Customer Reviews

Yoga Zone: Gentle Yoga for Beginners

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

 

 

I have only tried a few Yoga Zones, but this is not one of the better ones, it is okay at best and has a few flaws. It is divided into 2-20 minute sessions, both led by Charles Matkin. The setting is outdoors at the Grand Lidos San Souci resort where many of the Yoga Zone videos are filmed.

The first session, Charles is joined by Lisa Bennett. They start with sun salutation while on their knees with hands clasped behind their back, then moving arms out and up with palms together, later rising up on the knees and bending forward at the waist. Then they move into a spine stretch, followed by a hip opener stretch, where you are seated with your heels together and hands behind you. Next are some standing poses, first downward facing dog, then lunge pose on the right leg later adding arms up and out to side then leaning forward. Unfortunately the left side is completely missed in this pose so if you want to do it you will have to rewind or stop the program. You will stretch out in seal pose, before moving into side lunges first on the right, then left. Then you will do a seated spine stretch where legs are out in front with hands behind you. Towards the end of the program the music becomes rather loud which is a bit distracting, to add to this there are some more challenging poses ahead. First table pose, which is repeated a few times and held for a bit the last time. Then you will do scale pose, Lisa does the modification where she is on her elbows, while Charles goes for the advanced version where arms are out and legs are straight. Following this you will do a seated stretch with one knee in, other leg out while reaching opposite arm to extended leg, then you repeat on the other side. Then you will move into plank pose, done on either knees or toes while moving into downward facing dog, these two are combined for a vinyasa, before finishing with more planks into chatarangas. A few final stretches remain, cobra into locust pose, childs pose, extended bound angular, and final relaxation pose.

In the second session, a sunburned Charles returns this time assisted by Jean. They are sitting on the beach this time which provides a nice backdrop. You start on your knees and do some shoulder rolls before going into a neck stretch. Then you will move into cat pose which Charles calls a "groovy pose", then you will do a combination of cat and seal pose. Then you will work the abs a little bit by doing a crunch variation with arms extended in front, then you will extend the legs up in the air and slightly back, this felt weird to me personally. Next is the clock which is basically pelvis rolls, then moving bridge poses where the hips and arms lift up at the same time. Following this is lunge pose, high or low while adding arms, then a cat-seal pose combination. Next you will stand for a "Sun Breath", arms up and out then diving down into a forward bend, this is repeated once or twice. Then you will do a standing camel pose, standing forward bend, before finshing out on the floor with bound angular, hamstring stretch, reclined bound angular (restorative pose), another moving bridge and finally coming into a cross legged seat.

While I don't have all of Yoga Zone videos, this is not one of their better efforts, and certainly not gentle as the title states. The first session also appears as session 2 in Total Body Conditioning, which overall would be a better choice than this one. This would be better suited for those experienced in yoga and definitely not for complete beginners. Fortunately most of Yoga Zones programs are good, but this one missed the boat.

...that the 1st session on this DVD is a re-packaging of Session 2 from the Yoga Zone Total Body Conditioning for Beginners DVD! This is not mentioned in any way on the Gentle Yoga DVD. How disappointing, considering that there are many other decent programs from the Yoga Zone TV series that they could have used without "double-dipping" on this one.

That being said (if you don't have Total Body Conditioning), Session 1 is a decent program. However, Charles does skip a lunge pose on one side. In this program Yoga Zone tried to edit the mistake....unsucessfully. One moment Charles and Lisa are lunging with their left leg and literally 2 seconds later....Charles and Lisa are lunging with their right leg! If Yoga Zone couldn't edit that any better then they really should not have even used this session on the DVD.

Session 2 (with Charles and Jean) seems a bit choppy and without flow. Charles has you do a neck stretch after doing just a couple of shoulder rolls. Seems a bit forced to me. I didn't consider the ab pose (legs up and feet near the head) to be "gentle" at all.

I give this DVD barely 3 stars.

What happened to you, Yoga Zone? You used to put out quality yoga DVD's!

I just attempted to do the first session of this video and it just goes too fast!!!! The stretches are too hard for someone that just may be starting out and it goes way too fast. There's no time to catch your breath and you start to hurt which if this is gentle yoga I would't think you would. I am quite dissappointed. This is defintley not gentle.

