| Guide Picks - Top 10 Yoga Videos |
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Trying to
learn yoga from a videotape is a different experience. Here's a selection
of the best tapes for some inspiring yoga workout. If you want to reduce
tension, tone your muscles, shed weight, light up your inner spirit, or
seek peace from within, these videos can come in handy. Whether you are
a busybee or a fitness freak, a housewife or a pregnant woman, a beginner
or a confirmed yogi, these tapes are tempting!
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| 1) "Yoga
Zone" - Alan Finger |
This beginner's boxed set is a fresh approach to yoga, designed especially
for neophytes by yoga master Alan Finger. With detailed and careful explanation
of the asanas, "Yoga Zone" has two different instructors
demonstrate both advanced and beginning styles for each pose. This video
will guide learners to go at their own pace through the basic asanas,
breathing techniques and meditation. |
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| 2) "Living
Yoga - A.M./P.M." |
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Loosen your muscles, relax your mind, gain some energy and feel healthier.
This set is especially for busy and overworked people who want to reap
the full benefits of yoga as a means to relax and keep fit. Rodney Yee's
morning (AM) practice is good for beginners, while Paticia Walden's evening
(PM) poses are more advanced. An excellent video shot in a desert and
a beach, it also includes guided meditation.
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3) "Basic
Yoga Workout for Dummies"
Essentially for people who want to start practicing yoga from scratch, this
basic program of 45 minutes teaches 12 basic asanas — the "daily dozen"
— while offering challenges and modifications to each. Sara Ivanhoe
systematically demystifies yoga, and presents the fundamentals with emphasizes
on proper body alignment, the link between breathing and body movement,
and flexibility.
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4) "Total
Yoga: The Flow Series"
This three-volume set, called Earth, Water, and Fire, each target a different
level of expertise: The first two, (45 min. each) present the basic Hatha
Yoga style workout, standing postures and floor poses. The third, the most
rigorous "Fire" (60 min.), combines both classical and contemporary postures.
Tracey Rich and Ganga White keep the asanas simple, yet out of the
reach of absolute beginners.
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5) "Yoga:
Mind & Body" - Ali MacGraw
This beautifully done video, shot in serene surroundings with a
relaxing soundtrack, is best suited for learners with some previous experience.
Ali McGraw and Eric Schiffman lead you through 50 minutes of rewarding experience
with "ujjayi" breathing, shoulder stretches, sun salutations, back bends
and twists, and various standing poses.
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6) "Crunch
Yoga Mama: Prenatal Yoga"
Yoga can help pregnancy! This 40-minute video on pre-natal workout
by a pregnant instructor (and her class of women in various stages of their
pregnancies) is chic and concise, with great emphasis on safety, spine alignment,
flexibility, and individual fitness levels. Some asanas have been
modified to suit the pregnant midriff.
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7) "Yoga
Practice for Strength" - Yoga Journal
This is a good tape for intermediates from experienced instructor
Rodney Yee. If you're well within your comfort zone, and had already acquired
some flexibility, this can give you more satisfaction from your yoga workout.
Yee provides some specific cues to make your body and mind relax before
the practice, while focusing on perfection in this video of intensive workouts
teeming with challenges.
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8) "Ashtanga
Yoga" - Richard Freeman
This one — based on the traditional "Ashtanga" style —
is for advanced learners with substantial flexibility and strength. In this
two-hour video Richard Freeman demonstrates about 70 postures with special
emphasis on the sequential arrangement of each posture, movement, body alignment,
and deep breathing. A trying videotape for intermediates, it's quite unapproachable
for beginners.
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9) "The
Power of Hatha Yoga" - Naader Shagagi
If you're serious about yoga, this video by an experienced instructor
can help you consciously develop will power and physical strength —
the "Hatha" yoga style. This is a long video divided into two 40-minute
sessions — the first includes various standing positions and esoteric
poses, and the second reclining postures, inversions and bends. Again, not
for beginners!
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10) "Kundalini
Yoga: With Grace and Strength"
This 70-minute video by Carol Carlson's is aimed mainly at intermediates
and experienced practitioners. It features highly powerful exercises and
deep breathing techniques, including the "breath of fire". It has a spiritual
bent, while being quite strenuous and physically challenging. This is a
serious Kundalini Yoga video with little room for beginners.
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