Shiva Rea

dr.mel_PT

Cathlete
I want to incorporate more Yoga into my routine; I know a lot of you love Shiva Rea. Which DVD would you recommend? I didn't realize there were so many. I'm a beginner/intermediate and I basically just want something that will stretch me out but not bore me to tears.

TIA!!
 
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Flow Yoga for Beginners and Daily Energy are the two that were recommended to me. I haven't gotten them yet, but, like you said, a lot of people here really like her yoga!
 
I just got her Yogini but haven't done it yet. I got it because it was continual movement and very pretty setting (under a waterfall). I get easily bored sometimes with yoga that moves too slowly. I also got Gaim's 15-minute Result Yoga with Rodney Yee (whom I adore) and Marial Hemingway. It's easy/no fuss yoga. Really just a good stretch, but I love doing it each morning -- in addition to my other scheduled workout. Kind of centers me and gets me ready for the day. :)
 
Shiva Rea on sale at Deep Discount

I was also thinking of getting Shiva Rea's Daily Energy. Deep Discount is offering a 25% off through June 20th. A lot of Shiva Rea's are on sale.

Jody
 
Shiva is my FAVORITE yoga instructor. I have all of her dvds. I say start with Daily Energy and Flow Yoga for Beginners (as already recommneded). Keep us posted on how you like the dvds.
 
I love Shiva Rea's yoga as long as she isnt getting too "fluid" or "free style".

Shiva's yoga tends to have an all-round focus on strength, endurance and flexibility for the most. If your emphasis is pure stretching I am not sure if you should also look elsewhere. However any one dvd by Shiva should be in the dvd library of every one who does yoga. You may also want to look into Rodney Yee's AM Yoga For your week. It has five 20 minute-ish routines with a strong flexibility focus. These should stretch you out without (hopefully) boring you. Especially if you havent learnt yoga before in a live class, the cueing on this DVD is detailed enough for you to still get more out of yoga as you would if you were aligning your body correctly. Yoga isnt about how deep you can go into a stretch but whether you are aligning yourself correctly. The flexibility will impove with time of you attempt the right alignment and are persistent with practise. Shiva does cue well, but I think she expects someone performing her dvds to know the basics.

My all time favorite Shiva Rea DVD is Yoga Shakti. It was her most "purist" yoga effort and of all her breathtakingly shot dvds is the most beautifully produced in my opinion. Yoga Shakti has tons of content. Many of the routines in Yoga Shakti are advanced. Many are strength and endurance focused rather than stretch focused. However the lunar flow on yoga shakti is both accessible and flexibility oriented.

If not Yoga Shakti I second the recommendations for Daily Energy Flow. Some of the routines are not flexibility focused but the Shanti, Heart and Water flows will fit the bill. I dont have this DVD but similar flows as these have been featured elsewhere on her dvds.
 
Something to bear in mind: a lot of Shiva Rea's yoga DVDs include a mystical component and music to match. I can't stand it. Make sure you can before purchasing. Her soundtrack can make the difference between a great workout or throwing the DVD out the window. I would suggest watching clips of her DVDs on various websites like collage.com and totalfitnessdvds.com

Clare
 
Something to bear in mind: a lot of Shiva Rea's yoga DVDs include a mystical component and music to match. I can't stand it. Make sure you can before purchasing. Her soundtrack can make the difference between a great workout or throwing the DVD out the window. I would suggest watching clips of her DVDs on various websites like collage.com and totalfitnessdvds.com

Clare

I enjoy the music she picks and did not associate the music with mysticim but that may be because of the culture in which I was raised. To me her music is "normal"! I dont like the mystical bits of Shiva's dvds either. I dont like any of the moving meditations or affirmations. "Yoga Shakti" and the Creative Core + Upper/Lower Body dvds are low on mysticism in my opinion. As long as there is engaging physical yoga to focus on I can tune out the talk track quite easily so I may be missing something you picked.
 
If you have FitTv, I believe her daily energy workouts are on every Wednesday. You could try one of them out and see if you like it.
 

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