2008
USA
Shiva Rea
70 min
English
A superb introduction to one of the most beneficial and rewarding forms of yoga. Flow yoga, also called vinyasa yoga, combines flowing movement with rhythmic breathing for a dynamic mind-body workout. Like a moving meditation, flow yoga unites mind, body, and breath. Your mind clears, your body calms, even as your pulse quickens.
Renowned and innovative flow yoga teacher Shiva Rea leads this introductory practice, filmed amid breathtaking scenery on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. She begins with a seated mediation that teaches you how to link breath with movement. Three more segments introduce her flowing approach to classic poses. Transitions from pose to pose are graceful and easy. You may not have Shiva's flexibility (yet), but you can follow her lead in ways that work for you. Feel yourself becoming stronger and more supple. Sense your new energy and find the fluidity that has always been yours.
The title, Flow Yoga for Beginners, is slightly oxymoronic, as "flow" yoga, at least as practiced by many yogis and yoginis, is by its very nature more aerobic, vigorous, and difficult than the yoga undertaken by most beginning students. But leave it to Shiva Rea, whose growing series of home videos is arguably the best on the market, to reconcile those two disparate factors--for the most part, anyway. Rea defines the flow concept as "the ability to move freely in an unbroken string of awareness"; in more pedestrian terms, it’s a continuous sequence of poses, one moving freely and naturally to the next, which tends to generate heat and deepen control of the breath. The breath, specifically ujjayi pranayama, is the centerpiece of Rea’s introduction to this 70-minute program; her instructions in the use of this basic but hard-to-explain technique are excellent. Thereafter, she spends about 20 minutes on backbends (from simple standing and lunging backbends to poses like cobra, bow, locust, and camel, which can be very challenging for inexperienced students); this segment also includes a few twists. Next, the "Relaxing Flexibility Flow" sequence consists mostly of counterposes such as the "happy baby" and badakonasana (cobbler’s pose), while the "Standing Pose Flow," the longest and best of the lot, focuses on poses including and derived from virabadrasana II (aka warrior II), one of the common standing positions. It’s all good, but while Rea provides detailed instruction and simpler variations for many poses, genuine beginners would do well to study the program closely before attempting it; and even then, poses like chaturanga dandasana (a lowered pushup) are rarely taught in beginners classes, even in their easier versions. As for the lush Hawaiian scenery, well, great, but the practice of hatha yoga ultimately depends on going inside, even to the point of doing it with eyes closed. Still and all, while it’s not quite up to the standards of Shiva Rea’s other videos, Flow Yoga for Beginners is a winner. --Sam Graham
1) This is a good yoga video. It is well shot with good production values and clear narration. If one is already familiar with hatha yoga, one will not have trouble following along and doing Shiva Rea's routines. It is good for a "video workout partner," and gives you the choice of watching the set without narration.
Ms. Rea is obviously competent, talented, and very adept at yoga. She is quite attractive and demonstrates the overall forms and their "flow" well. The routines are modifications or variations of more traditional forms of yoga, but not drastically so. Some of the forms reminded me of qigong.
The set of exercises on this DVD would constitute a healthy program for someone already in fairly good shape, but I seriously doubt that a couch potato with no understanding of yoga could benefit from it. If you are elderly or have any kind of physical issue, there is no instruction aimed at helping you do the forms or modify them for your needs.
I have to take issue with the marketing of this DVD with the clear statement on the cover that it is for beginners with no yoga experience. I strongly disagree with that. Ms. Rea uses sanskrit terminology frequently without explaining or defining it, and assumes a fair amount of familiarity with yogic techniques/philosophy in her narration. Someone who knows nothing about yoga would not be able to understand all of what is going on, even though they might be able to mimic most of the physical movements after studying the DVD. They will miss some of the more important parts of the process, which are internal/energy-based, and therefore not obvious to a beginner.
For example, telling someone to "move into Downward Facing Dog" is NOT teaching them how to do Downward Facing Dog, which is what beginners need…
It would also be more helpful to show closeups of the various body parts and have her explain more clearly how they are moving. Some of the movements are far too subtle to be captured in a wide shot, no matter how beautiful that shot is. The breathing exercises at the beginning are a clear case in point. It is virtually impossible to see the subtle movements she narrates as she does them. Not very helpful if one is trying to learn something unfamiliar.
