Customer Reviews

Shiva Rea: Surf Yoga Soul

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Finally the long awaited Surf Yoga Soul arrived today (thanks to totalfitnessdvds com). I previewed all of it right away and did 6 out of the 7 segments afterwards. It has a short introduction where you can see Shiva in her surfer girl mode on a surf board and on the back of a convertible explaining the DVD , it was cool.
This DVD has fun yoga practices definitely with surfers in mind (there's an obvious focus on upper body and core strengh since it's important for surfing) though anyone can do it. And finally , it has a matrix like Shiva's first DVD's so you can customize your own practice. There is some new and excellent music except one song I recognized from Fluid Power which is also great and has a beautiful setting - on Polihale Beach ,Kauai. The production quality is great as with all of Shiva's DVD's.

For playing the segments you can only go to the Matrix and choose whichever segment you want in any order and press "ride the wave" (play).
here's some explanation on the segments :
1. Wave Meditation (9 min.) - Shiva introduces this moving meditation that consists of "surf yoga pop ups" which you can see on youtube and have movements from the kalari martial art that Shiva is studying. It ends with some short free form movements. It was a lot of fun and features 3 other people including the surfer Alex Smith and Micheline Berry who has some nice yoga DVD's of her own.
2. Mandala Namaskar (12 Min.) - Similar to the M. Namaskar 2 on Fluid Power yet with some different poses including warrior 2 variations , bow pose instead of upward dog and yogic squats.
3. Agni Namaskar (17 min.) - yes , it's the same namaskar from the previous upper body DVD but a bit shorter and modified (there's less standing postures and backbends) although you still do 108 pushups in 9 rounds! I was a bit disappointed to see this as I expected to see some more new stuff from Shiva yet it is still all new footage and with great new music.
4. Breath Wave - 5 minutes of pranayama focusing on ujjayi and 3 part breath to expand lung capacity.
5. Balance Flow (20 min.) - the most advanced and my favorite segment. It starts with balancing on one foot and your other leg moves back and forth bent ending in warrior 3 with clasped hands behind. The segment ends similarly with warrior 3 with bent leg with one arm grabbing it (like dancer's pose). In the middle you get a challenging flow of crow pose , hip opening lunge with pushups , single leg crow , side plank and twisted chair to twisted crow. Finally a Shiva DVD with arm balances! I haven't seen them since Yoga Shakti.
6. Flexibility Flow (11 min.)- a nice segment that starts with shoulder stretches similar to the ones on Yoga Shakti. It moves to plank , forearm plank , bow , pigeon , janu sirsasana with a twist and seated forward bend. the background music on this is a "regular song" with a guitar , it was quite nice.
7. Shavasana (2 min.) - very short.

There are 2 bonus segments from her beginner's DVD and from the Jivamukti Yoga DVD.
I really enjoyed it though I really hope that Shiva will come up with more "traditional" vinyasa yoga practices similar to Yoga Shakti. All in all this is a great addition to your yoga library whether you're a surfer or not.

Three stars. OMG! Yes I know that the scenery is wonderful. Who can resist beaches. Yes, the production quality is perfect. And yes I know that this dvd was made with love. Aren't they all? But I wish I had followed my instincts and not bought this one, but I did because it's Shiva Rea and I'm a fan. Having said that if you have all of her other dvds or just her upper and lower body dvds, then you don't need this one as there is nothing really new here.

What I love most about her dvds is her creativity and I was hoping for some of that here. Frankly I was bored. Ok I sweated, a lot, especially doing 108 push-ups, but I did not enjoy it much, at all.

Maybe my expectations are too high. I was looking at a clip of tripsichore yoga and thought , now that's creative, and I know Shiva Rea is capable of this and making it accessible to all levels. As such, this dvd is more of same for her. If you had to pick just one Shiva Rea dvd to start with, buy Yoga Shakti. Alright, one more, Fluid vinayasa flow for those of you who are like me and prefer the merge of yoga and dance.
I'm not saying that this is a bad dvd, just not as creative as I know Shiva can be.

