel several times, it is *very* difficult to do an upward bow pose 5 times (once supported)! Each time focusing on a different feeling from the practise. When I first got this video, I found the first practise hurt my wrists. Also, be sure to really release the lower back. If you are weak in the lower back, the series of upward bow poses is very hard. The rewarding part of the first session is she does go into a detailed explanation of the primary yoga poses- like downward facing dog, warrior, triangle pose, etc.

As far as the second segment "forward bends"- this is one of my very favorite yoga practises. This is why I gave this tape 4 stars. I do this one every week, and do some of the stretches after I do aerobics, too. I found this practise easy to learn, and feel very relaxed afterward (compared to feeling just plain exhuasted after the first one!). The props used in this practise make it easier for beginners than the first practise, and I believe you see and feel results quicker. After doing this practise for three months, I was doing side splits like in high school. Also, I feel like doing this practise also helped me ease into Pilates. I have been doing this practise once a week for almost 8 months. I just love it!

So, if you want to learn some yoga poses, and get your legs more flexible, you will enjoy this tape... but, if you are buying it as a total yoga beginner, you are going to feel really really challanged.

I rank the first segment a 2, and the second a 5.

Rating:
Summary: Best Yoga Video
Review: This is truly one of the best Yoga videos I have seen.

I like Patricia Walden, ever since I have been practicing
PM Yoga for Beginners daily.

She gives detailed instructions. She also provides alternatives for people not as flexible as herself. She is an excellent instructor. Patricia and Rodney Lee are the two greatest
Yoga instructors.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent video, but not for beginners
Review: This tape was a wise investment for me. I am 47 and although the poses are challenging, they are all achievable. I have been doing some of them in a YMCA yoga class for about a year, but have found my attendance dropping off as it didn't fit my schedule too well. Having that small amount of practice was enough to encourage me to try Patricia Walden's workouts on Yoga Practice for Flexibility, and I have found them to be very beneficial. I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in maintaining and/or increasing flexibility.