Customer Reviews

Viniyoga Therapy for the Low Back, Sacrum & Hips with Gary Kraftsow

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Once regarded as simply an Eastern discipline, yoga is now a familiar part of the health and fitness scene. A recent national survey has found that nearly 16 million Americans currently practice yoga. Although many people are doing yoga to ease stress and improve their health, a growing number have specific medical goals in mind, such as getting rid of their back pain. But does it really work?

Well, according to a 2009 study in the journal Spine, yoga therapy CAN reduce pain and functional impairment in people with chronic low back pain. This condition can be difficult to treat, and not surprisingly, having a bad back is one of the most commonly reported reasons people are turning to alternative and complementary therapies like yoga.

With great videos like Viniyoga Therapy with Gary Kraftsow DVD 2-Pack [[ASIN:B000U0C9UE Viniyoga Therapy for the Low Back, Sacrum & Hips with Gary Kraftsow, you don't have to be enrolled in a study, or drag yourself to a class to get all the pain-relieving benefits of yoga. Just pop the DVD in, and you'll find the video divided up into some of these sections, such as...

-Presentation on Understanding Back Pain and the application of yoga therapy.
-Technique Workshop on how to safely perform postures and movements.
-Focused practice for Low Back and Sacrum Therapy.
-Focused practice for Hip Therapy.
-Integrated practice for sustained low back Strength and Stability.

Its set up pretty well. In a nutshell, they cover some facts about back pain, and then introduce you to the theory of yoga and some of the postures. Then, you can pick which area you want to focus on (like the low back), and you'll be slowly guided through a series of poses that will help get you stretched out and strengthened up. If you're worried about getting injured or hurt, don't be. All the poses are pretty gentle, and the stretches can be as mild as you want them to be. And the music and verbal instructions are quite soothing.

So if you think you'd like to try yoga to take a bite out of your back pain, this would be a good choice. If yoga's not your thing, books like Treat Your Own Spinal Stenosis offer some pretty good exercises too.

This is not a flashy pretty video, but a low budget production. Don't let that put you off. No waterfalls or new age music here. Host Gary Kraftsow sold me when he mentioned he conducted a study for the NIH linking back pain relief with this specialized yoga that was later mentioned in the Annals of Internal Medicine. That gives his method some credibility. I'm just starting these postures and they seem to work. I am getting some relief.
This DVD is in several manageable parts. Part one covers causes of back pain and some physiology and is surprisingly interesting. Next there is a detailed section of all the poses. If you practice yoga already you may not need this stuff. The real meat of the DVD is the 3rd section with 2 separate short workouts and a third part that is longer with strengthening poses. He recommends starting with the 2 short practices before moving to the strenghtening postures. Good advice because I tried the strengthening poses ahead of schedule and it was a little painful. I started over a few days later with the easier 'aligning' practice and I'm back in business. I am feeling better after just a few days. These poses are deceptively easy. They gently get the muscles back where they need to be. It makes sense. I would recommend this DVD to fellow back pain sufferers.

First, this is a high quality production. I mention that only because many yoga dvds are such low quality. Gary Kraftsow is a real pro -- the visual and voiced instructions by him are excellent. The theraputic advice is clear and to the point. He says in the intro that the only way to focus on each of these poses is to know what their purpose is, so the first section of the DVD is educational and informative, the second is a pose by pose description, and the third is three separate practices, about 30 minutes apiece.

Kraftsow also favors function over form -- a welcome relief from America's silly yoga Culture of Perfection. You do the poses to strengthen and heal your back, not to compete in some "pose off", a la Bikram Yoga.

Pose instruction is easy, and the poses are very basic, even for someone in the throes of back pain or who has never done any yoga before. The sessions are flow yoga style and there are three different workouts, focusing on different issues.

All in all, highly recommended. Namaste.

