Customer Reviews

Let's Yoga

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

 

 

I'm a yoga instructor (also teach Pilates) and while this is no replacement for a live class or teacher, it is a really cute, fun game! I was very skeptical of how it was going to describe/demo the poses and practices, but I must say I am very pleased. The little avatar actually demonstrates the poses (as well as how to get in and out of them) quite safely, plus there is a lot of good detail. There is even an option to explore the poses individually in even more detail, rotating the avatar using the stylus in order to see it from any angle. The vocal guidance is nicely descriptive without being too repetitive, and the narrator's voice is very neutral and pleasant. I love how they guide your breath with both the use of sound and a very light growing/shrinking mandala. I've found everything about it very relaxing and fun!

Some drawbacks that keep it from being a 5-star game: it does not offer any modifications or easier/harder versions of poses, which almost every student will need for at least a few poses. I can understand why this would be difficult to build into a game like this, but that's one of the reasons that it's best to start with a live teacher. For the short practices, rather than flowing from one pose into the other it always goes back to the starting position - I understand this from a programming perspective as well, but it's still a slight drawback. The only other thing I must mention is that some of the practice titles and descriptions are almost comical, which I can only attribute to it having been translated from the original game in Japanese. What the heck is a "yoggy" anyway? LOL! That said, they still offer asana names in English AND Sanskrit which is pretty helpful and useful.

While longer practices are very effective, the game's MANY options for short practices (some as short as 3 minutes) allow you to squeeze in a little peace and yoga into any break you have in your day. There are even several options for Chair Yoga to do at your desk! After all, any yoga is better than no yoga! Who couldn't afford to spend 3 minutes to get more relaxed and clear-minded during the day?

It is not perfect nor is it a comprehensive way to learn all there is to know about yoga, but for the price and the format it is MUCH better than I expected. Highly recommended for casual and hardcore yoga fans!

If you're interested in learning more about yoga, or simply stretching and relaxing, Let's Yoga definitely is software worth owning. From chair stretches to step by step lessons, there's something for everyone here.

You get to customize your "guide" with a variety of hair styles, outfits, colors and signal shapes. There are numerous ways to then use the software.

Starting with the simple, there are a few chair poses that you can do on the bus, in your office, anywhere! They are great stretches and moves that help you stay limber.

Next there is an area of quick "problem solving" poses, broken up into body, mind and beauty. They are relatively brief 3-5 minute combinations of poses. You choose a topic - for example helping swollen feet, or easing cramps, or fighting stress. The system then provides a series of poses to help you with that issue.

You can even ask for random poses to meet a given criteria (raise flexibility) and see what happens!

One of my favorite parts is the area where you make your own combinations. You can draw from every single part of the yoga library. You can put together a stress-free relaxation set, a high intensity workout, or anything in between.

If you're new to yoga, their poses area goes step by step through each pose. You can zoom in and out on the video, back up, pause. You can get easier ways to do the pose, and tips on how to do it well. They even show which muscles are helped by the pose.

Once you're ready with the basics, there is a multi part class laid out. For each stage of the class you get a lesson and then a series of poses to practice.

There is a wealth of great information here, but there are some down sides. First, the inherent problem is the small DS screen. You're trying to do poses that involve standing, sitting, and lying down. All the while you're trying to peer at this tiny screen to see what to do. A DVD does a MUCH better job in this regard. However, for all the times you're not somewhere that you have a DVD available, this is certainly an OK option. You just need to watch it a few times so you know what she's doing, rather than having to try to hold and watch your DS while you move.

Next, the speaker goes rather rapidly through the moves. You are told to kneel, then instantly to move into plank, then instantly to move into another pose. It is hard to keep up. In most yoga progressions they are smooth and orderly. The pace is quick, and the dialogue is clipped. There is a pause button - but the chance of grabbing it easily while doing poses is slim. They could have used much better pacing on this.

There are written words which also guide you through the lessons, but sometimes they cover up what the woman is doing, so it's a mixed benefit.

The manual is impressively thorough in a world where most manuals are a four-page warning about flashing lights. That being said, they do a paragraph of English, then one of French, the one of English and so on. You have to hopscotch your way through the instructions.

Still, all being said, it's great at what it can offer. Like I said, if you are waiting in line, or hanging out at a doctor's office, or stuck on a bus or train, this can be perfect. Anywhere that there isn't a DVD available, and you had no other option, this is certainly a good fallback.

So to summarize, make sure you have some DVDs for actual working out. But as a stop-gap for other times, this game works nicely.

It took the Wii Fit to finally get me re interested in Yoga. I tried a few Yoga classes when I was in college but decided to concentrate my efforts into a more hard core martial arts workout. Stupid me, I could have done both and been all the better for it. Still, after being becoming somewhat more adept at the 15 Yoga poses in Wii fit, I felt I needed more and the inexpensive Let's Yoga cart did the trick.