Just my opinion folks. Don't leave nasty comments :0)

Shiva Rea has a flair for visually stunning DVDs with wonderful soundtracks, and this is probably the best one yet. I've used this many times in the past few weeks, and here's a brief impression of each section.

1. Wave meditation: This is an active warmup section where you're "popping up" from plank into a warrior variation, like you're surfing. It's a little free-form, and is probably my least favorite.
2. Mandala (circular) namaskar: Like much of her newer sun salutation variations, she teaches you a new sequence and then you do it many times -- in this case, you're flowing between reverse warrior and side angle pose, but extending the lower arm past the navel so you're using core strength. Between sides are yogic squat variations and dhanurasana (bow).
3. Agni (fire) namaskar: three sun salutations where you perform up to 12 pushups each time you come to plank, for a total of up to 108 pushups. Very challenging, and contains great shoulder and chest stretches between the cycles (anahata asana/fallen leaf and high lunge with chest opening). I'm a teacher who has been practicing this style of yoga for 12 years, but I was extremely sore from this segment the first time I used it.
4. Breath Wave: A five-minute meditation and visualization practice.
5. Balance Flow: My favorite. A little slower and more focused, and contains new variations on warrior 3, natarajasana (dancer), some active lunging hip openers, chair, side plank, and three variations of crow pose. (regular, side, and one-legged)
6. Flexibility Flow: Begins with seated shoulder stretches and leads into megaplank on the forearms, dhanurasana (bow), pigeon, janu sirsasana, and a twist that is a preparation for ardha matsyendrasana 3.
7. Shavasana: Only 2 minutes, but fades out and goes back to a silent menu so you can stay as long as you like.

PROS:
1. There are some "traditional" yoga sequences here, meaning not all of it is extremely flowy like most of her newer DVDs. The arm balances return in the balance section (yay!), in stages.
2. The sequences are fun and creative, and the loose surfing connection makes for interesting visualizations. The agni namaskar with 108 pushups is very challenging -- I love it. Some may not.
CONS:
**Note that the cons are minor but are things that will make this DVD unappealing to some.
1. The matrix has returned allowing you to select your segments, but there aren't very many here to pick from. There are about 75 minutes total, so you do have more options for a complete practice than with her recent 35-minute DVDs.
2. This isn't a good choice for beginners, nor for those who aren't looking for a flowing or physically intense practice. Experienced level 1 students could work with this as long as they are injury-free and willing to modify a lot.

Overall this is a fantastic release from Shiva Rea and a must for those who love her work or regularly practice vinyasa yoga. If you're new to her yoga DVDs, though, Yoga Shakti is still the place to begin. If she hadn't released Yoga Shakti, this one would be an easy 5 stars just for the production and creativity.

I was a little (just a tad) disappointed with Shiva's last DVD, but this one is wonderful. My absolute favorite is still Shiva's Yoga Shakti, but this one may be second or third.
Like Yoga Shakti,the viewer is able to customize his or her workout to a certain extent. You are able to choose a particular segment in which ever order you want to practice, but you may only practice each segment once. (More later)
The Yoga Matrix segments are as follows:
1. Wave Meditation (9 min) - I think this is my favorite segment. A series of flowing wave/surf like motions with the arms and legs. It gets me into the flow of the practice.
2. Mandala Namaskar (12 min) - This segment is the most like a typical Ashatanga class, but with a flowing wave feel to it.
3. Agni Namaskar (17 min) - This segment is the energetic and strengthing practice.
4. Breath Wave (5 min) Very relaxing segment practiced sitting down.
5. Balance Flow (20 min) - This was the most difficult segment for me probably because I need balance work. I did like the flow into the balance (swinging one leg) to focus the mind first.
6. Flexibility Flow (11 min) Yummy. After all the strength move, this feels like heaven opening up the shoulders, chest and hips.
7. Shavasana (2 min) For me, this was a short Shavasana after such an intense practice, but Shiva does say "stay in this pose as long as you like" and then there is silence afterwards..not jarring music.
All of that said, I give this DVD a 5. If I had my druthers, I would allow the user to play two segments in a row or play #1 in the beginning and again at the end, but that's not a reason to take off a star.
I will add this to my regular rotation.

