Product Details

• Actors: Paul Grilley
• Directors: Ian Albert and Mark Holmes
• Format: NTSC
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 2
• Studio: Pranamaya, Inc.
• DVD Release Date: July 18, 2005
• Run Time: 338 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000B5871I
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,756 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Grilley is an intelligent and empathic teacher...This is a great resource for learning [Yin Yoga]. --Yoga Journal, February 2006

Product Description

This 2-DVD set by Paul Grilley, Yin Yoga's foremost authority, is the definitive presentation on this essential practice. Yin Yoga emphasizes yoga postures held on the floor for long periods of time (usually 2 to 5 minutes or longer) with a minimum of muscular effort. The focus is on gentle stretching and stimulation of the fascia and connective tissues of the body. Rather than an exclusive style of practice, Yin Yoga is the necessary complement to muscular, dynamic strength-based yoga and fitness practices.

This 2-disc set contains over 5 1/2 hours of material, including:
Fascinating 1 1/2 hour lecture on the theory of Yin Yoga
3 hour-long Yin Yoga practice sequences including variations for flexibility level and joint structure
3 specially choreographed Yang, or dynamic, Taoist Yoga practices
8 audio-only guided Yin Yoga sequences of adjustable length.
Customizable playback of the Yin and Yang practices to create new sequences

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

132 of 132 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This yoga will change your life!, September 5, 2005

By 

YogaKat "YogaKat" (Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Yin Yoga: The Foundations of a Quiet Practice (DVD)

This may seem like a lot to spend on a yoga DVD, but you get so much for your money. It's well worth it.

It's a 2-set DVD.

The first DVD is lecture on theory on Yin Yoga, learning the yang sequences, and special features including biographies, demonstration performances, and more. Paul Grilley is an excellent presenter. He explains in a very clear, complete, and sometimes humorous way the theory behind Yin Yoga. Yin yoga works on your connective tissue and not so much muscular stretching like other yogas.

The second DVD includes the practice and has three one-hour Yin practices: hip series, spine series, and infanct series. All practice is done on the floor and you hold the postures for up to five minutes to work on your connective tissues. It is a much different practice than traditional yoga. You will feel your body and bones open up. I love these practices and Yin yoga is a great way to balance out vinyasa or bikram yoga practices (Yang). For each of these 3 practices you have two choices of audio: either indepth instruction or just queues. What a great idea! Once you know the practices you won't normally want to listen over and over to the detailed instructions and this option allows you to do that. Paul leads the instruction in a very pleasant and complete manner.

Also included on the practice DVD are three Yang practices running about 2 minutes each. These are a beautifual mix on vinyasa style yoga and tai chi. You have the options to loop each one individually or sequence-repeat in any order you like. This is a lovely way to customize your workout to whatever your energy level is for any given day.

The final practice on the DVD is four routines with still photos and queues. Again you can mix and match how you want. This is lovely way to make your own practice without distraction of a class room setting.

My acupuncturist recommended this style of yoga and I was so happy to find this DVD. It has balanced out my home practice and my Bikram yoga practice. The producers of this DVD have done a fabulous job of designing the interactive screens. I only wish they would have added some light music in the background, but you can always have a CD player at hand to add your own. Paul Grilley instructions are very clear and soothing and his students demonstrate for both beginning, intermediate, and advanced practice. Suzee Grilley demonstrates the advanced postures and she radiates them beautifully.

I highly recommend this DVD for everyone. Please, also see my other yoga DVD reviews on Amazon.

79 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a DVD that's not just one more sun salutation, January 16, 2007

By 

Julie H. Rose - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Yin Yoga: The Foundations of a Quiet Practice (DVD)

I wrote a review of this DVD about a month ago and now am revising it because:

I cannot say enough good things about it! If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would.

What's so great?

1. There are hundreds of yoga dvds out there and almost all of them teach a variation of the sun salutation. Thank you, Pranamaya and Paul Grilley, for breaking that mold! Just for the refreshing change, I rate the DVD highly.

2. There is a lot of information on these DVDs. The first in the set has "Theory" (which I haven't even viewed yet, because I have his book) and the other has three hour hour long Yin practices and 3 Yang (flow) looping sequences. You can also create your own series and have the choice of doing the full hours with either instruction and talking or cues and music.

One reviewer said that this DVD is not for beginners. I disagree. As an intermediate yoga student, I've inadvertantly hurt myself doing so-called beginner practices from other DVDs that were for beginners on account of how fast they were moving; my brain and body did not hve time to adjust to the new posture, let alone breath into it.

Yes, the holds are somewhat long (4-5 minutes) but these are not difficult poses. Anyway, the point is not to force your body into doing anything it absoutely cannot do. Grilley offers suggestions for alternative poses and explains how and why one would hold their body a certain way based on both your flexibility and your bone structure.

I wrote this a month ago:

I find the Yin practice to be wonderful. I can feel my body fighting it's "need" to hold onto tension. Most days, it melts away and I end this practice feeling like I've done a long meditation and had an invigorating massage at the same time. What could be better?

Now: after only one month, I am feeling and seeing the results of this practice. It enables me to work harder in my other, more strenuous practices, and I'm having almost no chronic back pain after a day of work.

This is the best Yoga DVD I have, hands down.

74 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating exposition on Anatomy, Yoga, and Meridians, October 18, 2005

By 

Stuart Rice "Education Executive, Yoga Advent... (Tempe, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yin Yoga: The Foundations of a Quiet Practice (DVD)

Paul Grilley has made a name for himself as one of the most vocal proponents of correctly understanding the role of Anatomy in a yoga practice. Now, in Yin Yoga, he blows the roof off some cherished concepts in exercise science in a lucid exposition that is dead on, charismatically delivered, and utterly fascinating. And that's not even getting into the practice part of things!

Pranayama and Paul appear to have formed a partnership where the major winner is the Yoga practitioner. This 2 DVD set is split into two foci: Theory and Practice. The theory section deals primarily with expounding the logic behind the Yin Yoga approach. "Yin" Yoga focuses on long holds with relaxed muscles; the focus is to stretch ligament and fascia while providing gentle pressure on the joints. Again, one can hear the tortured cried of the exericse physiologists and kinesiologists: how can you honestly say it's alright to stress the joints? What unfolds in a roughly hour and 3/4 lecture is the most lucid and accurate explanation of why this is the best idea ever. And without giving too much away, the whammy at the end is well set-up, and an utterly new way of seeing into the role of ligament and fascia in keeping the body physically and energetically well.

The lecture CD also contains a demontration of Yang forms -- those that work the muscles. These are complemented by the Yin forms demonstrated on Disc 2. There is approximately 5 hours of practice material, between master classes and slideshow presentations of practices. The Yin practices are a little bizarre when approached from the standard, Krisnamacharya vinyasa perspective. The first shot in the first practice is of Paul sitting like an ancient Kung Fu master with a stopwatch. But, from there, the practice unfolds with a Zen like elegance. It is certainly true that not everyone will find success with this practice on the first try. As Paul explains on the first DVD, the very fact that we struggle with practice is indicative of the fact that we MUST continue to do it! Yin Yoga is a practice of patience, and it will resonate well with some, and as antithetical to others.

As always, Pranamaya's DVDs will first appeal to those who are fascinates with theory-in-practice, and may already be "into" the larger picture of Yoga beyond the physical aspects of asana. But there is much here that can be appreciated by a wide range of practitioners and backgrounds -- not the least are exercise scientists and physiologists who may need to cast off the shackles of early 20th century thinking. In summary, a superlative effort that royally pays off on many levels.