Customer Reviews

Yogilates Workout Two [VHS]

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

 

 

This tape is a pleasant mixture of beginner Pilates mat exercises and basic yoga postures (2 sun salutes, Warrior 1 and 2, triangle pose, a few floor stretches, bridge, etc.). Unfortunately, I bought it under the mistaken belief that it was meant for people very familiar with yoga and Pilates, but it's absolutely NOT. It's really more geared for advanced beginners than true intermediate level yogis or Pilates practitioners.

Jonathan Urla has a nice, gentle manner, gives simplified but clear dirctions, and the tape does a good job of giving you an up-close view of his positions. However, there is very little emphasis on the timing of the breath during the Pilates or the yoga, which surprised me, since Urla mentions the importance of the breath early on.

I was curious about Yogilates but I have to say that for me, a fairly devoted yogi who occassionally dabbles in Pilates, it has nowhere near the power to transform body and mind as either yoga or Pilates in their more pure form.

Still, for someone just starting to explore both, this tape might be fun. You can certainly borrow mine!

When I first got the tape, I thought it will be more along the lines of "power yoga" exercises, meaning that you will need a lot of stamina (and strength) to complete the workout. Been already familiar with both Pilates and Yoga; I found it to be quite fluid and even easy to follow thru the entire workout. I was already alternating Pilates and Yoga in my weekly practice but separatedly; finally someone came up with the idea of fusing both practices into one.
The first half is more about Pilates style floor exercises which concentrate on strenghtening the core muscles, i.e: abs and lower back; while the second half concentrates on traditional yoga poses and twists that stretch the entire muscles of the body (sun salutations, triangle, side stretch, dog, cobra, shoulder stand pose and so on). It begins with a quick warm up and ends with savasana or relaxation pose. Jonathan Urla has nicely fuse both techniques into a single workout session quite fluidly and in a gentle way, not over-exhausting. His soft voice and gentle manners (propper of a choreographer)takes you thru the entire workout without leaving you short of breath and feeling fresh and stress relieved, yet muscle toned, at the end. If by performing this exercises frequently with this tape I can achieve Urla's chiseled physique I'll be more than pleased. I wish he will come up with more tapes like this, perhaps aimmed at more advanced students.

I wanted to let you know I received Yogilates II and tried it out this evening and I absolutely love it! It has some new and innovating moves that I'm not used to doing and I felt it had such a well rounded mix of stretch, pilates, yoga and even some relaxation that I couldn't be happier! It was well worth the wait! I just love both your videos and hope you continue to make more new ones.
Thank you so much!

I've been doing Yoga daily for 9 years and have added Pilates into my daily practice for the last several months now. With over 95 Yoga programs (and a growing number of Pilates programs) I have a good feel for what is available in terms of this genre of media.

I just did this program this morning and it is a definite keeper!

Though it's the intermediate Yogilates program I found it to be very doable, just challenging enough without being a struggle. I felt great afterwards, very open but not at all depleted, in fact I felt quite energized!

Like Yogilates 1 there are three sections to it which breaks the workup into logical sections. This makes it very managible and gives you an opportunity to pause the program if you need a little extra time between sections.

This program is unique in it's sequence compared to most other Yoga based programs, especially with the Sun Salutes coming in the third section. You are gently yet thoroughly warmed up by the previous sections so it makes the Sun Salutes (which are usually treated as warm up) a very different experience. After the Sun Salutes you continue with a more intense Yoga section of Standing poses and the like which eventually winds down and ends in Savasana (relaxation pose)

I also (as mentioned by another reviewer) like the extra view that is shown for the poses throughout the program. It definitely makes it much easier to be sure you are doing things correctly.

For someone looking for a nice and flowing integration of Pilates and Yoga I would highly recommend this program!

Namaste

Yogilates is a blend of yoga and Pilates, and in Workout 2, instructor Jonathon Urla leads an intermediate-level class. The practice is broken into three sections, thus allowing you to customize your workout. The first 12-minute segment focuses mainly on stretches from a seated position to warm up the body. In the second segment, you'll start immediate with a shoulderstand/plow series and then move right into the Pilates rollover, which was a nice flow. You'll continue with additional Pilates-inspired abs work and then do some additional core work from an all-fours position; this entire segment lasted about 17 minutes. The third segment was the longest at 29 minutes. After some opening stretches, you'll move into a sun salutation series from yoga, gradually adding in additional poses such as lunges and the warrior series. The total time for the workout is 54 minutes.

Overall, I enjoyed this hybrid practice, although I found it to be more yoga-focused than Pilates and was a bit disappointed that it did not include more Pilates matwork. Jonathon Urla cues well and offers very good form pointers throughout the workout. This practice is probably most appropriate for those with some prior exposure to both yoga and Pilates who are interested in combining the two disciplines.

Wow! This tape is fabulous! I was a little skeptical at first, but afterwards I am believer. You get a full floor routine that really targets the core muscles, and then a full standing series of yoga exercises that flow together and challenge you without getting too advanced. I consider myself intermediate level and that is exactly where this tape is, with some really hard stuff that will keep me working. I also have to note the great music on this tape. I've bought other yoga and Pilates tapes and this one definitely has the best music. It actually goes with the movement, changing from meditative to more earthy rythms when appropriate. And kudos to the instructor! Great body, great inspritation! If you're bored with regular yoga tapes, I say try Yogilates!

I've been doing yoga for over a year now. I'm also a teacher. There are a few new movements on this video but not much else. Frankly, I would rather do pure yoga.