Customer Reviews

Total Yoga - The Flow Series, Complete Set [VHS]

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If your looking for a workout that breaks down every Yoga pose I've ever hear of or was taught (10 years experience) this series is for you.
I bought this gift pack and have never been happier with a home workout. Starting with Earth which begins with detailed breathing instruction it guides one through a wonderful flowing series of sun salutions, standing poises, backbends, inversions and ends with deep relaxation (which most videos I,ve seem hardly cover if at all) it leaves me in a complete state of bliss. While Earth is suitable for beginners I get a great deal of satifaction from practicing with this tape as well as using it as a perfect warmup for golf and sking.
Water is another wonderful practice that moves with more pace and gusto then Earth and goes somewhat deeper into the poses . For friends of mine who have recently taken up Yoga I can recomend this as a next step after becoming aquanted with the poses in the Earth series or have had instruction in a Yoga class.
Fire is certainly for a more experinced Yogi, but I feels that Ganga and Tracey's detailed instruction and variations in the more challening poises will enable alot of people who are serious about expanding their practice to enjoy this series. The Flow Series moves in a continous motion that I relish more each time I use it. Its shot from every angle and is as gorgous to look at as it is beautiful to practice with.
The producers of this video really put alot of time and did this one right. From the music to the background this is by far ahead of all of the other videos (at least 50) that I,ve see and used as a practice in the last decade. I can recommend this three tape package for everyone.

I consider myself an advanced beginner and have been practicing 3 times a week for the last year or so. I found this series to be great. The first two tapes are more for beginners and I like how at the beginning of each tape, they took the time to teach you the most important thing about yoga which is ujayii breathing. Most other tapes or even classes hardly spend the time telling u how to breathe which can affect your entire yoga experience.
As an advanced beginner, I only watched the first tape and did the second tape once. After that, I only practiced with the 3rd tape which is a more challenging hatha vinyassa yoga practice lasting a bit over 60 minutes. I disagree with one of the other reviewers saying that it's all about repetitions and nothing new. That's what vinyassa yoga is... lots of sun salutations one after another to get your body warm and to control your breathing well throughout the entire exercise!
I don't know what others expect. The poses in yoga practices are limited in the sense that you cannot really invent a new pose! But variations of each poses are limitless depending on the capability of your body. Plus, I have often done research with books on more advanced variations of certain poses and integrate them into this workout. Furthermore, as the tape demonstrates, while Rich is doing a simpler pose, Ganga will do a more challenging pose. This has helped me tremendously on setting goals.
Compared to the routines by Rodney Yee, I believe the narration is much better as Rich clearly tells u how to coordinate your breathing with your poses to maximize the effects of yoga. Compared to Power Yoga with Bryan Kest, this series seem more "traditional" and is a bit less "fun." Nevertheless, it is still quite challenging. I intermix Power Yoga - Sweat with Fire from this series for my in home practices and go to the yoga classes for additional inspirations and learnings.
As a beginner, I think you should get the whole set as the first two are invaluable in terms of teaching and poses. When you gets better, u can move on to the third tape and maybe give the first two tapes to friends and family to inspire them! Otherwise, just get Fire from this series and the last 2 tapes from Bryan Kest's series to have a challenging yoga experience! Namaste!

I own nearly 20 yoga videos, and recently added this to my collection. I love all three, but especially Water and Earth, and they are now the tapes I use most often. The best word I can use to describe them is "pure". This is simple yoga, no music, no seaside scenery, no "get some rapport with the floor" annoying rhyming. They are the perfect length for a squeezed-in yoga session (35-40 minutes), and revitalize and re-centre me even when I am very tired at the end of the day. A good investment.

Having nearly worn out Total Yoga (the first tape), I was delighted to find these available. This is the real stuff, no strange beachy or desert settings or other strange stuff. The Earth tape is ideal for beginners, or me on a lazy day -- loved it and I could do it all. The Water tape was more of a challenge, but still could do most of it. The Fire tape is still okay, much more aerobic, and the poses I can't do, I don't do -- just substitute something else. These people can teach! My only problem is me -- I just can't bend totally in half, but I'm 56 and doing all that I can.

This series is the penultimate of Yoga instruction.
You can skip the others--- these people actually teach in a way anyone can understand and practice. This is the real stuff- not the trendy look at me Yoga. I can't wait for more.

