Product Details

• Actors: Yoga Journal
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Gaiam, Inc.
• VHS Release Date: June 13, 2000
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301475917
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,100 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Yoga Journal's excellent series of videos offers a thorough beginner's guide to yoga stretching and breathing practices. Patricia Walden's soothing voice and gentle approach to teaching eases the viewer through several stretching techniques, never rushing and often repeating exercises "so that the body can learn." Walden's slow approach is also "permission giving"; she talks the beginner through each stretch, suggesting ways to breathe and enhance even the most seemingly static pose, yet never pushing the viewer beyond his or her comfort level. Who would have thought the classic standing mountain pose could wear a person out? The tape is a good hour long, and may leave the viewer feeling refreshed and more aware of his or her body. One can't help but be a little inspired by Walden's fantastic, and realistic, body. She is easy on the eyes, yet not intimidatingly so. The production value on this video is excellent and consistent; the music is pleasant, even, and subtle. The exercises synthesize into one hour-long routine ending with a relaxation pose, so breaking it down into shorter segments is not as easy as with other Yoga Journal tapes. All in all an excellent and accessible beginner's guide to yoga. --Gilia Angell

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction for beginners, January 31, 2000

By	Mary N. Cordero (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews

It's been 16 years since I took a yoga class in college, and this tape (and the accompanying booklet) was a great re-introduction to 17 or so of the core yoga poses. I really like how Patricia takes the time to explain how to properly come into and out of a pose, as well as proper alignment. I also appreciate the use of props, not being as limber as I once was. These props can be easily improvised from things around the house, and allow you to receive the benefits of the poses without straining. As I've progressed in my practice, I've moved on to other, faster-moving videos like Yoga for Energy with Rodney Yee (which I was not able to keep up with at first, not being sure about proper alignment and position), but I still come back to this video (and the accompanying booklet) for review. As I've advanced a little now, I find myself holding some of the poses longer as she goes through the explanations. Eventually, I will completely move beyond this level, but I sure am glad that this video helped ease me back into yoga. I highly recommend it for beginners.

65 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is Iyengar yoga; important focus on good alignment, August 3, 1999

By	An Islander - See all my reviews

The Yoga Journal series of tapes are in the style of Iyengaryoga, which uses props such as blocks, straps, folded blankets,furniture, etc., as an aid in performing the postures. (I personally find such props distracting, and I prefer to just go as far in each pose as I can without bothering with them, but I still like philosophy of this style.) Iyengar stresses precision of alignment, and here I think this tape excels, making it a very good beginner's tape as well as a reference. I agree with the other reviewers who find it slow and lacking in production values - there is no waterfall or other natural wonder in the background, as in the Living Yoga series, nor is there a classroom full of attractive bodies like you find in the Bryan Kest tapes. It is more like good medicine, not necessarily tasty, but definitely good for you. Once you get familiar with it, you will find yourself using your remote to get down to work, as there is an awful lot of filler - first ads for other tapes, then titles stating all the cautions, then an odd little video of Patricia flowing through some poses in a flowing costume, then the practice; oh, but first she gabs at you for awhile about all the benefits of yoga... I just leave it cued to where the standing poses begin, do them, finish the tape or not depending on time, and have a productive session. There is a guided relaxation in the end which is good, if you don't crack up at Patricia earnestly asking you to feel you eyeballs shrinking. The time spent on getting Mountain pose exactly right at the beginning of the session is a good reminder, but you wouldn't want to do it every day. There are a number of different styles of the yoga of physique, i.e. Hatha Yoga (and then there are many other branches of yoga, pertaining to all aspects of life). Those looking for the sweat-inducing, so-called Power Yoga will not find it here, as that is the Ashtanga form, where poses flow more quickly and without pauses. But I feel that all yoga practioners would do well to try this tape and the others in the series for their focus on alignment. Proper alignment is important to avoid strain and injury and to reap the full benefit of the poses, which after all are ancient and work on many subtle levels beyond being the latest workout craze. They are meant to effect internal organs, glands, as well as subtle energy centers. You don't want to be crunching down and collapsing in places where you need to be lifted and open, and this is easy to forget. So practice with Patricia and build a good foundation for your future as a yogini.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yoga for beginners is a perfect place to start, June 9, 2001

By	Yoga Dad - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I have had several of Patricia Walden(as well as Rodney Yee's) videos for several years. The "Yoga For Beginners" video is an excellent place not only to start, but also to use for review. I often watch it when I'm doing preparatory warmups before my yoga routine to help me review and reinforcethe details of specific poses before heading into my yoga routine.

This is very helpful because in many of the other videos in the Yoga Journal series, the pace is much faster and you don't have the level of detail in the instruction given in "Yoga for Beginners".

Once you have the basics down its much easier to follow videos such as "Yoga for Strength" and "Yoga Remedies..." which move at a much faster pace and incorporate vinyasa(which is a series of poses in succession). Still, even when you've worked with those tapes for a while, it's nice to be able to go back to the Yoga for beginners tape from time to time for that extra, more detailed and slower instruction.

One more thing that I particularly like is that Patricia Walden does the poses in a "mirror image" to you so you can move directly with her instead of having to "transpose" the poses (asanas) to the opposite side. That eliminates a lot of confusion and makes it easier to relax into the practice instead of trying to reverse everything in your mind.

I have turned many people on to this video tape as a way to get started in Yoga and recommend it highly!