Customer Reviews

Power to the Peaceful Yoga

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

 

 

"Power to the Peaceful Yoga" is an advanced yoga practice with quite a few challenges. It starts with "fast" sun salutations and then slows down during standing poses. The focus on breathing is cleansing. The workout is done on a stage filled with musical instruments. The music is by Michael Franti who joins Sharon Gannon and David Life for the yoga practice. At the start there is some chanting and singing.

Here are some of the exercises I recognized: Warrior 1 and 2, silver surfer, triangle, seated forward bend, downward dog, upward dog, extended angle, fish, cobra, reclining twist, plough position, bridge, sphinx and locust. Some of the more challenging positions included: crow, warrior 3, blossoming lotus, extended straddle, shooting bow, full wheel headstand and shoulder stand.

For the most part this is a relaxing workout and the music is soothing. The practice ends with a guided relaxations and quick meditation. The meditation would have been better if it was longer and guided like the relaxation segment. I can only recommend this to you if you are intermediate or advanced. This would not be a good place to start learning yoga as there are too many difficult postures for beginners.

~The Rebecca Review

Highly, highly recommend Power to the Peaceful Yoga for all yoga practicioners interested in deepening their experience and carrying it into their daily lives as workers for a more peaceful and kind world. Also highly, highly recommended for social justice activists who want to tap into the powerful, mindful and positive energy that Michael Franti brings to his art and all that he does.

The yoga moves are fairly challenging with breathing exercises mixed in. I consider myself to be intermediate, and it will take me some time to get them down and be able to keep up with the fairly quick pace of the film. There are a few great extras, including a conversation between Michael Franti, Sharon Gannon and David Life, as well as live music performances by Michael Franti. This is a great film.

Sharon and David have produced yet another amazing DVD with Acacia. This one is a little shorter (1hour) and offers a nice variety of modifications to fit all levels. The extras are great with a Satsang talk with gentle giant Michael Franti, a couple of music clips and great bios on all three. This DVD has life changing potential. If you love Yoga, you'll love this.

Rebecca Johnson wrote a great review.
This 52 min. yoga session is a bit more fast paced then their "Transform Yourself with Jivamukti Yoga." The sun salutations are super fast, but they do slow down to hold the standing, twisting, etc. poses. David & Sharon take turns in voice over with telling you the sanscrit & English pose names & 1-2 sentence reminder on where to focus in the pose. This is not for anyone who doesn't know how to do the poses by name. They always tell you when to inhale/exhale, though they don't hold the poses anywhere as long as the Jivamukti Yoga. The pace of their speaking also seems very rushed in the beginning, like they only had the studio for a very short time, but it relaxes as it goes on. They don't count like they did in Jivamukti when holding a pose which is great.
With three people, they will demonstrate three different levels of some of the poses.
The faster paced feel may also be due to the music choices by Michael Franti, a lot of it has a more rock, jazz, etc. music tempo that isn't as soothing, but some might like this more. I do love Engima with it's heavy beat, but this is more regular rock, jazz, etc.
If you're looking for more relaxed pace, Jivamukti Yoga is the better choice, if you're for something that is bit faster paced, this is the better choice.
The ending credits are cool w/most of the production crew getting up to dance & seeing the entire set.

Bonus:
2 music videos
text bios
6 min. Soothing discussion about yoga & society, etc. w/David Life, Sharon Gannon & Michael Franti.
Freeform yoga with Sharon, David & Michael doing more advanced poses.

Video clip of part of the sun salutation that's at the beginning of the workout: "Feel Liberated with Jivamukti Yoga" on youtube

Edit: Yogabear points out there IS counting, which is very true. They just don't do it anywhere as badly as they did in Jivamukti, so it did not bother me much unlike it being the only thing that was highly distracting in Jivamukti. Since the poses are also held for a shorter time, it also doesn't build so it becomes annoying and they won't count every number in succession.
I do agree counting has no place in yoga, the only things you need is to know is in the next breath that you will be coming out of it, and possibly to know you will be holding that pose for a certain amount of time/breaths as you go into it, never more. Any other speaking should be how to do the pose, to be aware of your body, other spiritual reminders, etc., never a feeling that reminds you of a toning or an aerobics class.

I appreciate this DVD for its well-balanced approach. It has sun saluttaions, twists, inversions, balance, back bends, forward bends, lunges and standing poses. It feels like a complete session to work on flexibility, balance and strength. On several poses each of the three - Sharon, David and Franti offer a different variation.

