Customer Reviews

Yoga Inside Out: Go Deeper [intermediate-advanced]

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

 

 

The instruction on this DVD is outstanding. I have been practicing yoga for 10 years and am often frustrated by the poor quality of the instruction on many yoga DVDs (of which I have tried quite a few). This one is refreshingly different, however, in its quality. The setting/graphics are a bit dull (I like to pretend I'm not in my living room practicing when I'm in my living room practicing!) but otherwise this is a great yoga DVD. I especially like that the sections are clearly separated so you can do whatever you're in the mood for/have time for on that particular day, or go to the instructional sections for more information. Overall an excellent choice for a guided home yoga practice.

The is the second Yoga instructional program by Paula Tursi.It is lengthy, detailed and rich in benefits. If you purchased her first program ,"Yoga, the healing way", you will be well on your way to this advanced level. To begin, there is a remarkable introduction into the program with powerful words from Paula before beginning the program:
"The deepest human drive is the drive to find connection. We spend most of our lives feeling disconnected to ourselves and our bodies or other people. We spend our time looking to others to help us regain our connection when we are looking for is already apart of us. What we fear most of all is looking into ourselves. We fear this more than the loss of connection. In yoga we are able to see realistic, so that the body does not make unrealistic demands to fill mental desires."

To begin: Understanding how the spine works; Paula and student, and "Elvis the skeleton" demonstrate anatomy and functionality of the spine. Correct body alignment during asanas to prevent injury during spinal twists, frightened cat and cow, warrior poses, learning to elongating the spine to avoid injuries. A beautiful concept on how the body operates in spirals rather than straight lines.

A breathing segment follows: "Breath of fire, pranyama , three part breath, ujjayi breathing warming the body for vinyasa practice.
All asanas are demonstrated by three different body types, very viewer friendly and allowing for realistic goals in personal practice. Poses are vividly described with Paula narrating carefully, each move and proper alignment, while two students practice along, each with variations in personal practice.

Next is a Warm up with Sun salutations, using forward bends, lunges, cobra and plank poses.

After this great warm up you are prepared for a standing flow, advanced moving poses, deeper variations of warrior and, triangle poses which may require the use of a block.

Balancing poses follow such as tree poses, high lunges, warrior three variations and so much more.
These are deep intense postures but pace yourself as you follow along the person in your level of practice.

Forward bending comes next with variations and again detailed and challenging;hinging from the hips, rotating from the pelvis and reaching forward without rounding the back.

Building core strength comes next working in back bends,bridge pose, shoulder stance, boat poses in comparative variations.

At last, a gift to you, resting pose and a journey into deep mediation using visual imagery, clouds and flowers.
The deeper explorations is bonus footage with triangle poses using a wall to learn a lesson in reach and push, shoulder stance variations, tree pose using a wall, pigeon pose using a rolled blanket.

I have made the transition from Paula's previous yoga program into this deeper challenging program.

I feel great to move out of my comfort zone and go into deepr exploration of my body's hidden abilities. It is important I feel, not to limit the body , rather to allow it to unfold gently and keep it limber at any age. This program has allowed a journey into discovery of a connection of my true self and my abilities and acceptance.

I really enjoyed this DVD. I loved the anatomical instruction in the
beginning and the ability to follow anyone of the three people who are all
doing useful variations. I am a beginner and it gave me a good place to
start, and then the ability and encouragement to see where I could go. I
also really appreciated the use of real people in the DVD. It wasn't a super model workout, but one that is realistic and for real people. I also like how it was broken down into sections so when I don't have the time I can just work on Sun Salutes if I want to. There is also a great part for breathing and meditation that I have used by itself. I would have like the location to be more inspiring, but the teaching was so clear and multi-leveled that I didn't bother me as much.

Everyone has given very detailed reviews so I don't have much more to add other than how I felt while doing the dvd. Paula is a very knowledgeable about body mechanics. I appreciated her instructions. I also appreciated that she had students of different body types in the class. The class has every element of a typical 90 minute yoga class; pranamaya, asana, savasana, and meditation. I did have some issues that are worth mentioning:

1. She referred to Kapalabhati breathing as breath of fire. It is not. They are 2 different breaths and it is common for non kundalini yoga teachers to get this wrong. Kapalabhati (cleasning breath) focuses on the exhale with no inhale. Breath of fire has an equal inhale and exhale which is light like sipping but thru the nose only.

2. Paula's form on the dvd bothered me, a lot. Her shoulders were slouching forward on a lot of the poses. As another reviewer said, do what she says not what she does.

3. The music was too loud and quite annoying especially during the meditation. ALL yoga dvds should have a music off option.

Beyond these minor complaints, this a good dvd for everyone, including beginners. The advanced poses are crow, side crow and tripod headstand. The other poses are quite basic and very accesible. A good addition to one's yoga dvd library.

The instruction in this DVD is detailed with attention to good body dynamics. The practice flows along at a moderate pace, and the music is conducive to an inward focus. The instructor's voice is gentle and soothing. I found the elaborate approach to warrior I sort of silly - I mean, the point is to align the pelvis with the front of the mat, but once you've learned that, the long approach (starting with the front knee straight, and getting the whole torso aligned before bending it) seems like a beginner's exercise. In fact, this DVD would be suitable for a beginner who was in reasonably good physical condition. While there are a couple of advanced poses, this DVD would not be terribly challenging for an advanced practitioner. The missing star is for a few occasions where the timing of the instruction was not good, and I had to come part of the way out of an asana to look at the video.

This is a wonderful DVD, however, I would say it's more for the beginner yogi (1-3 years of practice) I would highly recommend this dvd if your beginning students want to work on going deeper with their home practice. I would recommend checking out Tamara's Yoga FusionTAMARA'S YOGA FUSION

I gave this dvd 3 stars because it is not for an intermediate or advanced participant. I do however, rate it 5 stars for an advanced beginner. There are 2 or 3 moves that will challenge you (adv. beginner). Intermediates will find it a little boring, but the chapter she spends explaining the spinal movements almost makes it worth the purchase. One last thing for beginners. DO NOT mimic her movements because her form is not always the best. DO listen to what she's saying though.

I really love this DVD because it gives in-depth instruction on how to do the poses if you have never done them before. One pose which I had been introduced to before in a Shiva Rhea DVD but had been unable to do with Shiva's instruction I WAS able to do with the step by step instruction on the DVD.

I also like the emphasis on respecting your limits and on modifying or doing different variations of poses based on your body type. This DVD also includes a fascinating work shop style segment about the spine and how to do certain poses to maximize the benefit to the back.

Enjoyed this DVD, good yoga practice, but I'll echo what many others have said, this is not at the intermediate-advanced level. I'd put it solidly at the beginner-intermediate level. It's not basic enough for a first timer, but not challening enough for someone looking to kick their practice up a notch.

I was a little disappointed that the inversion section only includes shoulder-stand and nothing more challenging.

The meditation sections are great!

When I bought this dvd I was expecting a challenging yoga workout with a very detailed anatomy of the human body in relation to yoga. The dvd did provide both of those, however, I was also looking for more of a single workout, rather then different segments on either standing poses, sitting poses, ect. When I do yoga I use it as a relaxation where it's just me and the mat. However, with the use of props in this video. It was too distracting to relax when you had to constantly change the fold of a blanket or listen to instructions for folding that blanket.