Customer Reviews

Trudie Styler's Warrior Yoga

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ok, so I did this dvd this morning and all I can say is "interesting". This dvd is not your typical vinysa yoga class. It isn't challenging but you do get a good stretch without breaking much of a sweat, at least I didn't.

Trudie and her yoga, pilates, dance teacher lead the class outside in lush surroundings. The dvd has an unusual flow in that everything is done on one side (about 24 minutes) and then repeated on the second side. I felt like I had hit repeat segment on my dvd player. The sequence is as follows (might have missed some but basically this is it):

- tadasana to chair, reach out palms and fall forward to standing forward bend; rise to tadasana. Repeat 3x

- child's pose to snake thru to cobra to camel with hands on ankles or floor behind you. Repeat 2x

- cobra to one handed camel. Sweep around to other side and repeat 2x.

- Down dog to one legged split. alternate legs. Repeat 2x.

- one legged split to pigeon.

- Down dog to warrior variation to wide angle pose variations.

- down dog to triangle to extended side angle. 2x

- runners pose (knee on ground) to warrior pose variation to pyramid pose 2x

- standing one legged split to almost seated twist. 3x

- seated twist. one legged twist. bound forward bend. one legged forward bend. wide legged forward bend.

- hands underneath legs holding feet butterly. holding big toes, wide legs in air butterfly.

- plank to downdog to standing to tree.

- Repeat entire sequence on second side.

There is no savasana. No inversions. No backbends except moving camel. No abs. The focus is on the hips and by the time you repeat to the other side, your hips really open up.

The class just ends with a standing centering instruction and then the credits start rolling.

What I liked: The class has a nice dance like feel to it. All the poses flow together. This is a good class for beginners to advanced beginners. It is being sold as intermediate class. The only thing challenging is that you need flexibility in your hips. Otherwise all of the poses are doable. With the camel sequence, I put blocks by my feet to rest my hands on. I would use this class on days when I just want to stretch and not work too hard. I think it would be a great class for those 50 or older. Younger yogis may not be challenged enough. The teacher, in voiceover, has a very nice, soothing voice with precise instruction.

What I didn't like: The camera angles annoyed me in that I couldn't see all of Trudie's body. The camera focused on the top half of her body. Some poses make you face away from the screen and since I didn't know the sequence that well, I had to adjust my feet to see the screen. The class was too simplistic for me. It had great potential but for me it fell short. She could have included more poses, however, as I said earlier this is a class when you just want to stretch and not work hard. Also when the class ends it should go back to the menu instead of rolling credits. The menu has 2 meditations and bonus material which I haven't viewed. Lastly, the introduction is part of the class and should have been separate. As such you have to fast forward to beginning of the class.

There are two classes, 50 minutes and 20 minutes. The express class leaves out the camel and doesn't repeat the poses. It is the same as the 50 minute class but shorter.

All in all I think is was a good first attempt at a yoga dvd. I only gave it 3 stars because I just don't know what the shelf life will be for me before I give it away. I could do everything without much effort. Nothing to grow into.

UPDATE: I just did this dvd again for the 2nd time. This time I knew the routine and was able to enjoy it more with the pretty guitar music. I also did both meditations. One by Trudie and and one by yoga teacher D'Silva. They were a bit talky, but otherwise relaxing.

I love this DVD! I am an intermediate yoga practitioner for over 15 years. My favorite DVD's are Rodney Yee for energy, Ali McGraw yoga mind and body, and Shiva Rea yoga shakti. Add this to my favorite list!

This is not a power work out, but it is challenging. It has a lot of "flow" and is very spiritual. It is very different than just doing "the same old sun salutation". I felt like I stretched areas and used muscles that I do not normally use. I can really get lost in the spiritual flow of this workout. There is a quality to Trudie and James that draws you into the workout. I like both the mediations included. I haven't done the 25 min workout yet.

I have already pre-ordered their next two DVD's due out in Dec. Also just purchases Sting's new DVD.

True it's not all that challenging, but gentle flow of the poses is very relaxing. It's going to be one of my favorites to use when I want a restorative session.

I am a beginner and new to yoga practice with a set of inflexible kness, but I found this a most enjoyable workout. One has to be smart about it and carefully listen to the prompts, paying close attention to your body's ability to perform all the poses - modify if needed, that having been said I enjoy it ... and with each workout I am becoming more flexible and able to do the poses... the meditations are quite nice too, and I take time to add them to the end of the workout. This is a workout for those confident enough to listen to their body's cues as well as the soothing voice of the intructor.

Written after doing the dvd once through:

I would not rate this an essential for a yoga dvd collection. It rates as a nice-to-have. The pose transitions are interesting and creative without straying so far that it feels like yoga-fusion rather than purist yoga. The routine feels fresh compared to the typical vinyasa/power yoga dvd format of sun salutations followed by the same standard poses. The production values are good. The teacher D'Silva is very competent (although this is called Trudie Styler's warrior yoga, it is led by D'Silva and Trudie follows along). Trudie's form is like that of a committed but not perfectionist yoga student (by no means is she an expert and she does not present herself as one). D'Silva's is excellent. D'Silva is very graceful and Trudie does not lack in grace either.

