Customer Reviews

Kabbalah Yoga - Attainable Advanced

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First of all, in light of what another reviewer said about this being a bad practice...this is a wonderful yoga practice, a peaceful flowing sequence instead of a choppy sequence found in other titles.

Yes, there are not many cues or instructions in this dvd. I believe this is assumed to be a DVD for the student already familiar with yoga. If not, any student can watch the DVD several times and become familiar with the practice. This collection, including the Ambitious Beginners DVD, was targeted to a segment of the population most likely already familiar with yoga.

If you are a yoga student and interested in heightening your spiritual connection during practice, this is a wonderful title to add to your collection. I have many yoga DVDs but I find myself returning to this set more than any as I find that it deepens my spirituality as well. Don't be put off by the Kaballah title...Kaballah studies are for everyone of any faith. It simply helps you on your own spiritual path.

C. Martain's 7/2005 review was how I felt. Yes, this is advanced, so it goes without saying you should know the poses by their English name.

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. There are body instructions for some poses such as extended table, "Balance Table, extended... hand behind, grabbing opposite ankle..... extend your leg... this poses begins the process of balancing opposites... balance table, other side.... hand behind, grabbing opposite ankle..... extend your leg... thread the needle pose... 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 section of Ariella showing postures slowly like the handstand, tripod handstand, forearm stand, drop-back backbend, wide legged fwd bend into a tripod handstand & hand balancing w/legs pressing into arms (more challenging kinda crow) w/assistance & without.

The 45 min workout has a beautiful song playing, light-hearted, but calming, positive feel. The poses include:
Chanting Om 3x, easy twist w/hand on opposite thigh, cat/cow, table, balance table, extended table, thread the needle, plank pose, upward dog, downward facing dog, 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 ead to ground with front leg in 90 angle & arms stretched behind), warrior 1, plank, upward dog, down dog, (same thing on other side, plank, upward dog, down dog, extended side angle w/binding, lung w/prayer twist, plank, upward dog, down dog, repeat on other side, star (advanced side plank), other side, plank, upward dog, down dog, tiangle, half moon extended (grab ankle), triangle, plank, up dog, down dog, repeat on other side, wide legged fwd bend extended, wide legged reverse triangle, other side, pyramid (head to knee w/prayer hands behind back), half bound lotus tree (tree w/holding opposite foot w/hand), other side, prayer squat, crow, plank, upward dog, down dog, jump to cobbler's/butterfly, balancing bear (wide legged boat), boat extended (legs almost straight up), 1 legged sitting fwd bend (foot crossed on other thigh), half upward boat extended (holding 1 foot in air), half lotus seated spinal twist extended (look both ways), crossing ankles to plank, upward dog, down dog, jump through, other side, plank, upward dog, down dog, jump through, staff pose, seated straight leg fwd bend, Eastern plank w/1 leg up (sitting, then arms behind you raise torso & 1 leg), other side, plank, upward dog, down dog, 3 leg down dog to pigeon, pigeon w/binding (holding behind foot w/same arm & opposite hand), downward dog, other side, plank, up dog, down dog, jump through to boat, lay back knee to chest, bridge, wheel, wheel w/1 leg up, lying knees to chest, plow, shoulder stand, shoulder stand w/bound angle (bottoms of feet touching), plow, reclined knee to chest, reclined 1 legged spinal twist, other side, roll up, sitting & prayer hands for different parts of body representing those parts (narration just tells you the name for those parts like, "yesod for reproduction, nezah for right leg..." & 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.

The words said are non-religion spiritual. Just empowering/encouranging 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.

This is quite possibly the worst yoga program I have ever seen. There is no instruction for the yoga asanas instead the voice over goes on and on using vapid statements about Kabbalah.

I figured that there would be some mention of Kabbalah in the program, due to the title. However, I also expected there to be a solid yoga practice with proper cueing. When the voice over actually cued a movement it was often behind the performers.

There was no instruction on moving into or out of a pose and the poses where not held for equal amounts of time on both sides of the body.

There are so many good yoga DVDs available and I suggest that no one waste their money on this one.

Most people will know where I'm coming from if I start off by saying that I am a Bryan Kest devotee. I love his style of teaching. Having said that, here is my review. I loved this workout!! The sequence was great. The poses were definately challenging. (Not for beginners!) I am also a Kabbalist so I found the juxapositioning of yoga and Kabbalah to be magnificent!! They really do go hand-in-hand!! (Just to warn people, Kabbalah is as much a religion as yoga is, so dont think you'll be going against your religious beliefs. As you should know by now, religious beliefs and spiritual beliefs are two completely different things!!)
My only complain, which isnt enough to take away a star, is that, at 45 minutes it is too short for me. Although this video is 1 hour long, the last 15 minutes are devoted to the students showing difficult poses. I would've prefered they incorporated those poses into the pratice somehow. All in all though, this is a fantastic workout for those days when you only have 45 minutes and want a great practice!!!

Although I enjoy the Ambitious beginners more. I really do like this DVD as well. It's a nice practice but it probably more for those who have experience doing yoga.

I also agree with the other reviewer that I hate it when DVDs are too cued. If you've practiced yoga before you don't need the 'turn your foot 45 degrees' type of instruction, it becomes redundant.

Although I like to create my own yoga sequences more this series is the best that I've tried. Especially since I do not like flow yoga.

I am really glad I bought this video, the practice is around 40 minutes, not extremely challenging but you feel you have really worked out. I loved the bridge between kabbalah and yoga and am looking forward to new DVDs from Ariella.

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"