I bought this DVD in 2008, and have tried it from time to time as my physical circumstances have changed. I bought this based on the wonderful reviews, and the fact that it was therapy for the low back, sacrum, and hips. I was in 2 bad car accidents in my 20's, and fractured my spine 6 years ago when I wiped out after hitting a patch of wet mud while biking. The result, after I'd healed enough to move around, was that I was left with considerable chronic pain in my lower back, and if I walk for any time at all, my hips get very painful. Prior to the accident I walked 7 miles per day, and rode my bike 10. Afterwards, I found myself unable to do any real exercise at all - not wanting to let my physical condition continue to deteriorate, I was looking for a gentle form of exercise.

Some forms of yoga have been great when I was in good shape, so I thought I'd give Viniyoga a try 6 months after the accident. What I found was that it caused me more pain in my lower back, and I felt as though my muscles went into spasm that lasted quite a long time. Instead of opening up my hips or pelvis area, I felt more locked up. I do have to say that if my injuries hadn't been as severe, this DVD has real potential - so I'll keep it, hoping I'll get to the point where I can use it.

A little more than a year after the accident, and some physical therapy behind me, I tried again. This time I still found my back hurt while doing the workout, esp the exercises done while lying on my back. I've decided to wait awhile, try a little more therapy before doing Viniyoga. I also had my physical therapist look at the video, and he felt it was good, and well worth hanging onto for use further down the road.

I definately don't want to give up on this program because I do think it's a very good program, but I did want to review this for people who might find themselves in a similar position. Both to let them know it's a good program, and not to give up if it's painful at first.

What this program offers which others I've looked at don't, is a really good understanding of how yoga can be utilized to stregthen the back, and get it back in condition. An excellent presentation on how to perform the various postures. And then the postures/exercises are broken down into different segments based on the areas one might need to concentrate on the most. For example, after so much time w/o any significant exercise, I very much need to stregthen my core, especially my lower abdomen, and all of my back muscles. When I exercise my back now it goes into spasm - which is pretty excrutiating - ever get a foot cramp? LOL Imagine that in your back, and I can't get out of it myself! Yikes it hurts!

Anyway, I know this is a DVD I'll hang on to until I can do exercises w/o inducing more pain. And, until then, I wanted to suggest an alternative for those who find themselves in the same position I'm in, as well as those who would like an excellent core training DVD - the only one I've found that I can do at this point. It was suggested by a friend who's a pilates instructor, and it's the one DVD I'm finding offers significant healing from my injury. It's called Core Training for Belly Dancers by Gerson Kuhr ... he goes by another name based on a show he was in, but it escapes me at present - you can ck out the link if you're interested. Core Training for Belly Dancers
I've been using it now for a little over 2 months, and I can feel the improvement in my abdominal muscles - which I know are imperitive to a strong back. I can also feel improvement in my back - lower back in particular. It's been worth the $30 price tag!

Length:: 1:49 Mins

I hate doing this yoga DVD because the exercises are so boring and the narrator's voice drones. But I return to it time and time again, because it's the only thing besides a Chiropractor visit which fixes my hips and gets me aligned and ready to work again. It is extremely effective.

Suck it up, buy the DVD, and use it regularly, and your hips will thank you.

After months of chronic pain in my low back, hip and sacrum, I am so thankful I found this viniyoga therapy. Within a week of doing the exercises daily, I regained strength and stability in my target areas, and am continuing to enjoy these benefits and increased mobility and flexibility.

Dedicating 30 minutes a day to this gentle practice has changed my perspective on the importance of self-care. Three weekly visits to the physical therapist, daily meds, regular massages and over $1000 in co-pays have not given me what Gary's simple, effective therapy can.

The DVD provides helpful information in a simple format. Take from it what you need (I recommend reviewing the educational information in the first sections to increase your understanding of this vital system in our bodies. For examle, you learn about how we need to contract, expand, and relax our muscles to enjoy full health in this area). In the exercise sections, Gary's slow, measured approach allows you to focus on your breath and healing postures to make the most of this self-care routine.

If you are looking for relief, you've found it.