I love Wii Fit Yoga but Let's Yoga really adds so much more to the Yoga experience. Wii Fit is a pretty good (but small) comprehensive warm up but "Let's Yoga would be like the real class. I would imagine a typical Yoga class might cost somewhere in the range of 10 to 25 dollars for one session. Just about the cost of the Let's Yoga cart. Imagine, you could do Let's Yoga for a few weeks and become familiar with a lot of the Yoga poses. And then when you are ready for an in person classroom instructor, you will not be lost with all the poses.

The Lets Yoga instructor is also pretty good about explaining how to get into the poses. The cart even allows you to stop the session and reposition the instructor to view the pose from different angles. There is even a place in the cart that explains (and shows) all the various Yoga moves on the cart and even offers options for getting into the pose. And unlike the Wii Fit you can even design your own Yoga Workout.

An absolutely terrific exercise cart. And a must have for any traveler when you can't always rely on a gym in the hotel or nearby.

First off, I am a beginning yoga user. I became interested in yoga after I developed lower back problems (herniated discs) and was advised that yoga could help to minimize the pain and relieve pressure on my back. (Personally yoga has helped me, but that is up to each person.) Prior to this game I had gone to a couple of yoga classes at my local 24 Hour Fitness gym, but due to scheduling conflicts I couldn't really make it too often. I did enjoy it a lot though so I decided to give this game a try. I have not been disappointed at all.

First off this game has 3 main modes.
The main mode consist of 5 yoga categories with 5 lessons in each one for a total of 25 lessons. The beginning ones are about 10 minutes long and steadily increase to about 35 minutes per lesson. At the start of every session there is a small lesson on the history and beliefs of yoga. You must go through this mode to unlock some of the poses, although almost all are unlocked to begin with. Finishing a category also opens up new yoga mat colors and outfits for your yoga instructor.

Second mode is where you create and do your own workouts.
You are given a list of the yoga poses with the ability to add them to a list and save them. I absolutely love this feature as it enables me to create a specific yoga routine that stretches my lower back and strengthens my core. There is also a quick yoga mode where you input the amount of time you want the lesson to be and are given a routine. Lastly there is a chair yoga mode which is essentially yoga like poses that can be done while sitting. Some of these are very nice if you've been sitting for a while (like at an office) and need a quick stretch.

The last mode is a review of all the yoga poses.
In this mode all the yoga poses are listed and you can can play them individually, allowing you to see exactly what and how the avatar is doing the pose.


Now for a couple more important things.

There are voice instructions. This is incredibly useful, it is one thing to view the instructor on a little Nintendo DS screen, but it is very nice and useful to also hear what you are supposed to be doing. It's especially important as you will be laying down and standing up during some poses, making it easier to listen rather than watch.

At any time you can pause the pose by tapping the touch screen and rotate the avatar at pretty much any and every angle you would need. When you are first starting this is an excellent ability. Not quite sure what to do with your left leg? Just pause it rotate the avatar so you can see where it is supposed to be and then resume the lesson. As someone who just started yoga, this is the most user and beginner friendly feature.

Another nice feature is that before each pose the name is displayed both in the original name and in the translated English version. Although not really noticeable at first, by the end of the 25 main lessons you'll have picked up some pose names. Great way to break beginners into slowly learning the poses.

Now for the actual review:

I absolutely love this "game." It does a great job of starting you off, especially as a beginner. The avatar does everything that you are asked to do. From starting the pose in the sitting position to ending it. When you are supposed to lie down, the avatar goes from sitting to lying down, showing you exactly how to transition without hurting yourself. Yes, everyone knows how to lay down and sit up and stand up, etc, but to include this just shows the amount of detail the creators went to make this a safe and great introduction to yoga.

The beginning lessons will be incredibly easy for a reasonably athletic person, but at 10-15 minutes each for the first 5 lessons you will breeze through them. If you are a complete beginner who does not work out very often, they are a great introduction, easy enough not to dissuade you due to difficulty. I even got my mother to try a session with me and she loved it and wants to continue it. This from someone who doesn't even know how to turn on a computer. Let alone ever tried to play a game system. This speaks volumes for how well the game is made, easily accessible and enjoyable to anyone at all even semi-interested in yoga.

For those concerned with how easy it is, have no fear it gets quite difficult and tiring by the later lessons. To the point where I have not been able to do certain poses due to not being flexible enough or just not being strong enough to hold the pose. This will have you coming back to improve, giving you a good workout each and every time.

As to the spiritual side of yoga, it is addressed at the beginning of each session during the main mode. The lessons are small and nice tidbits about the history of yoga. I am not particularly interested as I look more toward the physical aspect, but they are not long and therefore easy to skim through quickly. If you are interested then it is a nice introduction, although if you want to explore more you would probably have to look elsewhere as this is more of an introduction.