Some of D'Silva's cueing on form is very good, but he does not cue consistently. If you have some yoga background, this should not be an issue. The workout does not demand an advanced level of flexibility (it can be modified easily enough even if you arent as limber as D'Silva) nor an advanced level of endurance. It is a good practise for those familiar with yoga who are still developing proficiency, as well as more experienced yoga practitioners who like lighter yoga days to complement their more advanced sessions.

I was looking forward to the music soundtrack on this dvd. It would have been interesting to see Sting's more popular work "yoga-ized". I was disappointed. The music to me was mainly unobtrusive. If "message in a bottle" is on the sound track like the cover claims, I did not even notice!

I did not do the meditations. I found the practice focused on yoga as exercise with minimal mind-body-spiritual talk-track.

I was initially looking forward to this workout and it's not bad I just wish I'd been warned about how it is taught. For some reason instructor James D' Silva teaches the entire 12 or 24 minutes (depending on which workout you choose) from one side, complete with a standing cool down before switching and doing the entire practice again. It feels like the DVD players jumped and started again (I actually checked it) because although only a few of the exercises actually require doing the other leg/side the entire session is repeated pose for pose. I think most of you will find (like me) that after a couple of times through WARRIOR YOGA it's really hard to stay motivated and not look for an excuse to stop after the first side has been completed.

The DVD contains 2 workouts; the 50 min WARRIOR workout or the 25 min EXPRESS workout. They are both exactly the same except in the Express you won't do any repeats or the Camel section. James D'Silva instructs while Trudie Styler follows in an outdoor garden setting at Trudie and Stings Tuscan villa. On the plus side I enjoyed Mr D' Silva's instruction, his cuing is fluid, calming and precise although because of the way it's taught I needed more reminders about which leg to move foreword or back and found myself unintentionally switching legs.

I would rate this at an intermediate-beginner's level; all the poses are quite basic with a smooth flowing, dancey feel to them. You also get sting's music on the menu page, 2 guided mediations and a bonus section including interviews with James, Sting and Trudie plus the making of Sting's album If On A Winters Night.

Some of the poses used are; Forward bend to Chair then Warrior reaching. Cobra, Camel, Down dog to one legged split. Pigeon, Triangle, Warrior2, Standing one legged split, Seated twist, Bound foreword bend, Butterfly, Plank, Standing centering as cool down then repeat entire sequence on second side. Namaste

Thank you to Beth Cholette, YogaGirl & J Bug for your detailed reviews that tells you the content & poses this dvd contains.

I can only add my opinion that I found the 50 min practice to be fluid in how each pose is connected, intuitive to what pose should come next to maximize flexibility that feels right to the body, relaxing with James D'Silva's voice over, but repetitive. He would have you go in/out of the a couple of chained poses several times, then move on to another set, then repeat those poses again & sometimes even a third time. Though some repeating is good to open up the body, my boredom limit is usually 3x on any single pose or chained set (I rather hold a pose or go slow in/out then go in/out fast like aerobics).

I felt instead of repeating so much, there could have been other poses done such as inversions as others have said, etc. to make it even more complete, such as a shoulder stand, boat, bow, half moon, reclined twisting poses, etc.

It's still relaxing & fluid & look forward to more yoga from James D'Silva.

I bought this a few weeks ago and finally got around to trying it out. I really thought it was a great workout. I have dabbled in yoga for years and I felt just great while I was doing it. I do have a some advice though, take the suggestion they give at the beginning and watch it though at least once before actually trying it out. It made a great difference to me. You do the whole routine one one side and then the other, which was a bit odd and a bit of a hill to climb once you get to the second side after you had already done a lot of work, and it seems to end a it abruptly. But over all I enjoyed it and will do it again!

OK to those that said this DVD is too easy or short, you must be someone who has been praticing Yoga for a while, I do Yoga, but only sporadically, I did my first 25 minutes session (well maybe more like 35 minutes I started the 50 minute session and the kids got up so I stopped and did the 25 instead!) and today My butt aches, my legs ache, my arms feel like they have been worked out, for a beginner this would be a little difficult but for the sparatic practitioner such as myself, this is a good workout and good all round Yoga session, I like the spoken instruction although he does not say which way to turn sometimes and I often ended up on the wrong leg, after all you cant watch a TV screen when your head is in mountain pose!!! I recommend this DVD to those wanting to get back into Yoga, those that have started recently and want a bit more of a challenge, enjoy it, I think its a good buy :)

I really like this video. At first I was not sure if it providing me with enough of a challenge but after doing the full 45 minute session once I FELT it for a couple of says afterward. It felt good and I use it regularly sometime alternating it with the 25 minute session if I do not have enough time.