Yoga Fans! Need non-Power/non-Ashtanga Video Recommendations

[Gayle]

I’m developing a serious yoga addiction. Currently, I’ve been doing Bryan Kest’s 1995 “Power Yoga” series and Rodney Yee’s “Yoga Conditioning for Athletes”.

I’d like some recommendations for yoga workouts that are non-Power, that hold poses longer, focus more on flexibility and getting into the “sweet spot” as opposed to moving quickly from pose to pose. Ideally, I’m looking for something that I could do every day. I don’t mind stuff with a “woo-woo” factor; I actually prefer some of that.

TIA

 

[AllisonT]

I like Ali MacGraw's Yoga Mind and Body, taught by Erich Schiffman. It's more low-key than Bryan.

Have you thought about posing this question over on the Video Fitness forum? There are lots of hardcare yoga chicks there who would have some ideas...

Allison

 

[Debra L]

RE: Yoga Fans! Need non-Power/non-Ashtanga Video Recomm...

Allison has given you great advice. The VF's have some very knowledgeable & helpful yoga practioners.

The Ali MacGraw video is worth buying just for the beauty. It was too advanced for me when I purchased it (on DVD at Borders) but I need to pull it out again as I've made a lot of progress in my own yoga practice. As I recall, the poses were held for quite awhile so it might be what you're looking for, except it's very low key.

If you have access to FitTV, you might want to check out the yoga show. The positions are held for a long time, & each of the exercisers shows a different level of the same position. The instructor either has a resting heart rate of 30 or she's heavily medicated; very, very, extremely low key. If you can deal with that, it's a way to advance your practice.

Debra

 

[kathryn]

I really like "Yoga For Athletes" by bodywisdom (I got it from Amazon.com). It's different from any other yoga workout I've seen because each move is distinct. There are no vinyasas. It's set up so that you can choose one of 12 different workouts (all of differnt lengths) in 12 different sports categories (like weightlifting, kickboxing, golf, running). The poses are held for quite a while (like a 2 minute tree pose on one leg!), and the voice-over instruction by Barbara Benagh is excellent! She very precisely tells you how to position your shoulders to avoid stress, how to rotate your legs, etc.

Funny thing is, when I previewed the DVD, I wasn't impressed with the single poses strung together, and the plain background seemed rather boring to me. I even had it on my "to-be-Ebayed" pile, then one day decided to try it at least once before I got rid of it. I'm glad I did, as my "trash" ended up being a "treasure!"

Bodywisdom also makes a DVD called "Power yoga for everybody"with the same instructor, and a simllar set up: you choose from over 20 different workouts of different lengths, in either beginner, intermediate or challenging level. Rather than separate poses that are strung together, there are short and longer vinyasa that are strung together, but they are not fast-moving like Astanga. The instructor calls this technique "slow flow." I haven't tried this DVD yet, but I've previewed it and it looks good.

 

[Renee McFar]

I use Karen Voight's Yoga Focus and her Yoga Sculpt. They are very good. She is very good at giving you hints about how to perfect your pose or stretch. I have recently seen these workouts for a good price on ebay.

 

[Gayle]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I have the Ali McGraw DVD on order, and I'll have to check out the others.

I have an account at VF and have done some lurking, but don't have access to post. Do you have to be a subscribing member for that?