Customer Reviews

Element: Am and PM Yoga for Beginners

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was so excited to get this product as I have another of Elena Brower's Yoga DVD's and absolutly love it. I'm happy to say that this did not dissapoint either.

The AM workout slowly warms up and opens your body and manages to pack in quite an impressive variety of poses into 30 minutes that work your entire body without making it seemed rushed. It leaves you very invigorated and is really the perfect quick workout for the morning.

The PM workout is so relaxing, soothing, and just leaves you feeling all ooey gooey good! Elena adds a lot of breathing and centering in this workout, something I find missing or lacking in many Yoga workouts. It is a soothing workout for both mind and body, the very essence of what Yoga is supposed to be!

Here's a breakdown of the poses:

AM:
-Mountain Pose w/ some gentle arm and shoulder warm ups
-Warm ups w/ cat-cow, down dog, childs pose, a down dog/plank vinyassa, ending in cat cow
-Twisted lunge
-Gentle Sun Salutations
-Standing Poses including Warrior II, Side Angle, Wide Leg Forward Bend, WLFB w. a twist, and Warrior III w/ modificaitons, side plank w/ modifications
-Then you move onto floor work with the Sphinx pose, moving locust pose, boat pose, bridge pose, seated twist
-Ending with a seated meditation and centering

PM:
-Seated meditation and moving your body with your breath to get centered and relax
-Down Dog
-Plank
-Cobra
-Pigeon Pose
-Twisted Pigeon Pose
-Down Dog
-Childs Pose
-Breathing and Centering
-Easy Twist
-Seated Stick Pose (Dandasana) alternating with seated twists
-Seated Forward bends
-Back to Seated Stick Pose
-Cobblers Pose
-One legged seated forward bend
-Savasana

Both workouts are perfect for what they meant to be: gentle and quick with emphasis on both the working and relaxing aspects of Yoga. I highly recommend this great DVD!

This is a good yoga video, but it is important to realize that it is not an instructional video for absolute beginners. The poses may be easy enough for beginners to tackle, but this is not a video for teaching yoga to a novice.

The video consists of two sets of postures (poses, movements), one for morning and one for evening. Elena Brower obviously knows her stuff, and each pose is shown from a variety of angles. The narration is helpful and clear. There are some instructions for a few variations based on the learner's abilities.

While the video is well shot and the poses well done, I find it lacking in instructional value. There is too much unexplained jargon; "soften your eyes," "inhale brightly open," and so on. The yogic names, when used, are not explained, spelled out onscreen, or pronounced slowly. There is no booklet included to explain, define, or clarify any of the material. Someone already familiar with yoga, or other similar practices, could learn the routines fairly easily from this video.

This all serves to make it more difficult for a rank beginner who might want to start learning yoga from this video. The routines are great, and would be a wonderful addition to one's yoga regime. Just don't make the mistake of thinking you will jumpstart your study of yoga from this video.

With that caveat to warn off absolute beginners, I find this to be a nice presentation of a couple of great yoga routines for those already familiar enough with yoga to add to their practice.

When it comes to yoga, I am definately a beginner and don't do it often because some yoga programs are too challenging for me. This one is great and I'm glad I decided to give it a go. I didn't get it the first time round but I'm finding it getting a little easier with each go and now I'll be enjoying the challenge of progressing to a higher level of it.
This has a gorgeous setting outdoors by the ocean and so that in itself is nice and relaxing. The AM segment is done with standing movements to help energize you and the PM segment is more focused on relaxing and elongating your muscles and nice stretches. I find down dog and sun salutation to be my two favourite moves here. Ellen is a great instructor who has the perfect soft voice for yoga teaching and the way she describes the moves, helps you visualise them without necessarily having to look at your tv set.
While I'm new to yoga, I do find this great. As I mentioned, yoga usually seemed intimidating yet this workout isn't that at all. So if you haven't tried it before (or you have and didn't like it), I think this workout will suit you. It's easy to do and relaxing. I highly recommend it.