The environment is completely up to you. Pick a nice quiet, dimly lit room to practice in and you can completely immerse yourself into the lesson. The game has it's own calming music and even has a breathing guide during the poses, showing you when to breathe and when to exhale. It is by default like a snowflake in the background that expands as you should breathe and shrinks as you should exhale, it can be turned off but again is a nice subtle touch that you may ignore at first but will slowly start to incorporate into your poses as you become comfortable and try to improve.

There are only 2 major cons to the game, but both are to be expected, and the more you practice the less important they become.

The first is the size of the screen. It is very small and therefore hard to view sometimes. Poses done while sitting are not a problem, but when asked to lay down and do a pose it can be difficult to see the screen. The nice thing is also the bad thing. With a small portable screen you can pick it up and place it on your chest or next to you so you can continue to see. Same with standing poses. Although this was annoying to me at first, after getting a feel for the poses it becomes less and less of an issue. After a while you can just listen to the instructions and know what you are supposed to be doing. I remember being annoyed by this in the beginning, but by now it isn't even an issue anymore.

Secondly, is the audio level. I wish I could turn it up louder, but again that is just a limitation of the Nintedo DS's portability. In a nice quite setting (that yoga should be conducting in anyway) it isn't even an issue.

Overall this is an excellent game for anyone at all interested in yoga, and for those that may not even think they are interested in. Especially if you don't have the time or schedule that allows you to attend a real yoga class. Whether just started, or looking for a supplement to help you on the road I highly recommend this product. The only way it could be made better is if was ported to the Wii and redesigned to incorporate the Wii balance Board.

If you own a Nintendo DS forget about yoga videos or DVD's, this game is just as good and in many ways better. Allowing you to customize your sessions so you never get bored or feel stagnant doing the same routine over and over and over.

I am a big fan of Let's Yoga. With my busy schedule, having the flexibility of doing yoga wherever I am and whenever I have the time is a huge motivator.
The game itself is very easy to understand. You can pick from quick Yoga lessons (anywhere from 3 minutes). You can also do yoga lessons with the "yoga master". Although you do get introduced to new yoga poses this way, the Yoga master lessons are my least favorite part of Let's Yoga. My advice is if you have some yoga basics or are familiar with several poses within this game, you should create your own workout through "My Yoga". This allows you to customize your workout depending on your flexibility and skill level.
Overall a great game. I take it with me whenever I travel.

I was a little critical when I researched this "Let's Yoga" game for Nintendo DS. I was thinking that it might be difficult to have this platform to handle this type of program especially for someone who has practiced yoga before, but I was pleasantly surprised. Everyone can benefit from this great tool: beginners can learn about yoga and see detailed position descriptions and advanced yogi(ni) can have the DS create random workouts in the desired length. Great tool!

Personally I love this program, and I use it just about every day, but I want to point out a few frustrating oversights.

(1) The box might as well say "No Boys Allowed". There are no male avatars and many of the short routines are female-specific, like how to improve one's bustline.

(2) Ironically (from a Western sense at least), despite being a very feminine game, the instructions freely throws around indelicate terms like "anus", "constipation", and "gas." Some people could be offended.

(3) There is lots of dyslexia between what you are TOLD to do, and what the model does. For example, being told to turn your feet to the left, when the model turns to the right. In general, do what the model does.

(4) The designers have a very strange notion of what is difficult. For example "Balance Pose" is taught before "Supine Balance Pose". "Balance Pose" is a challenging one-legged pose you do while standing. "Supine Balance Pose" is a simpler version you do while lying down. Which would YOU rather learn first?

(5) The game cannot actually monitor your posture or balance, which means that it cannot correct you. I'm particularly concerned that some of the poses, when done incorrectly, can cause knee damage.

Like I said, though, I do like this product, but it's not going to be right for all people. In particular, if you are truly a yoga beginner, you would be better served by first learning the poses from a REAL instructor, then using this game to practice at home.

I am a yoga beginner and this DS game is perfect!!! It's easy to understand, and I love the 360 degree ability to check out each pose! I am addicted to this and feel better when I complete a program.
I highly recommend this one for the yoga beginner

I used to do yoga everyday, following a DVD, however I stopped for about 6 months because I became really busy at work. I always missed it, and now that I have this game I can squeeze it in anytime. This game is great for beginners, but I see alot of advanced moves too to keep anyone happy. I highly recommend this game, it's very user friendly. The only thing that kept it from 5 stars is that when you create your own workout you can't adjust the times of the poses, and some poses I would like to hold for longer. Great game though, if you've ever been interested in stretching, yoga is great.

This is good for a beginner yoga person who wants to learn the poses. This will help you if you take a yoga class as it explains the poses and how to hold them. If you are advanced, then you know how to do yoga and how to do a practice and this will not do much for you. It's also fun to do with your children and easy for them to follow.