I love this DVD! The matrix style format of this DVD allows me to custom build my yoga workout every time I use it. I can do something physically demanding or focus more on breathwork & centering. I can also tailor the length of my workout depending on how much time I have.
Shiva Rea's style of yoga has a sensual, dance-like quality. I enjoy the graceful movements she infuses into her sequences.
This is definitely a great cross-training DVD for surfing, as well as other self-propelled water sports, rock climbing, running & biking, or snowboarding & skiing in the winter.
I recommend this DVD for people who have intermediate yoga experience or are naturally athletic and have above average body awareness.

Power Yoga for Happiness 2, the surf edition

Amazing Grace: The Nine Principles of Living in Natural Magic

prAna Women's Amaya Top

Gaiam Tree of Life Yoga Mat

In my classes at a local gym I use a lot of what I see on DVDs and learn in the classes at a local yoga studio in addition to what I have already learned during teacher training. I am finding myself using a lot from Shiva Rea's DVDs. Her flows are not only challenging, but also so creative that they are fun. Her DVDs also inspire me to come up with my own flow, so not only are her DVDs great to follow, it also spurs creativity in your own practice.

I really liked this DVD. This DVD would not be a good choice for someone completely new to exercise as the main flows are pretty challenging. But if you have a good knowledge of what you can and can't do, and are willing to take things slowly, you may enjoy this.

The DVD includes two meditations -
1) Wave Meditations (9 minutes): This is a mostly standing meditation with some free form arm movements. It was nice for a change.
2) Breath Wave (5 minutes): A sitting meditation focused on breathing. During one portion she does a 3 part breath where you pause while inhaling. I had a difficult time following her cuing and felt like I was holding my breath for a long time waiting for her to catch up. I think after a couple repeats it would be fine, though.

There are three "strength flows":
1) Agni Namaskar (17 minutes): This was actually my introduction to the DVD as I had decided I wanted to master Shiva's 9 sets of 12 toe/full pushups. I think pushups are an awesome exercise that help stabilize the core in addition to providing upper body strength. While I have Shiva's Upper Body Core DVD that also contains 9 sets of 12 pushups, and her Daily Energy DVD that has a few less - I selected this one as it was the simplest and shortest and let me focus on the pushups without too many complicated poses in between. She starts with chair pose with a chest stretch, moving into forward bend, dropping into plank before starting the first set. After the second and third sets she moves into anahatasana to stretch the shoulders, cobra, upward dog, flowing into downward dog, going into a lunge with chest stretch. This cycle is repeated three more times.
As my goal was to work on full toe pushups, I started slowly with this flow - initially doing three sets of 8, and now at 9 sets of 9 toe/full pushups. So, almost at the 9 sets of 12!
2) Mandala Namaskar (12 minutes): A mostly standing flow including fluid arm movements throughout while moving between yogic squat (knees out) and Warrior 2 with side bends. Between cycles she moves to plank, bow pose, and downward dog.
3) Balance Flow (20 minutes): I still need to try this flow, but as mentioned previously it includes arm and standing balances.

There are two options for finishing with:
1) Flexibility Flow (11 minutes): I really like the shoulder stretches and have used the first part of this flow many times. But I didn't really care for the inclusion of planks into the middle of a flexibility flow - in particular after doing so many pushups! The closing poses are sphinx, bow, cobra, pigeon, head to knee pose, twist, and forward bend. Despite the planks, I did really enjoy this flow.
2) Shivasana (2 minutes): A little on the short side!

