Barbara Benagh's "Power Yoga For Every Body"
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 7:51 pm
I picked this up after Rant mentioned this teacher as someone who presents an alternative to the Bikram mindset.
Nicely programmed DVD - uses clever exercise selection and clever editing etc to put routines together from the "full" sequence (which seems to take about 90+ minutes). In other words, you can get a 50 minute "Vitality" sequence, or an 60 minutes "Energy and Clarity" sequence etc. which skip certain poses in favor of others.
The "three different levels" (Beginner, Intermediate,Advanced) aspect doesn't work so well - the beginner variations aren't all that different from the intermediate ones, just shorter...I could be wrong about this, since I've only played with the DVD four or five times so far.
Benagh does a narrative voice over with alignment and imagery details while one of her senior students actually performs the poses. He's obviously an expert and makes it look easy. She's got that soothing, new-Agey thing down pat, but it's not as annoying as it might be. A lot of Yoga/Meditation DVDs try to induce an ecstatic state of mind with shimmery synthesizers, video tricks and dramatic cuts and edits, but this one stays right on track - one guy, one mat, two camera views, nice tinkly relaxing music in the background.
Not nearly as tough as the Bikam routine, even without the heat - no series of one legged balance poses to kick my ass and humble me. It's very much an "energy" practice. But that's cool with me. And I definitely get the sense of deep relaxation and well being I seek (the reason I do hatha yoga, fuck conditioning, Cross-Fit, "body molding" or "core" or "toning) by doing the sequences on the DVD.
Got it at Borders for $20. I've paid a lot more (Hello, "Fast and Loose") and gotten a lot less for the buck.
Nicely programmed DVD - uses clever exercise selection and clever editing etc to put routines together from the "full" sequence (which seems to take about 90+ minutes). In other words, you can get a 50 minute "Vitality" sequence, or an 60 minutes "Energy and Clarity" sequence etc. which skip certain poses in favor of others.
The "three different levels" (Beginner, Intermediate,Advanced) aspect doesn't work so well - the beginner variations aren't all that different from the intermediate ones, just shorter...I could be wrong about this, since I've only played with the DVD four or five times so far.
Benagh does a narrative voice over with alignment and imagery details while one of her senior students actually performs the poses. He's obviously an expert and makes it look easy. She's got that soothing, new-Agey thing down pat, but it's not as annoying as it might be. A lot of Yoga/Meditation DVDs try to induce an ecstatic state of mind with shimmery synthesizers, video tricks and dramatic cuts and edits, but this one stays right on track - one guy, one mat, two camera views, nice tinkly relaxing music in the background.
Not nearly as tough as the Bikam routine, even without the heat - no series of one legged balance poses to kick my ass and humble me. It's very much an "energy" practice. But that's cool with me. And I definitely get the sense of deep relaxation and well being I seek (the reason I do hatha yoga, fuck conditioning, Cross-Fit, "body molding" or "core" or "toning) by doing the sequences on the DVD.
Got it at Borders for $20. I've paid a lot more (Hello, "Fast and Loose") and gotten a lot less for the buck.