Customer Reviews

Kundalini Yoga Cardio, Stretch, & Strengthen - ALL LEVELS - Ana Brett and Ravi Singh

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In Kundalini Yoga: Cardio, Stretch, and Strenthen, Ana and Ravi have provided a truly Kundalini Cardio workout. If you are familiar with their previous videos, you will love this one as well. They have a new set and new upbeat music, but the same positive energy as always. (If I had to connect it to their other workouts, I would say this video follows along the lines of Fat Free Yoga and Dance the Chakras, but this one offers lots of new exercises and features.) If you're new to Raviana, then there are a few things to keep in mind. This is not a standard cardio workout. As a Kundalini workout, the cardio is much more free-flowing in nature than a typical dance workout. Don't assume this means that the DVD isn't challenging; it is! It provides a very serious workout for the mind and body, promoting wellness, happiness, and energy- and yes, you will sweat!

A rundown of the basic features of the DVD:
This DVD incorporates the "matrix" technology, which allows the viewer to program his/her own workout from the many sections available. If you are a beginner, you can start with the "breath primer" to learn four part breathing, breath of fire, and long deep breathing, and you can include the "dance movement breakdown" to get a good grasp on the cardio moves. If you are more advanced, you can leave out these extra features and just play the entire workout, or choose to have an extended cardio/dance session, or even do the dance section with music only (for an even more individualized workout). The DVD also offers four different pre-arranged workout versions, in case you want a change from the standard play of the DVD, and don't want to bother creating your own just yet. These include a beginner cardio set, a yoga-only set, a "super-set" with the extended dance, and an intermediate selection.

Beyond the form of the DVD, which lends itself well to any level of fitness, the workout itself is similarly flexible. This workout contains several advanced moves, and each person should go at their own pace, slowly working up to the speed that Ana so gracefully achieves. The DVD begins with stretching and toning work (including some serious core work!), moves into cardio/dance, and ends with upper body strengthening exercises. As with every Raviana DVD, this one also includes chanting and meditation as well, which brings you into and out of the workout, and keeps you present through the entire video. Not only do you burn calories in this cardio workout, you also gain strength, flexibility, and peace of mind. This video is an excellent addition to the Raviana collection. Get in a challenging workout and have great time doing it-- I highly recommend it!

Like the previous review said, it is going to be very difficult to explain all the good things that this DVD has to offer. Here's a what I like about it:
1. This DVD has cardio, yoga, strength training, stretching and meditation all in one. Not only that, you (the viewer) are able to choose to do as many different chapters or as few as you have time to practice. Here is a basic breakdown of the chapters:

a. Intro (1:21 min)
b. Warm-Up (5:13)
c. Stretch and Core (15:32)
d. Core Plus (7:41)
e. Kundalini Cardio (15:02)
f. Cool Down ((3:16)
g. Upper Body Tone (11:03)
h. Relaxation (5:17)
i. Chanting & Closing (about 13 minutes total)
j. Extended Cardio ( 21:00)

You can program these chapters up to 15 in a row...tons of practice time!

2. What I love is that you can mix and match these chapters according to your needs. If you want to do extra cardio one day, you are able to put the cardio chapters back-to-back or even do the same one twice if you like it. The cardio steps are well cued and not too difficult -stepping side to side with arms, front/side jacks (with hi/lo options), samba steps, standing crunches, football runs etc.-they are all repeated a few times in a row so that you will have time to catch on. It is very easy to adapt them to fit your level of physical fitness. You can make the moves more vigorous by making your steps bigger, higher, jumping higher or making bigger arm movements. Take smaller steps to make it less vigorous.

3. The instructors (Ana and Ravi) are always encouraging and friendly. It makes your "exercise" time fly by.

4. The music is interesting and appropriate for the practice. The sound production is good...you can hear the instruction very clearly and the music.

5. Ana's singing is very beautiful and calming during the chants and I love her funky boots! ;-)

It seems that a lot of work and love went into this DVD. Ravi and Ana thought of everything that we would need to practice and put it all into this DVD. Although I have most of their DVD's (all except two), this is my new favorite--until the next one of course ;-) Worth every penny!

I was excited to see a new DVD by Ravi and Ana. I have a few of their videos and wanted to spice up my collection. I didn't like this one that much because the strength portion for the core would be way too difficult for the average person--rolling in and out of plow pose made me really uncomfortable, and I am 27 year old exercise junky in pretty good shape. I also think the cardio portion was sort of dull compared to Dance the Chakras. Lastly, the text for the menu was so small I couldn't even read it, and I have 20/20 vision. On the plus side, Ana looks gorgeous with her natural hair color, the scenery in the background is beautiful and gives you something to take your mind off of 6 agnozing minues of Breath of Fire in the beginning of the workout, and as usual Ravi's voice is like music to the ears. This was not for me, but I'm sure other people will love it.

