Customer Reviews

Raquel: Total Beauty and Fitness [VHS]

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I became an instant fan of this video at the age of eight when my mother brought it home. I spent that entire summer doing yoga poses with Raquel. The tape was later lost and in the last few years I have found myself desparate to find a copy. Out of all the yoga taped that I have tried this one is the best. It contains a wide variety of poses and plenty of tips on safety and form. Plus, the tape doesn't rush you through the workout. I have grown tired of tapes that only last for 45 minutes and force you in and out of poses too quickly. With Total Beauty and Fitness, you can work at your own pace without constantly having to hit pause. The tape is wonderful in itself, but there is also the added incentive of how wonderful Ms. Welch has aged over the years. If her exercise methods have anything to do with it, I'll have whatshe's having.

The video (and book) highlight benefits from Hatha Yoga and good eating and living habits that can be derived whilst living in a stress-prone world. With humbleness and wit, Ms. Welch guides the viewer/reader through an alternative way to fortify and strengthen the body, improve flexibility, and, soothe the mind. The excercises are isometric by nature and provide the fastest turnaround I've seen in any type of excercise regime (including triathlon training, aerobics teaching, weight-lifting and so forth).
Really wish publishers would re-launch this work again as it is timeless and effective as compared to other tools marketed since that promise to do the same but don't.
Ms. Welsh is inspirational in her postures and the tranquility she conveys throughout this work.

Bought this tape (& book) in the 80's when I started Ballroom Dance competitions, and loved it. It really helped me to stretch, balance, focus and concentrate. Still have both tape & book - - do tape only occasionally b/c of the 80 minute time commitment. Learned a lot from the book about nutrition and health. Raquel may be beautiful to look at, but she is strong and flexible and really pushes you to do your best throughout the tape. You won't want to whimp out by not doing your best.

I purchased this video when it first came out and loved it. It was lost so I have purchased others that simply don't compare. It is driving me bonkers that I cannot locate another copy, new or used. As there is still such a high demand, why is it not available.

I did this video about 13 years ago when it was released in the mid-eighties, at that time aerobics and ankle weights were the rage so I didn't think much of the video's deliberate poses and holds. But, after doing the video I felt muscles used without being damaged. Now at 42, I'm desperate to find a copy....every other yoga video I've searched and done is trivial by comparison to this one. Please help me out!

I have had this tape and the accompanying book ever since the 1980's when it first came out. Both products are 5 star and I would give them 10 if I could. Raquel did a lovely job with the book and tape, very high quality, some of her best work. You can tell she really believed in it and had taken the time to build her knowledge. My advice is to get the book on Amazon, and go at your own pace, the step by step photos and explanations are detailed, yet easy to understand.

BACK STORY:
The reason this tape will never be put into DVD format, unless you do it yourself at home for personal use, is because Bikram sued Raquel. His claim was that the particular arrangement of yoga poses was patented and copyrighted by him, and the court unfortunately agreed with him. That's how he got his fancy house in Beverly Hills, with Raquel's money. My, my, what a jealous temper tantrum, just because she did such a nice job with this.

IMHO Bikram was hypocritical because HIS teacher, by the last name of Ghosh, had actually done the work of putting this series together, and it was customized to Bikram's physical problems that he was trying to recover from. Bikram didn't start teaching this series until the year after his teacher's death, so of course he didn't have to pay his own teacher any royalties. Yoga has been around for 5,000 years and this type of behavior does not make a good impression on me, plus the fact that I am heat sensitive, so I will NEVER patronize a Bikram studio at $18 per visit. I happily do the exercises at home. Here's the list, and if you don't have the book yet and want to start right away, you can get a lot of information from the Yoga Journal website.

STANDING POSES
Deep Breathing in standing position, 10 times
The Reed
Chair Pose
Eagle Pose
Standing Head to Knee
Dancer's Pose
Balancing "T"
Stanidng "A" Stretch
Triangle
Standing "A" Head To Knee
Tree Pose
Toe Stand
Dead Man (Savasana)

MAT EXERCISES, SITTING AND LYING DOWN
Knee Squeeze
Swing-Up
Cobra
Locust
Full Locust
The Bow
Kneeling Pose
Half Tortoise
The Camel
The Rabbit
Shoulder Stand into Plough
Stretching Cycle
Spinal Twist
The Lotus
Blowing Pose sitting on knees, rapid panting, blowing out for 60 repetitions

This is a very well done video, Rachel Welch knows yoga and she is a good instructor. This tape deserves to be republished as a DVD

I was first introduced to this tape in high school and let me tell you, I wore this tape out! I will freely admit that as a 16-year old, what drew me towards this was my natural flexibility and balance, so I felt like I'd finally found something that embraced my specific physical gifts, but I got into amazing shape with this class.

On the annoying side is the fact that Raquel teaches, which I find annoying because a) she's not a teacher and that is not something to be taken lightly, and b) she's a competitive woman, which shows as she looks around at her classmates with that catty glint in her eyes. But, that said, I have to admit her voice is soothing, her alignment cues are precise and she obviously practiced this a lot and really enjoyed every moment. You could see her unwind and relax throughout as well. And as far as being a good model for demonstrating the pose, Raquel was very precise and graceful.

The presentation here was unique; filmed in a gorgeous open air living room on a beach in Mustique (I believe that's the island), it was visually lovely. Yes, Raquel shows off her natural assets in a zebra print bathing suit, but so what? She looks great and it's comfortable for her. If male yoga teachers can wear shorts only and go without ridicule, women should be entitled to be comfortable as well.

The Bikram series (which I didn't realize was what this was until recently) is usually done in a heated studio ("hot yoga") but I remember doing this almost daily during high school and feeling tremendous effects without that added element.

She does each of the postures twice. The first set is designed to warm you up, the second is to help you make quick progress (I'm quoting verbatim because it's so ingrained from my practice all those years ago!). And I really like that. The second time around is always better, deeper.

I, too, am sad that this will never make it to DVD. I read the comment on someone's review here that explains the lawsuit. I won't even go into my personal opinions on yoga teachers who sue over an ancient art, but you get the idea. But I think I still have this gem on old VHS someplace at home and I want to dig it out to experience it again.

You get a thorough yoga set, complete with breathing exercises, chair pose, eagle, side stretch, triangle, balancing t, standing head to knee, dancer's pose...it's about 90 minutes from start to finish if memory serves. You'll work on balance, coordination, flexibility, strength, determination, concentration, and in the end you'll know you've worked every nook and cranny you've got, all while breathing deep and staying calm.

If you can find this someplace, and you love doing yoga at home, get it. This is challenging, no doubt, but there's room to grow. The music is soft and soothing, not too loud or noticable, and it's a great set.

I'm going home tonight to see if I can relive fabulous old times with Lee, Nicole, Marguerite, Susan, Suzanne and Raquel. ;)

This is the best yoga workout I've done. Works every muscle in your body. I lost weight, toned up and feel and look better than I have in years. This is Bikram yoga with a different name. If you do this workout in a heated room (Bikram suggests 105 degrees but I set it at 80) you will sweat. I sweat more than when I did boxing or kick boxing- and my tummy & butt are in better shape. This really works! I've tried step aerobics, boxing, running, kickboxing, biking, various martial arts and NOTHING works as good as this workout! Definitely the best yet!!

I bought the companion book first and then the tape. I came here hoping to now find this on DVD. Raquel got me started on yoga and I've been doing it now for the past 20+ years. I have many other yoga books and tapes but I always go back to this one. She was way ahead of her time.