Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice introduction to Yin Yoga, October 2, 2007
NOTE. The yoga sequences on this DVD contain footage which has previously appeared on Jennifer Kries' Hot Body Cool Mind series DVDs.
In this DVD, instructor Jennifer Kries presents Yin Yoga, a style of yoga in which the postures are held at length, usually up to 10-15 minutes. However, Jennifer and her two background exercises do NOT hold the postures for the recommended length; instead, they hold each pose for approximately 10 breaths, with Jennifer encouraging you to hold the poses longer on your own. In her Introduction to this DVD, Jennifer calls Yin Yoga the "un-workout," noting that it is cooling, calming, and restoring; she also refers to the practice as "needle-less acupuncture." All postures are performed entirely on the floor.
The Main Menu offers the following selections: Introduction, Workouts (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced), Yin Yoga and Meridian Theory Interview, Credits, and About Jennifer. The three workouts contain very similar postures and footage, but additional poses are added as the difficultly level increases. However, the workouts would more appropriately be called "Short, Medium, Long," as it is mainly the length rather than the difficultly level which increases; furthermore, Jennifer has her background exercisers display various levels of difficulty in all three workouts. Throughout each practice, Jennifer talks about the meridian pairs addressed by each posture, noting some of the benefits/effects that you might experience.
The Beginner workout is about 20 minutes long and includes butterfly, full seated forward bend, child's pose (Jennifer recommends performing this pose between all of the postures but only shows it only the one time), dragonfly (wide-leg seated forward bend), thread the needle, reclined twist (aka revolved stomach pose), savasana (relaxation), and final meditation. The Intermediate practice comes in around 23 minutes and includes full forward bend, child's pose, saddle (similar to 1-leg reclined hero), choice of shoelace (bull seat or the legs from cow-face pose) or ankle to knee (double pigeon), pigeon, quarter dog, reclined twist, and relaxation/final meditation. Finally, the Advanced workout is 33 minutes long; the postures include include butterfly, a choice of seal (similar to cobra) or saddle, seated forward bend, dragon, a choice of shoelace or eye of the needle or ankle to knee, pigeon, wide-legged child's pose, dragonfly, quarter dog, reclined twist, dead bug, cross-legged seated forward bend with crossed arms, and relaxation/final meditation.
In the Yin Yoga and Meridian Theory Interview, Jennifer interviews a friend of hers who is a shiatsu practitioner. The interview begins with an explanation of "yin" and continues with talking about Chinese element theory and how this impacts emotions. The conversation then moves into a discussion of exactly how the "Makko-Ho's" (exercises to address meridian pairs) target various meridians in the body. At this point, Jennifer calls upon a male and female dancer to demonstrate some of the Yin yoga postures while she and her friend point out the affected areas of the body. This segment is 9 minutes long.
Overall, I really liked the Yin sequences on this DVD; I find the soothing effects of Yin Yoga to be a nice alternative to my usual hatha yoga practice. However, the one thing I didn't like is that Jennifer does not allow enough time in each pose. In order to do the Yin practices the way she recommends (ie, holding each posture 10-15 minutes), you would need to pause the DVD and keep track of the elapsed time on your own, which I find to be awkward. Still, this is a very good introduction to Yin Yoga which provides a nice variety of options for all levels of yoga practitioners.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A refreshing practice, December 29, 2007
After studying different vigorous types of yoga and gaining stregth and balance from them, I was looking forward to something that would still challenge me, but offer more in depth time with each posture. As a recovering back injury prevents me from doing certain active postures in my classes, I find the Yin approach very helpful at opening up deep tissue and allowing my surrender to gravity to be very comforting and awakening. The teaching is clear and easy to follow. Sometimes the voice of a teacher on a instructional DVD can be distracting, but I don't find this one to be so. She doesn't waste time with unwelcome talk, but offers encouragement as well as valuable information to each posture and one feels as if they are in a clas setting that is structured without being cloying.
The idea of slowing a movement down to stillness for an extended period of time is almost alien to us in the West. Allowing the body to be supported in the posture while allowing the muscles and tissues to take time to really open and give way to gravity is something I think is quite needed in private and class settings.
Each posture is allowed to be held for a 10 breath cycle. This doesn't seem like much at first glance, but with the good cues on alignment given, this is very beneficial to the new student as well as the more expeirienced pratitioner. With practice, the posture can be held for longer periods of time and the bodies somatic memory becomes more at ease within the stillness and opening of the body.
It has hleped with my old injuries as well as new aches that crop up due to life and more active yoga practices. I use it as a tool to help me really reach subtle points within the postures offered, letting my breath create a large realm of awareness and self exploration.
I would definatly like to study more of this type of Yoga and offer it's benefits to my students.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow, something so simple but the returns are limitless, January 19, 2008
I am a kundalini yogi and have used Ravi Singh and Ana Brett dvds for my personal use and my health has really benefited. I got this dvd for the holidays and this yoga really compliments with my personal yoga discipline - it is great for days when you have your period (for women) and when you want a gentle relaxation at the end of a very hectic day. mind you I am loving this dvd so much I am also doing this in the morning. I have noticed health benefits within one week of using the dvd. I highly recommend this form of restorative yoga for those who wants to balance their life. We all spend too much time racing around and then spend more energy going to the gym ... there needs to be a balance and as much as sitting to read or watch telly is relaxing - this is not the same!
the tape covers both theories and practice, The practice is split into three levels from beginner to advance. Each has its own poses and variation and I would say there is little difference with the exception of some more advance variations in the advance piece. Note that you should sit in the pose for at least 5 minutes, this dvd covers it in 10 breathes, which is great for newbies, but I just had the remote to pause that allowed me the amount of time to sit in the pose... this morning doing the advance level (33 minutes on the DVD) with numerous pauses, it took me over 90 minutes and the time just flew by! I could have been quite happy to sit longer in some of the poses!
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