I have been an Ana and Ravi addict for almost 2 years now. I used to kill myself at the gym for hours everyday. I didn't enjoy it, but felt that it was a necessary evil. On a whim I ordered one, Dance the Chakras and have been addicted ever since. I used to try to get up in the AM before work to workout and could never make myself get out of bed. However, now I get up at 5 am during the week just to do Yoga in the morning because I couldn't imagine living without it! I'm happier, calmer, and more capable due to yoga. In fact, last year, I was able to remain calm when a colleague was choking and gave her the Heimlich. I believe that I was able to do this in a calm manner because I've been more centered due to Ana and Ravi's Kundalini Yoga.
Although I love ALL their DVDs, and all of their new DVDs, this is my favorite. It is very challenging (I would rate it somewhere between Fat Free, and Warrior Workout for difficulty; see other reviews for a description) but I want to do it all the time. I feel great while I'm doing it and I feel so happy and energized afterward! All 3 of their new DVDs are fabulous in their own way, but this one really speaks to me. I hope it will brighten your day too!

If I could rate this DVD as 3 1/2 stars I would, as I feel that 3 stars is a little low, but 4 is definitely too high.
Like most of the reviewers, I agree that this is a great workout. It is pretty challenging, and you shouldn't do it if you're out of shape, or haven't done any yoga lately, as you could hurt yourself. The core, stretching, and toning sections are fantastic. Challenging, some new moves I haven't seen Ana & Ravi use before, and effective. It is for these things that I will keep this DVD.
Now, I have many of Ana & Ravi's DVDs. The format of their older vids was fresh, simple, and fun. I HATE this new production. I'm open to change, I don't care that Ana's gone blond, but there is way too much noise. Someone described the music as ugly and jarring; some of it's nice (and it's all the old music), but most of it IS ugly and jarring. The new DVDs have too many distractions; the older productions were great because of their simplicity. The new ones try too hard to be fun, different, and new; it's too techy, and this goes against the grain of what yoga should feel like. Also, the cardio section was good, but I would have felt stupid if someone had walked in on me doing it. Dance the Chakras and Fat Free Yoga covered cardio in ways that were far more enjoyable, and just as effective.
If you want a good workout with a yoga twist, this one is worth purchasing. Just be aware that the new format is annoying if you're used to the older DVDs. I think if you buy ONE of the 3 newer DVDs, Yoga Radiance is the best one; the routine is good enough that I was able to tune out the things I didn't like about the new production. With this DVD, though, I had a lot of trouble tuning out my dislikes.

One of the things I love about this DVD is the PRE-SET workouts...it has a BEGINNER'S CARDIO PLUS(49:30), YOGA ONLY PRE-SET(42:30)(this one is great if you only want to do the yoga parts of the DVD and not the cardio), KUNDALINI CARDIO PLUS SUPERSET(49:30), AND KUNDALINI YOGA PLUS CARDIO INTERMEDIATE(61:00). It also has the MATRIX menu, if you want to design your own workout.
I felt really good after this workout. It's really nice because it has yoga segments and cardio as well. So, it's like getting two DVD's in one. It felt fantastic and I had more energy afterwards. The warm-up, stretching, core work, and upper body work felt great emotionally and physically and the Cardio segment really makes your heart shine...I felt invigorated and really bright and happy afterwards.(and it gave me a good sweat too!) Great for getting negative energy out! The music is really energizing too and Ana looks absolutely amazing...good inspiration to look at. I believe this DVD will really help people to feel more confident physically and emotionally and have more energy and happiness. After doing this DVD, you cannot feel depressed or stagnant! And for those of you who aren't really into cardio or have a hard time getting started on cardio things, this Cardio segment goes really fast and is set up to not be too much of any one movement at a time. My heart is going to love me for doing this for it! I could practically hear it thanking me. cardio is an area that was lacking in my exercise regimen, but this makes it so easy to get it in, in a short time too! This DVD is going to make it easy for people to work their entire body and mind too.

