Customer Reviews

Transform Yourself with Jivamukti Yoga

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been practicing yoga for almost 10 yrs and 4 yrs ago I came to NY on a visit. While I was here, I went to the jivamukti center. I felt like I had finally made it home! However, this dvd falls way short of that experience. First, the good...*the practice itself is very good *I love the music(they have a live band playing) *I love the way it was filmed. But thats about it! I cant tell you how many times I looked up to see what pose they were doing, only to see a musician. This dvd is definately for advanced beginners. I think the more advanced yogi/ini's will be disappointed. I do have to add though, that I moved to NY to study yoga and the classes at the Jivamukti center are second to none! This dvd does not capture that magic or feeling. I hate myself for giving this 3 stars but I think you'll be better off with Bryan Kest Power Yoga or Kundalini Yoga w/ Gurmukh.

Professionally recorded, this yoga session is very soothing with emphasis on seamlessly integrating the breath with movement. This is not for novices due to the lack of instruction, but those who know how to do the asanas/poses correctly w/o any direction, and being able to know the poses by their Sanskrit name & not just English is better since the English name is never given.
The music is a live band, and you have the option of voice overs from either David Life who will always tell you when to inhale/exhale, the pose name, and generally is quiet, or Sharon Gannon who tells you always when to inhale/exhale, the pose name, as well as more mind/body awareness, and occasionally the benefits of poses (especially inverted).
The session is made for advanced beginners as the hardest poses are full wheel, and a headstand w/forearms done with David while Sharon stays in a high downward dog. The pace is almost yin yoga, you will be holding the pose for several/many breaths to really feel the stretch and to relax into the pose.
Grounding/chanting - (3 min) standing, just sometimes chanting OM
Sun Salutations - (6 min) mostly mountain, standing back bend, standing fwd bend, downward dog, plank, chaturanga, cobra, and adding lunges
Standing Poses - (13 min) warrior 1, triangle, warrior 2, side angle, pyramid, twisted prayer lunge, seated twist, fwd bend over simple seated cross legged pose, plank, chaturanga, cobra, downward dog. Repeat with the other foot fwd. This requires more lower body strength as you are doing all those poses on the same leg before allowed to switch. Next wide legged seated fwd bend, chaturanga, rest in downward dog.
Balancing - (2 min) Intro about balancing while resting in downward dog, side plank on both sides, chaturanga, rest in cobra
Back Bending - (6 min) locust, bow, bridge, wheel, rest, knees to chest, reclined spinal twist knees to side, downward dog.
Forward Bending - (4 min) intro while in staff/seated legs straight, single straight leg fwd bends both sides, butterfly, star seat (looser butterfly stretch), both straight leg fwd bend.
Inverted Poses - (13 min) shoulder stand straight legs up, plow & knees to floor, fish, child's pose, down dog w/head cradled between forearms in 1/2 headstand then full headstand if ready, child's pose.
Meditation/Savasana - 5 min seated & 5 min reclined

This was a very soothing session with great yogis, the only issue I had was when holding the pose, though I enjoyed the constant inhale/exhale overall, a few more benefits of the pose in between would have been good inbetween, and the counting of the breath (inhale/exhale 1, inhale/exhale 2, inhale/exhale 3 .... inhale/exhale 24...) was very annoying, like a very slow aerobics session.

Bonus:
Bios of both yogis
Over one minute freestyle yoga - demonstration of them doing harder poses
Almost 9 min. facial massage - voiced over by Sharon which includes a couple yoga facial poses, massage of the face/ears, and stimulating acupressure points of the face w/calming music.

Video Clips:
Trailer at: acaciacatalog
Sequence at: youtube under "Jivamukti Yoga Sequence"

I loved this video and consider myself intermediate to advanced. I can do backbends and headstands but really who cares. A great video has great teachers, music that helps you go deeper into your practice (i.e. the tamboura does it for me) and an easy to follow sequence. They both have calm, peaceful voices and offer different insights on their separate audio tracks. Rodney Yee and Erich Schiffmann are great too but it is so nice to mix it up. If you want to feel happy and peaceful this is the perfect yoga DVD.

I had heard so much about Jivamukti! I really liked the book, and I was excitedly awaiting this video. I thought it started off with a bang and was great for about the first 10 minutes. After which, the poses were not that imaginative and I noticed that the sequencing was slightly off (ie; the verbal instruction did not match the movement). I didn't feel like I got a great yogic workout after this video. The song during Savasana was a totally cheesy instrumental bad folk song. I think this dvd is not worth the asking price. If you get it, buy it used...

