Customer Reviews

Iyengar Yoga With Gabriella

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This looks like a basic yoga tape. It's not. What it is, is an archival DVD recording of one of the finest yoga teachers in the world, Gabriella Giubilaro. Because it was intended as a reference for her teachings, it allows each exercise to be viewed on its own, out of any sequence.

But, if you just push, "Play", it's also a series of yoga poses that can be done as a routine. Therein lies its genius: if you need guidance to get through a yoga practice, this will do it. No more looking wistfully at that yoga book.

However, in order to do these poses properly, you would have to a) study with a disciple of B.K.S. Iyengar for at least three months, or b) practice with a book by an Iyengar disciple who talks about the muscle activation that Gabriella is doing in this dvd. (You're looking for cues like, "No droopy kneecaps." "Imagine four points on the soles of the feet.) Basically, the idea is that you are using all of the muscles by forcing them to work, just by thinking about the muscles tightening while you are in the poses.

The results of the effort involved are threefold: the level of concentration required by this practice will bring up emotional issues and force you to stay with the feelings; the amount of muscle work involved will turn you into a skinny yoga person after about a year; the stress it takes away will clear up your skin.

(It is possible to do the same thing with slow, heavy weightlifting, but I've never known a weightlifter who was without injury after thirty years. I know a lot of yoga practicioners who have gone fifty years without a serious injury.)

In my twenties, I took a class a lot like this, three days a week. At the time, I lived in New Orleans, ate and drank what you would expect to eat and drink in New Orleans, was in a sedentary, stressful graduate program, and, after a year, wore a size eight.

Caveats: Not for beginners. You have to start with some instruction, either via an Iyegar book aimed at beginners or a class. This uses intermediate level timings. After a few months you will need to increase the length of time you hold the poses, and you will need a book to tell you how to progress.

This is what yoga is supposed to be. It's very basic. It's very focused. It brings with it power and grace.

Although you need to have taken a few months of guided yoga, this DVD is wonderful for people who love the Iyengar style. It provides a basic guide for at home practice, focusing on proper execution of the asanas. I took a yoga elective for one semester, and this DVD's simple narration and subtle music had me remembering all the comments my instructor gave, enhancing the entire experience. However, if you like exotic locations and hi-tech interactive menus, this is not for you. If you just need a little help and guidance practicing on your own, Gabriella is an incredible person to watch and learn from.

Before you buy this DVD, make sure you know about Iyengar yoga, and you should probably have some background in it. If you haven't heard of the style, this probably isn't what you're looking for and instead, you may want to look into Shiva Rea's DVDs or something similar (it's probably more of the yoga you're used to/what you expect yoga to be). If you've had practice as an Iyengar student, this DVD is great as a reference for home practice.

I took Iyengar yoga for a year, and now I'm moving to a small, rural community where the only yoga is "fitness"-type yoga at a small gym...and if you've done Iyengar, you know that's not the same at all! To keep my home practice going, I use this DVD along with printable practice sequences from the Iyengar Yoga Institute of New York ([...]). I use the sheet (as well as books like Yoga: The Iyengar Way) for the order of sequences, then I play the asana (you can choose each pose separately) on this DVD as a guide for alignment and such.

You can play the asanas all in a row, but I can't see doing that- it goes too quickly, and there's a lot. I think that this DVD is best as an asana-by-asana reference when you've had background in Iyengar yoga. After all, it's hard to read in a book how to align yourself while trying to do the pose- hearing it out loud makes it tons easier!

Overall, great for the home practice of an Iyengar student. If you don't have Iyengar background, this might not be for you.

The video is best utilized as an opportunity for an experienced Iyengar student to go through a well designed sequence of poses with an excellent model for reference. It does not contain the detail necessary to instruct a beginning student and provides only nominal adjustments (use of props) for certain poses. If you have had some experience with a good Iyengar teacher and can incoporate your specific alignment work this routine offers a chance of a good practice at home when you don't have the time or inclination to go to a class.

While Gabriella's execution of the positions is impressive, the dvd is organized in a way that makes it pretty useless. This dvd is more a reference for how to do the perfect position than it is a routine of any sort. Many of the poses go by way too fast, there's little to no discussion about breath and not even a discussion about warm up or cool down.

I'm sure this is a great reference for people wanting to see how a particular pose is done perfectly, but if you're looking for a daily routine, or workout, especially if you're a begining or intermediate student - steer clear!

Gabriela is extremely knowledgeable and includes a huge number of poses on this DVD. For a serious Hatha yoga (or Iyengar) student, I would definitely recommend this as a learning tool to enhance one's study in classes. However, I do not consider this to be a "workout" DVD, as she does not really stay and work in the poses, since there are so many to squeeze in. I don't think that was her intention. Of course one could pause the DVD to work longer in a pose, but that might not be so convenient.

I loved this dvd. It is very well designed, without any frills and fancies. If you want to practice pure yoga and learn the asana with the intent to involve both body and soul then this is for you. I just wish it was setup in such a way so you could jump from one asana to another without going to the menu.

I am thoroughly enjoying this video since i received it! I have been practicing Iyengar Yoga for 15 years and have some circumstances in my life right now that are preventing me from attending classes. So this video is such a blessing for me to add into my home practice. It is beautifully done, the peacefulness it brings really helps me focus. She gives very clear effective points to get you into/out of the asanas. I also love the sequence, it's very well rounded. Thank you Gabriella!!

This dvd demonstrates a series of yoga poses, but there is no instruction or program to follow. To use it you would need to select poses, figure out how to do them and then design your own program. It might be just what some people are looking for, but it doesn't work for me.

A good DVD reference going through the individual poses. Would be good if you used to teach yoga and hadn't taught in a while and need to refresh your points of interest.