Search - Yoga: Asanas on DVD

Very boring lecture/demonstration laid out like a reference

Lena, LMT | Nassau, NY | 04/13/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Play:
First is the credits, then the menu. Menu is split into Manu A - c each contain 12-13 asanas/yoga poses. You cannot play it all, you must play each one separately which means going back to the menu after each pose is demonstrated. Each one is 2-4 min long. Only the Sanskrit name is given on the menu & pronounced during the demonstration, never the English name.
All poses are ones on most beginner yoga workouts such as mountain, fish, warrior 1, 2 sitting spinal twists, locust, sitting fwd bends, standing back bend, pyramid, modified boat, bow, triangle, side angle, twisted triangle, hero, child's, camel, shoulder stand, wide angle standing fwd bend, single sitting wide angle fwd bend, etc..
The camera/lighting/sound are find, not high money, but better then average set inside a room. The voice over by I assume Dr. Sujatha reminds me of old 1970s/1980s PBS lecture programs. Slow, perfect, over pronunciation of all words to a boring degree that sounds condescending as if read at a snobbish high class lecture/gathering. It's set at a small room/stage inside taht is very basic. One Indian man & woman in regular cotton shirt/pants demonstrate the poses 1 at a time most times. This is not set to look beautiful as some yoga workouts do but basic. They do the poses well, but not inspiring like Shiva Rae, Rodney Yee, Rainbeau Mars, Sean Corn, etc. They demonstrate the pose in/out of it quickly, then you are told how to do it with the video paused in certain spots sometimes. They show it quickly on both sides. After it is demonstrated, the benefits are told as well as the words are on the screen are displayed to inform how it helps the physical body such as how it helps to lose weight, tone which muscles, tone which organs or glands & how helps to energize or relax the mind/spirit. Contraindications are also displayed/told such as if you have sciatica, high blood pressure, gland issues, back pain, etc. not to do that particular pose.

I love being informed of all the benefits/contraindications, but becasue it was delivered in such a dry tone, I could not watch it. The only poses are beginner & since I've been doing yoga dvds for 5 years now I already know them. What is instructed is the same as any workout yoga dvd for beginners. Rare is there a quick history for barely a min about what chakras are, some quick thing about Indian myth that barely made any sense what it has to do with that particular pose.
I give this 2 stars only because some people can use this as reference & may like the dry tone & it IS informative. But as the other reviewer said, since it's laid out like a book & barely more informative that a workout, it doesn't serve better then either one."

BUY A BOOK!

coachlesa | 09/30/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This video is not worth the time or money. Buy a book with more information. It is a poor quality video. The students demonstrate the poses and the teacher talkes you through them. You will get more information and poses from a book, for less. If you hate books, this is the video for you. There is no yoga routine, just a demonstration of each pose.
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