I greatly enjoyed practicing to this DVD because - unlike a lot of videos made by the beach, or on rocks, or on what look like desert islands or the moon (Shiva Rea's), this one had a very real sense of being in a live yoga classroom, such as one would find at Kripalu Institute (with the wonderful musicians). For those who find the music annoying, I believe there are music choices available. The poses are done slowly, and with beauty - David does the more challenging version, Sharon the more beginner or intermediate. It is not a difficult program if you are already familiar with the poses and terms. I was also caught up short a bit with the cowboy song during shavasana (and I think that - for a commercial DVD they should have chosen something more vanilla) but I let myself go into it & had a great time feeling that I was settling down by a fire on the trail out West, with a tin mug of warm drink, under the stars, with the cattle & horses all settled in the night. By keeping an open mind, I ended up being delighted. THis might have been someone's idea of a Krishna like life surprise!

The two stars are for the lovely raga played continuously during the practice by musicians right there in the yoga studio. This DVD gives you the options of either David's instruction or Sharon's instruction in the voiceover. What you get here is not really instruction, but rather a poorly-timed loose verbal prompting through a very traditional (and frankly, unimaginative) sequence of postures. There is no warmup; the sun salutation flow begins full on and at a very brisk pace. If that's how you like to practice, then this video might be for you. OTOH, if you like to linger in a posture and if you like to hear reminders about body dynamics to help you reap the benefits of an asana and get deeper into the practice, you're out of luck with this one. If the DVD still appeals to you after reading this review, please buy mine! It's been viewed twice, and is in like new condition; I won't be using it again.

last year i religiously went to to jivamukti classes about 3 times a week. and it is the best thing i have ever done for myself! i even got my boyfriend hooked. but classes can get expensive and living in brooklyn, it was hard to motivate to get into the city to go to class sometimes. i agree that you don't get the "full jivamukti experience" from the video as the real class, but this is the best yoga video i've ever had, and i trust sharon gannon and david life to only create the best video they could. hopefully they will come out with more, but for now, this is the only video i do. and i have plenty others, but i feel most attached to this one.

I don't understand why, during savasana, the soundtrack includes a guy strumming an acoustic guitar and singing a song containing rather vapid lyrics. I find it completely disruptive. All the rest of this practice is accompanied by instrumental music played on Indian classical instruments, with NO SINGING, and it works fine as a backdrop to the instruction. Why introduce some folky singer-songwriter at the end, when it's necessary to "pacify the sense organs?" The whiney singing does absolutely the opposite for me. And yes, I could just mute the television, but there are cues from the instructors that happen afterwards, and it would be counterproductive to keep my eye on the clock (DURING SAVASANA) to know when the song is over and it's safe to un-mute the TV. I think it's a poor choice of music for that part of the practice, and if I'd read about that in a review beforehand, I definitely would not have put it on my xmas wishlist!

David Life and Sharon Gannon are true Masters of Yoga. This is the first video I have seen that the couple have not produced themselves through their Jivamukti ownership. It is a bit shorter than their usual CD/DVD's and a little less vigorous, but offers enough challenge for all levels. The ambiance is beautiful with kirtan players, wooden spiralling pillars draped in soft cloth, soft moving camera work and an option to have Sharon or David direct the asanas. I liked the home-grown feel of their first series, complete with cat siddi appearances, but this DVD is also inspiring and uplifting and, as usual, sends a message of Yoga that goes far beyond the mat. Shanthi.

For me this is a nearly perfect routine (full disclosure- I typically do kundalini yoga, but among the other yoga styles jivamukti is my favorite.) It has great pacing and isn't as predictable as most yoga DVDs. Even the sun salutations are slightly different- a typical "surya namaskar a" is followed by a variation on surya b.

I found myself feeling invigorated throughout rather than tired. I suppose this routine doesn't push me overly hard (I am approximately intermediate level), but it offers a great variety of poses. I like that the disc was willing to take a risk and include both shoulderstand and headstand (which I do against a wall for support). I also loved the bonus 10 minute facial massage, which is lovely to do with the facial serum / oil of your choice.

Regarding the music- I adored the background music throughout except for, as most everyone else has mentioned, during savasana. It didn't drive me to distraction as it did most reviewers, but I did roll my eyes the first time I heard it.

I had done some of the jivamukti CDs before this (I nabbed them when I visited the main studio on a trip to NYC), and found the DVD true to my prior experiences. Anyway, the Ana Brett/Ravi Singh DVDs will remain my favorites discs, but this is a great addition to my collection.