The main reason that this did not receive 5 stars from me is that given the fine job they have done in describing/demonstrating the practice of yoga, I felt that they could have added a little more to describing the broader benefits, goals, insights and recommendations of yoga.

Also, it would be nice to have something like this on DVD.

As a beginnner at yoga, but somebody in good physical condition with respect to strength and endurance, I found this to be a good entry to practicing yoga. It communicates well, provides some insight into yoga practice and the three levels provide not only more poses but a way to increase the quality and intensity of your practice. And it provides enough challenge and developing routine that you can continue to use it for a reasonable period without it becoming boring or outgrowing it.

There are the usual disclaimers at the beginning about injury and working within your abilities, as well as a couple general recommendations on moving between poses. I think they should be taken seriously for beginners, even those who are quite fit, since the practice can put strain on muscles and joints not otherwise tested.

With that said, some of the highlights are:
-Each tape is about 45 minutes of work out, but there is some repetition so that your practice evolves by adding new poses as well as bringing greater challenges to earlier ones.
-Each tape begins with an excellent description of complete yoga breathing. While it might suffice to do this once, it allows you a couple minutes to settle into the beginning of a routine.
-There are two practitioners in the tape, a man and woman. While doing the same poses, there are some variations in style and apparent flexibility. It is instructive to watch both of them.
-The descriptions of the poses and moving through them are very clear, although there are some of the standard yoga phrases that are not patently clear to a beginner. However, working through the series a number of times, the benefits and familiarity of the practice will make them intuitively clear.
-The practioners are not examples of people who appear to do other exercises, i.e. they are not bulked up from weight training, Pilates, etc. They just appear fit and very healthy advertisements for what yoga might be able to provide.
-The audience for this seems to be quite broad and both men and women. (The other video I have, Yoga Fusion, seemed slanted toward younger woman.)
-There is an emphasis of coupling the breathing with the physical movement, i.e. flow. The relaxation portion at the end is done seriously and well.
-The accompanying music is New Age influenced Indian music which is well done, soothing and consistent with the goals of the series, as is the narrator's voice.

I don't have any desire to search out additional yoga videos. Having a good video is a big step to trying to begin a yoga practice that, in hindsight, is very difficult to do from a text alone. After I have felt that I have a sufficient command of these practices, and understanding of the value of the practice, my next step would be to seek out an instructor and take some classes.

I started out with Total Yoga (their first tape) a fell in love with Yoga. Tracy and Ganga are great at explaining how you should breath and how you should hold the poses. I was very excited when they came out with the flow series. I have been trying other Yoga tapes and was just not satisfied with the lack of explaination and breathing technique. With the flow series there is no guess work and I feel confident I am doing the salutations correctly and I am breathing properly. Tracy and Ganga are very spiritual and inspirational. Namaste

I bought this video because I couldn't find a hatha or vinyasa flow class in my community and wanted a solid, flexible practice to do at home. I love it for two reasons:

1) The increasing challenges of the Earth, Water and Fire sequences let me vary my practice. So far I have tried Water and Fire, and even though a few of the Fire poses are beyond me, I could modify them and still get a great workout.

2) I found many other yoga videos to be too introductory or not a real flow session. Total Yoga - The Flow Series really provides an everyday workout -- for days when you feel weak or strong. I have also been turned off by videos narrated in overly dreamy, otherworldly voices. Total Yoga includes no-nonsense narration that focuses on posture, focus and safety.

Highly recommended!

I've been doing Yoga about a year. I love this set! The first, Earth, is abut 30 minutes and teaches flowing yoga and basic poses. The second, Water, adds more poses, different transitions and takes it a step farther in about 45 minutes. The third, Fire, is an hour and a very challenging workout--I still have difficulty with it but it gives me a great goal to work towards. The photography is beautiful, the instruction detailed and clear and the tapes are actual workout practices instead of an instructor just showing what he or she can do and talking a lot. Go for it!

I am a beginner Yoga enthusiast and I found this series perfect for me. I did the beginner earth series for a couple of weeks and then I moved to the water series. I find the videos very soothing and easy to follow, but at the same time I sweat like crazy. Great workout and relaxation in one. Looking forward to the fire tape.