If you do the DVD start to finish, it runs:
TUNE-IN:(1:50)
WARM-UPS:(5:13)-while sitting cross-legged...spinal grinds, flexing spine with arm movement, twisting motion from torso with arms at right angles, seated with legs straight reaching fingertips to opposite toes.
STRETCHING PLUS CORE(15:32) and CORE PLUS(7:44)-seated forward bend with one leg under you with breath of fire(this is done for several minutes), plough exercise(legs straight on floor then into plough), yoga sit-ups(lying on back, legs straight, rolling up and bending knees at the same time), then combining the plough exercise with the yoga-sit-up, rock on spine, then on hands and knees pumping one leg at a time out straight behind you, then on back raising head while stretching legs open to the side, then lying on back feet stacked on top of one another and you raise your head-first with regular breath then with breath of fire. rock on spine again, then locust pose with breath of fire.
KUNDALINI CARDIO WARM-UP FLOW AND KUNDALINI CARDIO:(15:02)- the warm-up starts with gentle, flowing, and wave-like movements while standing. The cardio dance segment alternates with some gentle cardio and then 30 second moments of intensity. (the movements are different, by the way, from their "Dance the Chakras" workout.) There is a Football Drill, where you run in place really fast. A couple different jumping jacks(with modifications, though, so you don't have to jump if you can't or don't want to). There's some dance steps and movements(one where you move in a circle like you're paddling your canoe). It all really gets your heart going, but it's not overwhelming, because the intense moments are only in 30 second intervals and then you do a move that is more low-key.
KUNDALINI CARDIO COOL-DOWN(3:16)- gentle movements and stretching
UPPER BODY TUNE AND TONE(11:39)- in down dog on forearms w/ hands clasped moving forward and back over your hands..then doing this movement with one leg raised. sitting cross-legged raising one arm up and down in front of you, then both arms. Then hold arms in front of you 10 degrees above parallel with long deep breathing. exercise with arms out to side then over head. then arms in prayer pose over head straightening and bending arms.
DEEP RELAXATION:(5:17)- I almost fell asleep during this part..I got so relaxed!
EK ONG KAR CHANT:(5:19)-singing a chant(but it's a different melody than the Ek Ong Kar one on their AM/PM DVD.
CLOSING PRAYER:(2:43)
BREATH PRIMER:(5:30)-does a breath of 4 parts inhale, 4 parts exhale(I think this was called Energy Breath on their other 2 new DVD's), then long deep breathing, then Breath of Fire.
DANCE MOVEMENT BREAKDOWN:(7:51)- this breaks down the movements in the Cardio section, doing them in slow motion with more voice instruction.
EXTENDED DANCE:(21:00)- this is the same as the Cardio segment, but done longer, for when you want to really get your heart up.
DANCE WITH MUSIC ONLY:(10:47)- the Cardio segment with music and Ana dancing, but no voice-over.

First I would like to say that I am a big fan of Ana and Ravi. I have a lot of their DVDs and I think they are amazing!
Now: am I the only one who has problem reading the sub menu? The letters are so tiny, it is impossible to read! (My eye site is ok) Seriously, I had to print out a review, posted here by other thorough customer with all the names of all chapters in the matrix menu! These three new DVDs by Ana and Ravi are the only ones out of all of theirs I have that have the font for the matrix menu too small. Also, this new Cardio DVD I've got is defective: when using the matrix to create my own work out I have problem selecting more then 6 items (when selecting them not in raw as they listed on the menu, but skipping one or two items - cannot select farter more, the screen gets "frozen").
I like everything on this DVD but cardio sections. I really don't like cardio semi-dancing on this DVD at all. I have been taking dance classes for years, I love dancing, but this segment of the DVD feels (to me) as a waste of time: not yoga, not dancing. Then again - different strokes for different folks... When I was ordering it, I thought that it would be more like their `Fat Free Yoga" DVD where they have a `No Impact Aerobics' chapter...
I liked it better when they had Ana on the white background with a lot of close-ups. If they would keep producing the new DVDs in the same way I would be happy. The three new DVD's :' Kundalini Yoga for Energy & Super Radiance', `Yoga For Beginners & Beyond' and this one, `Kundalini Yoga Cardio ,Stretch,& Strengthen' have some nature background and Ana is shown more at the distance. Also, in the video during one of the lengthy exercises, Ana has two different hairdos: a ponytail and the hair down. The feeling that you are doing the exercise together with Ana gets lost: it is obvious that this particular exercise was not shot in one peace.
There is no doubt, that Ana and Ravi put a lot of effort and heart into their new production: new set, new music, new look. I am so used to their "old" DVDs that I detected some resistance when noticing the differences between previous and new productions. I will give it some time to get used to.
Re: Ana's new look: I liked it better when she had dark hair, but she looks beautiful in any color...
In conclusion: I would still like to have this DVD (not defective, though), but I will avoid doing the cardio parts on this DVD.