It should work well for those looking for just plain asana or those who want some jivamukti philosophy as they do their physical yoga. There is some talking during the yoga session by David and Sharon of their yoga inspired brand of activism, but it isnt excessive. The bulk of the "power to the peaceful" theme is in the special features which I appreciate as I wouldnt want to listen to it every time I do the routine.

The one thing I found odd on the first few occasions was the counting. I associate counting with strength traning reps. David/Sharon count breaths. Most poses are held for five breaths. This is typical of some schools of yoga to hold a pose for a specified number of slow in-out breaths and I suppose counting is a good way to pace yourself, but I still found it strange to hear conting during yoga in almost every pose. I am used to it now. It does not detract from the enjoyment I find from this yoga routine.

I typically like eastern-fusion / middle eastern music with my yoga, but Franti's music works well too. It definitely adds to the mood which is one of happiness. I like the light-heartedness and celebration of life that David and Sharon emanate when they do yoga.

This is the yoga DVD I did today. I wish I had read the Amazon.com reviews a little more thoroughly. While I'm not a rank beginner, I wouldn't classify myself as intermediate yet. Usually, that's not too big of an issue because yoga instructors on the DVDs will offer and/or demonstrate modifications to the advanced poses. Not so in this DVD. At first, it seemed there were some modifications as a nod to folks who are not as advanced. And then the instructors completely forgot about beginners. "Next pose, head stand." They're in headstand for almost all the breaths before one of the instructors says that if you can't do it, lean against a door. And if you can't get into the pose leaning against a door? Just sit there and watch them do it!!

Anyway, I liked the DVD because it introduced me to some new poses after doing some real heat-building preliminary poses (sun salutations--fast). I wished for a little bit more or at least (like Baron Baptiste does in Trainer's Edge Yoga) re-building the heat a bit after you've been doing more stationary poses. I actually liked the music and didn't find it distracting. The instructors counted breaths which helped me keep my mind focused on breathing.

The only thing I really took issue with was Sharon Gannon pushing vegetarianism and veganism. I get it. Some folks feel the way the eat is activism and is spiritual and can change the world and all that. It's important to Ms. Gannon, I get that. Anyway, say it once and drop it. Instead, she mentioned it once. And then really pushed it a second time which was annoying. I just wish folks, especially those traveling alternate paths from the dominant practices, would let up on certain things at times and give others space to do what makes them feel best/better.

I didn't mind the other philosophical speak that the instructors shared throughout the workout because I actually agreed with a lot of it. Much of what they said was in line with my own world view. I really liked that the instructors on this video made such an effort to connect the practice of yoga in a meaningful way to our everyday living.

I skipped the mantra part in the beginning. I need to look up the meaning before I jump right in to chanting it. My relaxation/savasana was cut short by my son who woke up.

I will probably look to do this DVD again in a few years when I am more advanced. It's very different from others I have done and as much as I could, I enjoyed it.

This is for advanced beginners to intermediates because it does move fast and there are NO alignment cues.

What I found to be uncalming: the instructors count during all poses. They had the perfect opportunity to cue instead of saying one...two...three...four...The counting made me a little aggravated during the practice. They could just say, "take 5 breaths."

If you know how to do the poses correctly already, then it's ok not to have alignment cues, although they are always useful.
The practice is just under an hour and there are some nice sequences. They talk a bit rushed because they try to say a lot about being a vegetarian and Earth and other stuff...but no cues.

Overall, I would choose the music only option next time to avoid the counting because I did feel peaceful when the practice was finished. Also, the music was cool and that Michael Franti isn't too tough on the eyes either :)

Buy it if you already know how to perform the basic poses well.

I think its a great dvd if you are intermediate to advance, but the quality is bad. After the 3rd use, it is now cracked in half from putting it in the DVD case and I'm always really careful.

What I love about this DVD is that Sharon Gannon and David Life go beyond the physical practice and verbalize the spiritual aspect of Yoga while presenting a challenging series. The music is great too.

It is a more advanced practice and there are not a lot alignment cues for beginners.

I thought this was a wonderful dvd. I enjoy practicing Jivamukti Yoga and this is the next best thing to attending a class with David Life and Sharon Gannon. I found the practice challenging and enjoyable. I especially enjoyed the bonus segment with Sharon, David and Michael discussing peace. I highly recomend this to anyone who is interested in expanding their yoga practice