I wanted a basic introduction to yoga before I embarrased myself down the local gym by taking a class. After all, we're not born knowing how to tell a tree balance from an eagle balance. Anyway, after getting a free 10-minute Barbara Currie video with a magazine which whet my apetite, I thought i'd give this video a try.
Barbara herself talks you through the poses as she does them. There are also 2 of her 'students' standing behind her, one demonstrating the beginners level of each posture and the other what you can achieve when you are more advanced.
The workout is set in a light airy studio with soft, relaxing music in the background. Barbara is very calming to listen to, she has a light lilting voice that talks you through everthing slowly. The emphasis is very much on taking things at your own pace and level. The video is suitable for nearly all ages and athletic levels, however if you do have health worries Barbara reccomends checking with your doctor before starting yoga.
The video / dvd is divided into eight 10-minute sections: 10 minute miracle - a very slow introduction with a few standing bends. Very easy.
Advanced Power Stretch - Introduces the 'salute to the sun' which is meant to energise you in the morning. It takes a while to get used to the flow of the postures but after a couple of goes you'll sailing through the moves.
Yoga Balances - Very tricky! How to stand on one leg like a tree! I have absoloutely rubbish balance, but I did find after doing the video 4 or 5 times I noticeably improved.
Bottoms and Thighs - Lots of floor stretches and holding your legs in the air. A variety of easy and hard poses.
Tums - Works on the abdominals with lots of forward and backward bends. Definitely could feel that things had been working afterwards.
Arms and Bust - A few strange looking twisty postures.
Power Stretching - A floor based section designed to help you sleep. I think it's Barbaras voice and the relaxing music that does it though.
Stay Young with Yoga - Some of the more advanced poses like the headstand are introduced. Barbara doesn't encourage you to jump straight into the posture, but shows you ways to practice to build up the strength you need to gently ease into it.
The Seven Secrets of Yoga - This is a section with Barbara talking about what she thinks are the seven main benefits to yoga and how it can help you improve your body, mind & soul.
Overall this is a nice introductory Yoga video. The way it is divided into sections means that you don't have to sit through the whole video, you can dip into whichever section you fancy and do as much or as little as you like. I have to say this is a lot easier to do on the DVD version where you don't have to fwd and rwd through the tape.
I found that after a month of doing the workout a couple of times a week there was a noticable difference in my posture and balance. I didn't lose any weight (although Barabara does reccomend a diet if this is what you want to do). I also found the video very relaxing. However it doesn't take long to get bored of the basics and want to learn more, hence I did brave the class at the gym. It certainly made me a lot more confident in the class as I already had my sun salute down pat.
A very basic introduction, but if you've done yoga before this isn't for you. If you're not a fan of Geri Halliwell it might also be a good place to start.
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Jun 14th, 2003
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