I wanted to start yoga for a while now, but was not sure where to start. I am self conscious about my body image, so taking a class in person was not really something I wanted to do. I have major health issues with my neck and back. I found this video to be easy to follow,understand and do the exercises. Ellen has a relaxing voice, that is clear and she explains each movement in detail. I like the way the video is split into 2 parts AM & PM, each with its own purpose.

I'm hoping this allows more flexibility and less pain, so far so good. I felt good after doing the routine a few times so far. I think this will make it easier for me to go farther into yoga as exercise without putting the stress on my body that other exercise progams have. I believe that's the idea here, and this video is a great help to start out with. I'm glad I decided to get this video. If you have any interest in starting yoga, this is a good place to start in my opinion.

I have done these two 30-minute AM and PM routines.

Both come with clear instruction via voice-over from the instructor and Yoga model, Elena Brower; she is a certified Anusara Yoga teacher. Each pose slowly unfolds with modifications given. She encourages students to use a Yoga cushion, which she says may be used for various seated positions. I like the backdrop (Pacific Ocean), and her voice is soothing, as well as the music. The workouts are well-organized, and have a nice flow.

The AM routine is more the vigorous segment, to wake up to. There are a lot of "down dog" positions in this sequence, for me. These I find can be stressful for a beginner with little upper-body strength; however, all the other positions are doable, and if not, there is a modification. I just do my best. One of the most challenging of poses is "boat pose", where you get to choose various levels of intensity, all the way up to "V" pose, where you are using your core the most. Elena winds this segment up with stretches.

The PM portion of this DVD is very gentle Yoga. Basic poses. Stretches. It is relaxing and sleep-inducing. There are a few positions which are difficult for heavier people, but one can do their best. I prefer to have a bit of a challenge. Slim people will have no problem with this, and heavier people can adapt.

Overall good quality DVD. Elena Brower has taught some big Hollywood names, and, she is clearly a superior teacher.

After viewing many other beginners Yoga DVD's, this one is clearly near above average.

I will get a lot of use out of this DVD.

Let me say first that I'm not a beginner to yoga, but my partner is. We bought this dvd because we both are
fairly inflexible (I still struggle with poses after many classes of yoga postures), and we wanted good stretches and the beginning poses. I also have Tendonitis in both wrists.

While this dvd is set in a beautiful place, the teacher (at least in the A.M. portion of the dvd) quickly leads the viewer/participant through several faster-paced Sun Salutation moves. She does a nice job of explaining the first few moves, including Downward-Facing Dog, but she does not offer modified suggestions -- such as Dolphin Pose or putting towels under your hands -- for those of us with bad wrists. Downward-Facing Dog is also not the best exercise for those of us who struggle with flexibility. Plus, Plank, and Downward-Facing Dog are horrible for the wrists. I did the first few minutes, and ended up taking a few Ibuprofen because the pain in my wrists was so bad. I also had to look up alternatives (listed above) to these traditional postures.

My partner, who has never done yoga (shocking!), felt that she went too quickly. My partner has hip issues, and Downward-Facing Dog hurt her hips.

There are many postures you can do in a beginner's yoga class, and I'm not sure why Elena Brower chose The Sun Salutations poses. To me, they are tedious and also cause pain.

In short, this is a decent dvd for those with no injuries to hips or wrists, and for those who have done yoga before and want a normal-paced class on Sun Salutations. It is not for people who want a gentle, modified yoga for injuries or inflexibility.

Elena Brown teaches Anusara style yoga. For More information on Anusara check out anusara.com. Her previous DVD entitled Yoga for Beginners is really more of an intermediate practice, but also a beautiful production. It runs an hour long, where this DVD has the choice of 30 minutes practices which you can combine for a full hour-long practice or practice individually. It is a garden setting with the ocean far in the background, not ocean-front.

