Customer Reviews

Denise Austin - Yoga Essentials [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have always really WANTED to do yoga but always got turned off by the super-spiritual instructors. I also usually found that they went from pose to pose too quickly and I never knew what I was doing or why. Being a long-time devotee of Denise Austin's workouts, I decided to give this a try. There are 4 segments that can be used in any combination or separately. Each is straight-foward and easy to follow. This is not a tape for the serious yoga devotee, but for people who are just learning or who want to use this once or twice a week for stretching and relaxation, there is no better yoga video.

A little over a year ago, a friend suggested trying out yoga because I was tiring of my gym routine. I chose this video with little background information, but it was great! Although Denise Austin's "You look so great!" and "I am so proud of you!" made me laugh the first few times, it was motivating to watch someone get so excited about yoga. She also explained the poses well and gives you enough time to figure out the poses or hold them longer when you are more familiar with the video's routine.

This is a video for beginners, and not for someone with a lot of background in yoga. However, it provides enough variation and challenge that I still occassionally go back to it when I want to change my routine. Also, I can look at this video now with a little more experience and Austin seems to have a pretty good idea of what yoga is all about. While she might not have the expertise of someone like Rodney Yee, I highly recommend this video!

This is a simple tape, to "condition the body without punishing it", and one you can get much value out of no matter what shape you are in; it is one where you can easily "work at your own level", and other than the "Sun Salutation", there is no complexity to the movements; for the beginners, Denise emphasizes, "be patient with yourself".
After a preliminary 7 minutes of explaining the basics of yoga and giving some useful tips (placing a pillow on top of one's heels when sitting "Japanese style" is great for those like me with troublesome knees), the tape is divided into 4 "Workouts". You will need approximately a 5' x 6' space, and a floor mat.

# 1, 8 minutes: "Sun Salutation". The perfect exercise for stretching all areas of the body, and as Denise says, it is a "natural body tune-up". I find this the hardest exercise on the tape because I have a tough time getting my foot between my hands after the "dog pose", but I work it "at my own level".
# 2, 12 minutes: "Standing Postures", works and improves balance and stretches the spine and legs.
# 3, 12 minutes: "Floor Postures", feels wonderful; these poses really work on the flexibility of the spine, and stretch the back of the legs. Those with weak/stiff knees may need a small pillow for this segment.
# 4, 7 minutes: "Relaxation and Visualization" is marvelous, relaxing every muscle in your body and relieving stress; a time to be kind and gentle to yourself.

For those of you that are "yoga purists", there are some "Deniseisms" here, but that in no way detracts from the enormous benefit one receives from doing this workout. Her natural enthusiasm is here toned down and subtle, relegated to saying "I'm proud of you !", and I find her knowledge and understanding of how to work a body that is perhaps not in the best of shape, or one that is in its golden years and a little "rusty", is superb.
Complemented with incredible photography by Manny Rodriguez of the scenic wonders of Utah, and with a pleasant background score by Paul Avgerinos, working out with this tape is time well spent, and as Denise says at the end, "you are worth it".

This was a pretty good tape--I was actually more interested in the audiotape that came with it. It is exactly what is on the video. The second side of the audiotape has just music, and it would have been nice to have the pieces flow into each other, and not have breaks between them.

Denise is not the best to watch for technique--she wobbles on just about all of the standing positions--and the beautiful desert scenery, while nice to look at, kind of distracts you from what you're supposed to be doing.

She is not as chatty as on some of her other tapes, but for a Yoga tape, she is still too loud. Borrow before you buy. Her Pilates tape is better.

Yoga essentials best describes what happens when someone who is a novice in Yoga like Denise Austin tries to pass herself off as a Yoga Teacher. Her peppy antics may work well for her on her morning show but is completely distracting in its translation to Yoga instruction. The production looks as thrown together as the the workout. She should stick to what she does best and leave Yoga videos to real teachers.