I bought this DVD looking for a slow, relaxing type of workout to supplement more strenuous astanga yoga. I was immediately put off by how loud the music was over the instructor's voice. The first pose was very uncomfortable for me (sitting on my lower legs) and I could not do these poses until I had stretched out my lower legs muscles. This ruined the continuity of the poses from the beginning. But, what most bothered me was the omission of one side of the body for the forward lunge. I could not believe that anyone would put out a DVD with such a major flaw. I have only worked with the first workout, but I doubt if I will ever put the DVD back in. I am going to buy a restorative yoga DVD that has long, slow poses with deep relaxation and I notice there are a couple of these products available here and I already have other DVDs for regular workouts.

I bought this thinking that I am totally out of shape and I should start out extra slow. Turns out that this DVD is too slow for me. Buy this if you don't even walk out to your mailbox every day or are recovering from an injury or something. But if you get up and move even a little bit (walk two blocks to work every day) or you have a job on your feet all day, chances are that this will be a little too gentle on you. And yes, beware the lunge mistake in the first segment. They forget to work your other side so be sure to rewind and repeat the sequence with the opposite leg! Not too bad, all in all.

I thought this was a very poorly produced DVD for several reasons. It's quite obvious from the get-go that the 2 rushed sessions on this DVD are just a rehash of what's on the TV program of the same name (which I have not seen). I've studied yoga for many, many years and bought this DVD as a way of getting back to doing postures on a regular basis after a (too) long hiatus. I had some excellent teachers years ago and this made it even more blatant, how poorly executed this DVD is.

Save your money and keep looking! I wish they would take returns on DVDs too, I'd love to get my $$$ back for this one. It's headed for the "free" box at the library.

You can read my complete review of this DVD at: myreallifereviews dot com

I like this DVD because it is easy to follow with slow transitions. It is a great introduction to Yoga. I suffer from an autoimmune disease and have found that even with my low energy levels and muscle/joint pain that this DVD is manageable. It is nice that each segment is only 20 minutes long. Between the two segments, I can pick the easier or harder one depending upon how I am feeling that day.

The only negatives I have are that it is basically a TV show taped onto a DVD. It says "after the commercial break", then pauses awkwardly & restarts again. I just wish that they would have done some better editing.

Plus, during the 1st 20 minute routine, they do a lunge, but only do it on one side of your body (they forget the other side). The first time I did it, that completely threw me off, but now that I know about that error, I just skip the one pose and don't worry about it. :)

To sum it all up, my only complaints have to do with the video's editing.

This video is so great! It was one of my first yoga dvd purchases (about a year and a half ago). Now I have about 8 DVD's and I still use this DVD at least 4 times a week! The stretches are gentle and perfect for beginners yet it still provides a nice workout when you're more experienced. It always helps calm my mind and helps me unwind before bed. Some of what they say, like "were gonna get crazy here" is cheesy - but you get used to it and it's a great workout :) I give this video 5 stars!!

I really enjoyed this DVD. Except for the music being a little too loud and Charles being a little hard to hear, it is a good routine. He has a sense of humor that is evident right from the start when he claims that Lisa, his partner, is his favorite instructor. The poses flow together beautifully and really stretch the body. He tells you to do what you can and to be comfortable with where you are right now. The two sessions flow together so it seems as if you are really doing just one session. Charles has good instructions and good pointers. For example, remember to relax your shoulders away from your ears when they automatically want to go into the ears. My only complaint about this tape was the fact that he did a lunge sequence on just one side so I felt I had to do the other side on my own. Unlike Douglas's Table Pose from Yoga Zone Stretching for Flexibility, Charles' Table Pose and Boat Pose were done with the breath so you felt comfortable doing these more difficult poses. Charles made you feel it was okay if you couldn't hold them as long as he and Lisa did. I highly recommend this DVD because it gave me what I wanted - stretching all my muscles while being relaxed and energized. Definitely a good buy!

This is the best easy to follow Yoga video I have ever used. I am doing this every day and I love it. Highly recommend. Clear, concise instruction. I find most videos difficult to follow without watching and then I miss the pose. No problem with this video.