Customer Reviews

Living Yoga's Power Strength Yoga for Beginners [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a lovely tape, and Rodney Yee is a soothing, inspiring presence, BUT this is NOT for beginners, despite the title.

I could get through about half to two-thirds of the routine, and this only with pausing. The idea of Rodney Yee's strength workout is to move seamlessly from asana to asana (asanas are the different postures or moves in yoga.) But I had to halt time and again, and I had to eliminate some of the poses I could not do yet.

The style of teaching is really not for novices. The instructor says "Now, do this", but what I needed "Here's how you do this." While this is a popular tape and probably a good one if you are also taking a live Yoga class, this isn't for those new to Yoga, like me.

There are some better novice tapes (Yoga for Dummies, bad title but good simple basic routine) or take a class. Then Rodney Yee's Yoga for Strength tape would be a fine addition to your workout. If you haven't done Yoga, this is not the video to start with.

Power Strength Yoga consists of a flowing sun salutation series combined with five different arm balances to provide a workout that enhances flexibility, strength, and balance. The program moves seamlessly and briskly to offer an invigorating workout, although the verbal cues for breathing are inconsistent (Yee occasionally leaves out the "inhale" between two "exhales") and sometimes rushed. To get the full benefit of this video, however, the user must be capable of the arm-balances. Eastern Plank Pose and Inclined Plane Pose are easily within a beginner's scope, but the other three (Pendulum, Crow, and an unnamed pose) are presented without sufficient instruction for a novice to perform them. Obviously, a "strength" video will not be very effective if the user cannot manage the poses. This tape is best suited for practitioners already familiar with arm-balances, NOT for beginner's as the box claims.

I bought this tape because I wanted to start incoorperating some yoga into my weekly workout routines. I'd never done yoga and didn't know much about it, but I'd heard that Rodney Yee was very good. I'm sure that eventually, I will be able to use this tape as a guide for a yoga workout. However, at the moment it sits on the shelf collecting dust because it contains NO INSTRUCTION on how do perform the moves and tells you nothing about what yoga is all about. That was disapointing to me since the tape is clearly marked as a beginners tape.

The tape does have some good points. Rodney Yee is easy to listen to and performs all the moves very slowly and deliberatly. His voice is relaxing and the location of the video adds to the overall relaxing tone of the tape.

I think this would be a great tape for someone who has already had instruction in yoga, but it's not a good tape for the total beginner.

This is a well presented video. The routine moves rather quickly, which makes for a good workout. However, the routine and poses may be difficult to follow if the viewer has never had any prior yoga instruction. Therefore, despite the title, I would not recommend this video to someone who has never taken a yoga class. I would recommend it as a vigorous, albeit short, workout for anyone who has had some instruction in the basic poses.

I had been taking yoga for three months before trying Power Strength Yoga for Beginners; I have to say I do not recommend this tape for individuals who have had no instruction in Yoga. I think you need at least a few weeks experience before practicing Yoga with this tape.

Rodney leads a series of Sun Salutations without much prompting on what will position will come next which is why I recommend watching this video in its entirety before doing the moves along with Rodney. None of the positions are too difficult for a beginner.

I dislike that the Living Arts includes so much promotional materials or advertisements on their videos--it is distracting.

If you are looking for an instructional yoga that really is for beginners (those who know nothing about yoga), I recommend Yoga Journals: Yoga Practice for Beginners with Patricia Walden for a thorough, complete, and slow explanation of each Yoga pose.

This tape really gives me a great upper body workout. Me and my wife first bought the AM/PM yoga series about a year ago. I quickly got bored with those tapes since they were not particularly challenging to me after a while.

I decided to move on to the Power Yoga series, expecting to further improve my yoga techniques while getting a great upper body workout with improved flexibility. I first bought the "Power Yoga for Stamina" and enjoyed it very much. For more variety, I bought this video. I bought the third volume, "Flexibility" at a later time.

This tape is certainly the most challenging of the three Power Yoga tapes. You do upward and downward facing dog poses until your shoulders get so sore they can't move! You do these side arm bends which challenge your balance! And there's three different poses where you support yourself only your arms! But don't be scared away: you'll steadily improve with these poses every time you practice. I can finally do the arm lifts without much difficulty. And you WILL sweat after trying this video.

If you're new to yoga, I highly recommend that you try the AM/PM yoga first. Then buy the "Power Yoga for Stamina". It's an excellent introduction to Power yoga and is a summation of all three videos.

If you're advanced: get all three videos and practice all three in a row(never tried). The series seems to be designed to work this way. The first video (Stamina) is essentially a warmup with the middle video (Strength) as an intense workout with the final volume (Flexibility) to cool down your muscles.

Yes, it is fast pace, but you need to watch at least once without exercising to observe and then practice the tape a couple times before you get familiar with the poses. And the "Stamina" volume already introduces you to many of the poses done here. An excellent buy!

I bought this and the Living Yoga Power Stamina video. The Stamina video is better for a beginner like myself. The strength video includes many DIFFICULT arm balances that I felt could be dangerous without proper instruction. I rarely use this video due to its difficulty -- however for a more advanced student it could be quite useful.

This is one of my favorite yoga videos. I love Rodney Yee and in this video he delivers a vigorous yoga workout. I'm not sure why the tape has the word beginners in the title, because it is not for anyone just beginning yoga practice. Maybe it was intended to be a beginning strength video for those already practicing yoga. I am still working on mastering the arm balances at the end of the session, but I'm slowly getting there. I recommend this video for anyone looking for a challenging yoga practice.

I had never done yoga, however hearing so much about it, I decided to go for a test run... I purchased this video and popped it into the VCR excited. Cleared furniture, turned the tv on and stood there in shock with my mouth hanging open! The man never says, this is how you do this...get into position like this...NOTHING! He throws himself around like its no big deal, there's NO WAY a beginner could do anything as fast as he's doing it or with ease. The only thing nice about it is the view of the beach and the tight shorts he has on...

I have done yoga on and off for 30 years, so I know beginners poses and many of Rodney Yee's asanas are NOT for beginners. I did not find this relaxing at all, and found myself just staring at the TV with my mouth hanging open in shock from some of the poses he does on this tape. Borrow one if you can before buying this tape if you're a real beginner -- or buy mine from me!