If she would add another (equally well done) section where she explains in much more detail how each posture is done, along with onscreen text and multiple views, this could easily be a solid 5 star DVD. She also needs to add more instruction on esoteric ideas like "opening your heart" and "moving your energy," as well as to explain the sanskrit terminology, before demonstrating the actual flow of forms.
If you are already familiar with yoga or other energy/movement forms such as qigong or Taiji, then you will probably be able to learn from this DVD, although it will require more effort on your part than it should. If you already know the forms, it is a great "workout partner" to exercise along with…
2) This DVD was filmed in Kauai, Hawaii as well as her next DVD's to be released this year and next year. This practice is aimed for beginners but everyone can enjoy it, the whole DVD is 70 minutes and has 4 segments (and savasana) that can be done separately:
1. Foundation Flow - approx 14 min, Shiva starts with some breathing exercises on a rock near a beautiful waterfall and continues with simple poses like cat, cobra and some variations.
2. Beginner's Backbend Flow -approx. 20 min, there is a change of scenery and Shiva is in a beautiful garden with a lot of trees near a lake.
It is actually mainly standing poses - she prepares you for backbends in this practice with some lunge variations , chair with twists ,side bends, half splits and cobra variations and finally bow and camel. This segment might be quite challenging for true beginners but she shows easier modifications for most of the poses so it's definitely doable.
3.Relaxing Flexibility Flow - approx. 10 min , Shiva does simple stretches on the back , very similar to "supine poses" segment in Yoga Shakti it ends with a forward bend (badhakonasana) , it was very relaxing.
4. Beginner's Standing Pose Flow - approx 23 min, now she's at the beach , the clip from Amazon is taken from this segment and it is dark here too not just in the clip , it was probably shot at dusk. This is really a separate practice because there is no sense of getting up for another energizing practice after the relaxing segment. It is a more challenging vinyasa that includes warrior 2 variations and some more backbends.
Too bad there is no matrix, because this segment is just stuck between the previous segments and the savasana, it would be nice to do it before or after the second segment but since there are only a few chapters I guess it's not such a big deal to skip between them with the remote.
3) I recently tried Flow Yoga for Beginners. It is so interesting to explore different styles of yoga. I have been limiting myself to the same style of hard-core, sweat-and-tear-inducing yoga for the past 7 years. This ‘flow’ style of gentle yoga is really a breath of fresh air.
This particular DVD is broken up into 5 sections:
- Foundation flow
- Backbend flow
- Relaxing and flexibility flow
- Standing pose flow
- Shavasana
This morning I practiced with the entire video. The Foundation series got off to a slow start. It was mostly just breathing exercises and gentle movements. I think the term “meditation in motion” is a good description. Beginners will get an excellent overview of the different terms and positions from this segment as it’s a great foundation for the rest of the video. For me, this was a challenge because it struggled to hold my interest. Luckily each segment got better and better. Read on.
The Backbend segment got a little more interesting. New movements were introduced and each one flowed nicely into the other. I just love this concept of ‘flowing’ movements. It really makes the poses more interesting and easier to do. Staying in any position for more than a few seconds is not only very challenging, but slightly boring. Shiva almost always has you moving some part of your body. For instance, in a seated twist position you will stretch one arm up over your head with each inhale and bring it back down with each exhale. You will be amazed how much this adds to an otherwise boring pose. Great concept!
The Relaxing flow segment is all done on your back. The name implied relaxation and I settled in and wondered if I would fall asleep on my back. But that didn’t last very long. I went from gentle, easy moves to other challenging stretches that had my legs shaking. It kept me awake for sure and was a good combination of relaxation and work.
The Standing pose flow was my favorite. I guess this is where I have the most experience and feel the most at home. And once again, the same poses that I’m used to were presented in a slightly different ‘flowing’ way that made them easier and more fun.
The Shavasana section . . . well, I never experienced a Shavasana that I didn’t like! Who doesn’t love Shavasana?
I would recommend this video to anybody interested in starting yoga for the first time, as well as for more serious athletes that might want to practice these sessions after other work-outs. These segments offer the perfect ending stretch.
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTA5ODI3OTE2.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SSEZmXNXGY
Download File Size:624.52 MB
|
