Customer Reviews

Kabbalah Yoga - Ambitious Beginners

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

 

 

I own approximately 100 yoga videos and this is my favorite. It is really not a beginner video because there is little instruction for the poses. It is more an intermediate level which is why I like it. This is a program for people who are not beginners and not advanced (I am not very flexible so cannot do a lot of the advanced videos out there, I am also middle aged). This is just the right length - about 40 minutes and the poses flow from one to the other. The mind body connection that is essential to yoga is present throughout this program. I am sick of lightening fast sun salutations or holding downward dog for 5 minutes like you find on so many videos. This program has no sun salutations and all of the postures show modifications if you need them. I also own the advanced kabbalah program which is very similar to the beginners except it moves a little faster and they incorporate the plank, upward dog, downward dog transition quite frequently. I will occassionally do the advanced, but the beginner is my favorite. In my opinion, this is the perfect yoga video for the intermediate practitioner.

Just for everyone's information, this DVD is not aimed at beginners - the three stars is basically in this respect. You need to have quite a good prior knowledge of yoga before attempting this one. I haven't even looked at the other one (advanced) yet.

If, however, you are not a beginner, and can cope with a practice which is flowing and is cued without positioning advice, then this should be a good practice for you. I like the look of it, and there are a few unusual asanas there - like twisting down dog.

I'm not sure how long this practice is - sorry! Prob about 45 mins. What's interesting is a primer on Kabbalah, quite a long one. Throughout the practice (which is done in voiceover) certain poses are associated with tenets of the Kabbalah.

I love this video for all of the same reasons the other person didn't. Finally, a Yoga program where I don't have to listen to the cue'ing over and over again after I've watched this a dozen times and know the program. If this program were so easy that I could do it the first time viewing, why buy it? I don't need to watch or hear cue'ing while I'm doing this program...I can count to 6 (breaths). ALSO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KABBALAH AND YOGA IS ASTOUNDING. THIS DVD GIVES YOU THE TOOLS THROUGH PHYSICAL YOGA POSES TO ACCESS YOUR SPIRITUAL SIDE. THE SPANISH VERSION IS PERFECT BECAUSE I SPEAK SPANISH AS WELL. THE BEST PART...THE MUSIC. JAI UTTAL HAS OUTDONE HIMSELF WITH HIS SONG "SHALOM"

This is set just like their Attainable Advanced.
Menu: Play, In Spanish & Bonus Asanas
This is set in a small stage w/Ariella leading & 2 other woman & one man (Diego) all doing the poses at the same time. Each have their own limitations & Diego shows the most modified. Ariella is young, but is very good, she looks at her toes during boat & she can do the wheel with holding her angles, etc. with amazing flexibility. It is all narrated by a calming, but not boring female voice, telling you all the English pose names as well as shown on the screen. Unlike the Attainable Advanced of this set, this has NO body instructions which is unusual. She tells you the name of the English only names of the poses, says it again & "other side" & then the name of the next pose which is when the others are doing it as well.. "Yoga means union... Kabbalah yoga symbolically disconnects the the mind, body, spirit connection in order to reveal & examine our imbalances... thread the needle, other side... we now have the opportunity to restore, renew, rebalanced, but most important, reunite. Now the body becomes a more hospitable host for our spirit...... Kabbalah yoga teaches that the poses in between the poses, are just as important as the pose you're going into. Make this pose your sacred place of inner peace." There are occasionally cues on when to breath, mostly during sun salutations. And yes, it's good to see they take time to thoughtfully go in/out of each pose w/o hurrying through.

There is a 10 minute advanced asanas section of Ariella showing postures slowly like the handstand, tripod handstand, forearm stand, drop-back back bend, wide legged fwd bend into a tripod handstand & hand balancing w/legs pressing into arms (more challenging kinda crow) w/assistance & without. This is the exact one that's on the Attainable Advanced.

This 38 min workout has a beautiful song playing, light-hearted, but calming, positive feel. The poses include:
Chanting Shalom 3x, easy twist w/hand on opposite thigh, cat/cow, table, balance table, thread the needle, plank pose, upward dog, downward facing dog, downward dog opposite hand grabbing ankle, dolphin (down dog hip posture), forearm plank (held for a short time), upward dog, down dog, chair, standing fwd bend, plank, upward dog, downward facing dog, standing split w/twist, down dog, standing split other side, down dog, warrior 1, warrior 2, yoga mudra warrior (warrior legs, lean head to ground with front leg in 90 angle & arms stretched behind), warrior 1, plank, upward dog, down dog, (same thing on other side), extended side angle, lung w/prayer twist, down dog, (repeat on other side), star (only side plank here), (other side), down dog, triangle, half moon, triangle, down dog, (repeat on other side), wide legged fwd bend, wide legged triangle twist, (other side), pyramid (head to knee w/prayer hands behind back), tree, other side, prayer squat, crow (should not be attempted unless have had detailed instruction), cobbler's/butterfly, balancing bear (wide legged boat), boat, 1 legged sitting fwd bend, 1 legged wide angle seated side bend, half upward boat (holding 1 foot in air), seated spinal twist, staff pose, seated straight leg fwd bend, Eastern plank (sitting, then arms behind you raise torso), up dog, down dog, (other side), 3 legged down dog, pigeon, downward dog, (other side), reclined knee to chest, bridge, wheel (should not be attempted w/o detailed instruction), lying knees to chest, plow, shoulder stand, shoulder stand w/bottoms of feet touching, plow, boat prep (spread legs), boat, reclined spinal twist one knee cross over , other side, roll up, sitting & prayer hands for different parts of body & the Hebrew? name for it & savasana, "Now you are exquisitely exhausted, enough to surrender into stillness. The harder you worked, the easier it is to become still. You feel you deserve it..." which lasts 2 minutes. This part has a little bit of a man chanting for a few seconds which felt unusual to me & then goes into a different light calming, but not boring song.