This practice is good for beginners who have a bit of knowledge on form. It is much easier than her previous DVD. It does not teach correct positioning in the postures; it is a mix of vinyasa/flowing yoga, but at a slightly slower and concentrated pace. The practice helps you to get in touch with breathing and balance within your body and especially focuses on your heart and finding the good in all things.

I tend to prefer gentle, relaxing, stretching yoga in the morning and invigorating yoga in the evening, so I switch and do the AM yoga practice in the afternoon and PM yoga practice in the morning. The PM practice is very slow paced and all performed on the floor (no standing postures). Elena spends a lot of time in downward dog which is a good inversion for beginners.

Please see many other yoga, tai chi, and meditation CDs and videos that I have reviewed and feel free to email or send me yoga items for review. Namaste'

I have Elena Brower's other DVD for beginners - and I liked it. This one seems a little jargon-y and wierd - telling us to breathe into our LEFT lung, and to feel the space between the hemispheres of our brains.
Perhaps you should use it with the sound off - the poses are fine.

LCW on September 27, 2008 wrote a great detailed review explaining the moves in the 25-30 min each two sessions.
Elena Brower did a great job here of creating flow & keeping the pace calming, slow enough for you to be able to feel how the poses benefit your body, yet fast enough that today's rushed feeling population won't feel bored. She has a great voice that is never irritating or forced slow voiceover like some other yoga dvds. She teaches YOUR left/right so you can mirror her image & follow easily. I've tried over 150 yoga dvds & there are not that many I feel have body awareness like Elena. She has done a great job of telling you what body parts to be aware of in terms of changes & she's very accurate. She will ask you which lung feels more open & to breathe and put focus on them so they are both more open & I never realized my left lung felt soo tight & in the several seconds it really helped open up my breathing capacity. Everything she said was perfect, not too much info, not too little. Even though I was in a rush & normally I'll FFW through child's pose or simple resting sitting poses, I didn't want to miss anything she might teach/say.
This is for beginners, the AM will be more likely to make you sweat, though it's for beginners. If it's not hard enough, you can always go deeper into the pose, hold harder poses longer (replay portion/pause dvd as well), do downward dog with only 1 leg 3 legged down dog), etc. Yoga dvds are very versatile depending on endurance level & beginner dvds tend to have more rest periods, so you can hold or re-do a hard pose while they are resting. If you want it easier, you can get out & rest sooner then the instructor. The PM is more about easy stretches that won't make you sweat & to relax you to help you sleep.
I find any workouts that don't incorporate body awareness is a waste as well as boring. To be taught to be more aware is empowering as well as feeling of more benefit other then calorie burn or muscle building & positive feeling during & after. This feeling will carry over to mood as well & effect your interaction with the world around you in a better way.
The only yoga dvd instructors I love that are very calming w/o being boring or annoying w/TRUE body awareness are:
Rodney Yee, Rainbow Mars, Seane Corn, Gurutej Kaur, Kristin Mcgee, Wai Lana, Kristen Strohecker, Max Strom, Teigh McDonough, Ateeka, Jacquie Noelle Greaux, Shiva Rea (only for those with endurance) & now add Elena Brower.
Non-yoga/non-belly or latin dance fitness body awareness instructors:
Duncan Wong, Kari Anderson, Liz Gillies, Stephanie Herman, Rael Isacowitz

If you want to take charge of your health, not just lose calories/build muscle (though yoga does that great as well), more body awareness w/o feeling it a mindless workout, give this a chance.

Very good DVD with excellent and complete verbal instruction matching what Ms Brower is doing. The pace is very reasonable, not so slow you become bored and yet it is not rushed. Importantly, compared to some other "beginner" DVDs there are enough different poses that one gets some of the potential breadth of yoga. Also, the accompanying verbal description is complete and detailed enough that it can be followed with only episodic need to look at the screen to see exactly what is going on. She also gives the names of the poses so that as one progresses to more complicated routines, the names can tell you exactly which pose you will be going into. My personal opinion is that this is one of the better beginner DVDs