There are three parts to this dvd. I started with the 23 minute low back/sacrum portion and did it everyday for 2 weeks. After about a week, I hardly had any pain anymore. (I've been seeing a chiropractor off and on for almost 3 years, and I was in mild to medium pain 24/7). I then started doing the 31 minute hips section and that was great as well and alleviated some other pain I'd been having. You DO need to keep doing it everyday, and I've only had this for a month, but soon I'll move on to the 32 minute maintenance section. The moves are very mild and simple and there is a section that explains the moves if you aren't sure exactly how to do it. There is also a lecture by the creator of this which some might find helpful. I HIGHLY recommend if you are not finding relief with other therapies.

My husband and I have been doing this practice for a while and we both love it. Gary Kraftsow's voice and instruction are very clear, understandable and unambiguous. There is no distracting music. The setting is pleasant with simplicity, not distracting or gimmicky. The people doing the movements follow Gary Kraftsow's cues along with the viewer at home. Their movements demonstrate what is being cued but they are not like choreographed ballet dancers or gymnasts; they are obviously experienced yoga practitioners but one can identify with them and thus be open to learning from their demonstrations. The pace is very good for allowing understanding of the movement and the breath. The practices are vigorous but when finished one is very relaxed and the areas of concentration (in this DVD it's the low back, sacrum and hips) feel relaxed and much improved, where there might have been problems before. This is becoming our favorite yoga practice and we recommend this viniyoga DVD most highly, as well as Gary Kraftsow's other viniyoga DVD for shoulders, upper back and neck - also excellent. It is a joy to have found these DVDs. We are very grateful to Mr. Kraftsow for developing these practices and to all who are responsble for making these available.

This DVD focuses on issues of the lower body, specifically the lower back, hips, and sacrum (the other DVD in this series focuses on the upper body). It differs from other yoga media offerings in that it contains a strong educational component in addition to the practice element. Also, the practices offered on the DVD are designed for rehabilitation and strengthening, and thus they are more similar in feel to a physical therapy session than to a yoga class.

The main menu of this DVD consists of four separate segments: 1) Understanding Back Pain, 2) Technique Workshop, 3) Therapeutic Practices, and 4) Special Features. The Technique Workshop provides the opportunity to study individual postures in greater depth. The Viniyoga Therapeutic Practices offer three complete practice segments tailored to meet different needs as described below. (Note: the DVD also provides bonus MP3 audio versions of each practice.)

1. Lower Back Therapy (23 minutes). Gary recommends that you begin here, as this is the most gentle practice. The postures are performed entirely on the floor and provide very mild stretching of the lower back area.
2. Hip Therapy (31 minutes). This practice, while still gentle and centered on floor postures, focuses more on the hips. Unlike more traditional hip-opening sequences found in other yoga practices, the goal here is to stretch the hips from four perspectives (front, back, and each side).
3. Strength and Stability (32 minutes). This practice is the only one on the DVD to contain standing postures, and thus the intensity level is slightly higher than the other two. Gary notes that it is designed to build long-term health and fitness in the low back, sacrum, and hips.

The practices feature a single student working on a mat against a rather sparse white set, with Gary providing instruction via voiceover. Most people are likely to find the practices rather dry--Gary's voice is a big monotone and repetitive, and there's little "fun factor" here. However, these are therapeutic in nature, and as such, they are quite effective. Although I personally didn't get much out of the first two practices--mainly because the low back and hips aren't a problem area for me--I was pleasantly surprised by the third, as it nicely stretched out not only my lower back but also my upper back, shoulders, and entire torso. This DVD would be useful for virtually anyone who is at risk for lower back issues, from those who work at physical labor to those with more chronic conditions. I definitely recommend Viniyoga Therapy for Lower Back, Hips, and Sacrum as an excellent tool for alleviating pain and promoting health in the entire lower back area.

I have alot of pain in hip area. I went to doctors to find some relief and was recommended to practice yoga. I wanted something that focused on my lower back and hips. After a quick search on Amazon, I found Viniyoga. I felt immediate results and the instructor takes the time to show the techniques and give info on why people are in pain. The DVD also gives you the options to vary the intensity of your workout. It's also very relaxing and I feel so much better. It will save you alot of money if you've been seeing doctors or going to classes to don't give you focus you need for these problem areas. A nice feature is the MP3 format you can download so you can practice anywhere!