The words said are non-religion spiritual. Just empowering/encouraging you to be more aware of the spirit, kind to yourself, others, take time to enjoy life, etc. Thoughts/opinions almost all religions are agree on. I enjoyed this because of the song, the good voice over, but more importantly, the style/intention. They are elegant during, in & out of the poses with intention. It's held long enough that you can feel the stretch which is about 6 breaths? but also not so long that you are not bored & wondering what time it is. I'm not happy as this is I got after the Attainable Advanced, this is the exact same flow, except much less 1/2 sun salutations & same poses but sometimes just less advanced form. That's what Diago was for in the advanced version.
This is NOT for beginners who don't already know all these poses by name & how to so it properly & have been practicing for a while. IF you had to choose one, I'd suggest the Attainable Advanced if you can deal with a longer session w/more 1/2 sun salutations in between. Check Kabbalah Yoga - Attainable Advanced for my review with all the poses.

I was intrigued by the DVD based on the supposed integration of Kabbalah with Yoga. Unfortunately, this DVD was very disappointing. I found the atmosphere in the studio to be stressful and looked like it was left over from the 80's.

The yoga program itself is not well constructed. Poses are programmed at points in the practice when the body has not generated enough heat to move fluidly into those poses. In addition, they include inverted poses (such as a shoulderstand series) that are in no way suited to a beginner's DVD program. This is even more important because the instructor offers NO instruction on how to properly (and safely) execute the pose (or any pose for that matter). These poses can put a lot of strain on your neck if practiced improperly.

Also, there is no cue when you are to release a pose. Since you generally aren't facing the screen, it's difficult when they provide any sort of cue.

The bottom line: don't waste your money. There are numerous yoga DVD's on the market that are wonderful (try, for instance, Seane Corn's DVD's which are wonderful) and there's no point in wasting your time and money on sup-par quality programs.

First off, others have made the point that this isn't a beginners' video in the sense that it is not instructive. It doesn't tell you how to do the poses. Get one of the Gaiam videos (I started with "Gentle Yoga") for that kind of thing. If you know how to do the poses reasonably well, this one might be a good choice. It's a pretty good workout, and for those who get annoyed with yoga sessions where it's all about keeping the "flow" going, this one might be right up your alley.

Unfortunately, the videography itself is a total mess. Several poses are actually done asymetrically. (Check out the whole "turn your head the other way" thing on the last hard twisting pose.) Poses are not called out by the narrator as they are being done. It's not always possible to keep a close eye on what's going on on-screen, because you're, you know, DOING THE POSES and all. So, it's common that the narrator will say "Go into (pose)" and then the people on-screen hold it for a while, then they just stop and the narrator doesn't say anything. It would be nice to have her say, "... and, release to sitting position" whenever this happens.

It's also the case that some poses are held substantially longer on one side than the other. This is one of my peeves in any yoga workout. Things should be done symetrically.

Finally ... I just have to mention this bit. The "kabbalah philosophy" stuff in the voice-over is one howler of a platitude followed by another. Bad enough that it interferes with stuff like, actually describing and calling out the poses, but it's just plain hilarious. This is the kind of stuff that would have been laughed out of a brainstorming session by the writers of "Kung Fu." Get a load, for example, of the "light bulb" metaphor for yoga and life. (I won't describe it in full here, you have to hear it to believe it.) Most of the stuff is just silliness like, "You are your own best teacher. Kabbalah yoga only reminds you of what you already knew." It's hard to hold Half Moon when you're giggling uncontrollably.

The workout itself is the basis for an absolutely awesome yoga experience. Tighten up the execution, lose the crazy-talk (or put it in a DVD featurette if you absolutely have to have that nonsense) and voice everything that happens on screen, and you'd really have something amazing here. Maybe there will be a second edition.

I really enjoy this yoga DVD. It's the closest to the kind of practice that I like to do every day - especially since I do not like flow yoga. Although I do have years of experience with yoga I found that this DVD was advanced enough to challenge intermediate folks while having enough easy stuff to be good for beginners with some experience. I also find the soundtrack to be very soothing and ethereal. Definitely recommended!

This isn't an in-depth Kabbalah teaching video, obviously. But it's not supposed to be. And the narrator could do a tad better in keeping in synch with the students, but overall, it's a good workout, and isn't all that difficult. Most of the poses are traditional asanas and the yoga master on the video does a modified version for those not familiar or able to do them right away.

It's a nice blend of yoga and Kabbalah, and a relaxing, yet thorough workout.