Product Details

• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Gaiam
• VHS Release Date: June 13, 2000
• Run Time: 30 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0945671075
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,515 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"Today our world moves more quickly than ever, with greater responsibilities and expectations," says instructor Suzanne Deason. "When we experience stress, it's held in our muscles as tension." This 20-minute yoga practice, filmed at sunset on the beach at Maui, will help relax your mind and muscles--especially those of the neck, shoulders, and lower back, where tension accumulates--and let stress drift away. The yoga practice includes 4 minutes of gentle stretch, a 13-minute stress-relief workout that increases circulation and flexibility, and 3 minutes of deep relaxation to leave you calmed and balanced. You'll need a foam brick (or other object suitable for resting your forehead) and a strap or towel for some of the moves. Deason glides from one pose to another, her instruction clear and relaxed. This video is appropriate for all fitness levels and all ages--as long as you realize that you're not trying to match the suppleness of the instructor. Beautifully produced. --Joan Price

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maui, Music, Moves - this tape has it all!, September 30, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stress Relief Yoga for Beginners [VHS] (VHS Tape)

My husband and I have been doing this tape for almost two weeks and really enjoy it. Neither of us has any prior experience with yoga and we both needed something to soothe us at the end of a hectic day. Although I feel that some of the poses are difficult for beginners, particularly the forward bending dog and the triangle, many of the poses help us to stretch most of our limbs and relax, while being conscious of our breathing. It moves a little quicker than we like, but we do our best to keep up and of course we know that we don't possess the flexibility at this stage to master the poses as Suzanne does. All in all, we enjoy the tape and are trying to do it 3 times per week, or more often. For the price, if you would like to experience some of the benefits of yoga, buy it!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Full Range of Gentle Movements To Awaken Your Body, April 8, 2003

By 

CPTScott - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stress Relief Yoga for Beginners [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is actually my second review of this video. I wrote the first after having it for a short time and I loved it then!

I love it even more now!

I do yoga every day at home and take a class with a great teacher also (and have over 50 Yoga videos). Most of the time I'm inclined towards a more rigorous vinyasa flow style yoga but I find I can't do that sort of practice everyday.

This is a tape I use a lot for those "in between" days when I want to do some yoga but don't want to push too hard. For me it's a somewhat restorative tape (though not in the "strict" sense of the word as described in most yoga books/videos).

What I love about this tape is that it moves you through your full range of movements, from gentle forward bends, side bends, shoulder openers, twists and back bends so that you open up your whole body.

The poses aren't held for a long time because the purpose of this tape isn't to move you deeply into postures. Instead it is to gently awaken and remove the "kinks" and muscular tensions from your body.

I find this tape is so gentle that I can use it even if I am a bit under the weather but still want to do something to help me feel balanced and remove body aches without pushing me too hard.

As far as the pacing goes, I can see that the first time or two (especially if you are new to yoga) it may seem hard to follow, but I don't find it difficult to breathe thru this tape at all. Once you know the routine I think the overall pacing isn't a problem at all and in fact is quite relaxing.

Also, you can use this tape as a slightly more challenging short practice by doing slightly more difficult versions of the poses. For example, doing a full Eagle pose (standing on one leg with one leg over the other),Triangle or Side Angle poses (or any of the poses for that matter) without a block, or in the kneeling prayer twist, keep your back leg off the ground in a full lunge position to get a lunging prayer twist. This increases the challenge quite a bit.

Regarding the need for props for this tape. I would recommend buying at least a strap and a block (Yoga Zone has really nice thick blocks which give a lot of stability). If you do yoga fairly regularly the cost of those items is really negligible. Still, you can use a tie or belt from a bathrobe for a strap and I guess books or something like that for a block, but the blocks are much easier to manipulate and the synthetic foam blocks tend to be gentle on the hands and have better traction (which is much safer).

I hope this review is helpful:)

Namaste

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good but does take a few times to "get it", April 3, 2001

By 

CorporateSlave (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stress Relief Yoga for Beginners [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The first time I tried this tape it was reasonably difficult and I kept falling over during lunge poses, but by the third time (when I was also using the necessary props) it was truly relaxing and enjoyable...there's a good reason one says "practice yoga" and not "do yoga"! The scenery is lovely, her voice is soothing, and I had no problem understanding the poses even as a complete newcomer to yoga. However, you will want to have a yoga brick and strap to get the most relaxing results; I don't think the box mentions the need for props. Realize that at first you may need to position the brick higher or differently than the instructor until you become more flexible and can relax more deeply.

This tape is only 20 minutes so not all the poses can be held as long as you might like, but I just keep the remote handy and pause whenever I want to hold a stretch a bit longer or continue to hold a pose while she instructs what to do next and then move to the next pose slightly after she starts. Time is very precious and if this was a 60 minute tape I doubt I'd make the time to do it nearly as often.

The upper back stretching exercises are especially nice for anyone who spends most of the day hunched over a computer terminal. It is a pretty simple routine that almost anyone could learn to do for themselves at their own pace.

This video would earn a solid five starts if they shortened the introduction about stress in our lives and instead used the time to cover alternative techniques and poses for less-flexible beginners.