I don't think there is a muscle inside my body that has not been moved by this workout! I enjoyed every segment of this workout immensely. I just finished it and I feel so full of energy despite working my butt off. I know some parts of me will definitely be sore tomorrow...

I found the core and upper body segments to be very challenging. The cardio segment was fun to do and I found myself laughing a few times. I started to sweat while doing the core segment and I continued to sweat all the way through the cardio segment. There is a brief cool down, then back to sweating again during the upper body and tone segment. By the time I made it through that one, I couldn't do anything BUT relax. The deep relaxation was a welcome reward. I like that the deep relaxation seems to be longer on these new DVDs. I sometimes have to pause the old ones to allow myself a little more time to fully relax.

I love, love, love, the Ek Ong Kar mantra at the end. The music is awesome and really catchy. It feels wonderful to be able to let go and sing your heart out after doing all the hard work.

These new DVDs may seem quite different to some people at first but it is so worth it to do them a few times and let them work their Kundalini magic! You may be surprised ;)

I have several of RaviAna's DVDs and also took Ravi's classes when I lived in NYC. I've always enjoyed how much more energized I felt after their DVDs, but didn't see much improvement in terms of fat decrease, or better muscle tone.

I embrace the spiritual aspects of kundalini yoga, with the mantras and breathing exercises that make you work on your mind and magnetic field (aura) as well as your body. But I also often found the relaxation or meditatation moments after each posture in previous DVDs to be too long... sometimes the relaxations would feel longer than the postures themselves.

But this DVD is what I've finally been waiting for - a challenging kundalini workout! They seem to really have put in a lot of work into the new DVDs to improve them. There are lots of new postures I haven't seen in the past DVDs. The pace is faster. The stretching exercises are wonderful. I had some serious training pains in my abs and upper arms after the first time I used this DVD! I'd say this DVD works very well for toning, losing weight, bone strengthening, flexibility and circulation... and it's really fun!

I really like that there's a cardio section as well as a yoga section, and the pre-selected sets are awesome - if you're pressed for work out time, you can choose to do one or the other, or even design your own workout to be as short or long as you like through the matrix option.

Some people have criticized that they didn't get the breathing techniques explained in previous DVDs. No worries, now there's a breath primer.

The production value has been taken up several notches. The music is way better! Don't feel anything is missing here. This new DVD by RaviAna has definitely become my new favorite.

I love Ravi Singh and Ana Brett and I own every one of their DVDs. They introduced me to Kundalini Yoga and this is now the type of yoga I do most often.

That being said, this DVD is not one of my favorites. I appreciate that they add creative twists to Kundalini yoga, but this one is not one of their better efforts.

What I liked about this DVD:

--the different music. It's still new-agey, but with a faster beat.

--Ana is radiant and glowing, as always. She is a joy to watch.

--Both Ravi and Ana give instruction. I love hearing both their voices.

--the new moves. In spite of making over 20 Kundalini yoga DVDs, Ravi and Ana manage to come up with new moves.

--how I feel after doing this DVD. Like with their other DVDs, I feel calm, yet energized and happy.

What missed the mark with this DVD:

--the odd choice of scenery. The workout is filmed against a backdrop picture from Hawaii (or maybe California). It looks totally fake. The lotus blossom and Buddha sitting in the left corner look out of place.

--the cardio section did not flow well at all. This portion was very choppy. Perhaps if Ravi had given some more explanation as to the purpose of each move, the moves would have made more sense to me.

--having to do the cardio section with shoes. Excuse me, but yoga with shoes? It breaks up the workout to have to stop the DVD, put on shoes and then come back to do a sloppily edited cardio section.

--the matrix doesn't work. You can select maybe 3 sections and then the selector freezes. I don't bother with the matrix anymore.

--Odd and inconsistent camera angles. It's nice to see the poses from different angles, but several poses must have been filmed at different times. One part of a move shows Ana sitting lengthwise on the mat, the camera then switches to Ana sitting cross-wise on the mat continuing the move. This may have been because of the re-editing they had to do, but if this wasn't the case, this is very distracting and to me shows sloppy editing. Yes, the poses flow, but it's distracting.

--Stops and starts when switching scenes. There are a few places where the DVD seems to stop and then quickly start again. It's the editing and not the DVD. Again, this may have been because of some re-editing they had to do.

This DVD has a place in my collection, but I would recommend any of their older DVDs instead of this one.