I got this DVD after my first surfing season ever. I struggle surfing due to shoulder tightness, balance issues I didn't even realize I had (I can skate, do kung fu, bike, but not really keep trim on a board while catching a wave!), and also anxiety about crashing (which I do because I'm anxious, ironically). I consider myself a yogini because I do yoga almost daily, though I generally just do a basic sun salutation. I got this DVD to help with surfing, and after only doing it once, I'm quite certain it will. I suppose if I was going to intermediate to advanced yoga classes, probably nothing on the DVD would be useful. But as I'm not in classes at all right now, having something push me to do Bakasana and a billion push ups is very helpful. And I love how Shiva Rea is always talking about surfing...because in this practice, Surfing is my goal and I probably wouldn't being doing such challenging yoga work if it weren't for surfing. Plus, when she talks about surfing, it helps me to visualize what I'm doing better.

That being said, I also think that people must be careful when doing yoga absent an instructor. It's so easy to mess your body up by doing something wrong, or pushing too hard even if in the right direction. Me, I've trained in martial arts for years and have been to plenty of yoga classes in the past that I felt relatively ok doing most of this DVD. Even being as in shape as I am, some of the DVD was challenging for me (I also tried to do the entire DVD my first time! Ambitious!). My point is, don't decide not to buy if you are a surfer looking for some land-locked training. But if you aren't a practiced martial artist/yogi, then just remember to not push too hard, and don't be afraid to seek out advice about things like hip positioning (SO IMPORTANT!) or asking a friend to spot you in Bakasana!

Shiva Rea is one of my favorite yoga instructors. Each of her DVD's shows me a new dimension to yoga. Surf Yoga Soul doesn't disappoint. I was somewhat reluctant to get this DVD since I'm not a surfer. Living in chilly New England kind of precludes that hobby. :)

There are seven segments to choose from on this DVD. Other reviewers have done a great job of summarizing each section, so I'll just list them here. The segments:

*Wave meditation (9 minutes)
*Mandala Namaskar (12 minutes)
*Agni Namaskar (17 minutes)
*Breath Wave (5 minutes)
*Balance Flow (20 minutes)
*Flexibility Flow (11 minutes)
*Shavasana (2 minutes).

Why I loved this DVD:

*the pretty beach scenery. I kind of felt like a surfer doing this DVD.

*the flowing movements. Shiva has a special talent for putting creative twists on classic yoga moves. I especially like the pop ups with flowing arms.

*the Agni Namaskar section. Yes, even with all those pushups, I love this part! I feel so strong and centered after doing this. I do the pushups on my knees, which makes it easier to manage.

Some things to note about this DVD:

*There's no guidance as to the nature of each section. It was only after I did each workout that I figured out that the Wave Mediation and the Breath Wave are more for warm-ups, while the Flexibility is more for cool downs.

*a lot of pushups. If you really don't like pushups, then I wouldn't recommend doing the Agni Namaskar section. However, I also suggest giving it a try because you'll feel so good and powerful after doing this part!

*very advanced poses in the balance section. Shiva does basic crow, one armed crow and one legged crow. She doesn't offer any modifications. This didn't bother me since I just do my own thing during these advanced poses. I think that even if I did yoga every day for a year, I still couldn't master these poses, but that doesn't bother me.

*the too short Shavasana. I was just getting into full relaxation mode when this section ended.

In spite of these minor issues, I highly recommend this DVD to anyone wanting a slightly different twist to their yoga.

Surf Yoga Soul is an extremely beautiful flow practice; I have every DVD of Shiva Rea and this just continues adding to the variety, range, and nuance that all her productions provide. My regular yoga practice consists entirely of Shiva Rea's DVDs so it's a great treat when a new one arrives and provides new material, new sequences, and a new approach. The newest - Surf Yoga Soul - by Shiva Rea provides all this, and at the end of the day, what matters most is how her practices make the practitioner feel after even 10, 20, or 30 minutes: centered, grounded, relaxed, renewed. A top quality production from Shiva Rea, yet again. Infinite Gratitude!