HeavyWeight Yoga: Yoga for the Body You Have Today

***** I hesitated whether to give this DVD 4 or 5 stars and decided on 5, because the instructor is just so affirming and the DVD is incredibly versatile. It is not without its weaknesses, however: the DVD is very slowly paced (although this helps those of us who need things to go slowly), and there are sometimes few or no modifications given at the time of the pose. However, the instructor urges the viewer to constantly be aware of their body and to only do what they can. The DVD is very inexpensively made, too. These are the negatives I saw in what I think is an overall fantastic DVD for those of us new to yoga with large bodies. The instructor teaches "yoga for the body you have today" and models herself not waiting until you have a perfect body or a smaller body in order to begin. On the positive side, I have to rave! Abby Lenz is so affirming. She says that her goals are to help the viewer to develop awareness, acceptance, and affection for themselves, and I do believe that she was successful with me in fostering these feelings as I participated in the different parts of the DVD. This is a hard thing to achieve, and part of why I felt that I needed to give the DVD 5 stars instead of 4. You just feel so good after doing it! The DVD is organized into segments so that you can use it depending upon how you feel and how much time you have. You can assemble the segments into a custom workout on any given day, or alternatively you can do one of the four series that the instructor has already arranged together that range from 36 minutes to 72 minutes. The shorter segments that you can pick on your own include include a 25 minute warm-up series, two different posture series of just under 20 minutes, and a cool-down segment for 14 minutes that is really just some instructions and breathing to some serene photos and ocean sounds. There are instructions for props (including modifications for these--lots of household items until you decide what you need to buy), instructions for those people who cannot come to the floor and for those people who are bed-bound, and then bonus materials which include instruction on breathing, using a chair for downward facing dog, using a chair to get to the floor, and getting comfortable in the cool-down meditation. Overall this is a terrific DVD for aspiring yoga practitioners who have larger bodies. Highly recommended. *****

I am a big man so exercising is not easy. Decided on yoga to keep myself flexible and stretched. All Yoga dvd's or tv shows I seen have well fit instructors that do movements/positions I can only dream about. I googled "Yoga for heavyweight people" and this dvd popped out. Got it from Amazon. I was very surprised to find that the instructor is a real overweight large women. When I seen her do the yoga exercises easily, I said to myself, if she can do it I should be able to do it ..... overtime. The DVD also has relaxing sessions and instruction for people who cannot exercise on the floor and for people with restricted movements/disabilities. The DVD is divided into few parts so you can do only some parts if you don't have the time to do the entire program. I have no comments on the exercises themselves, as I did not started them yet.

I'll be honest, I'm 30 years old, weigh 355lbs., and outside of working, I have never exercised regularly. I chose the first class to start, which is a little more than an hour long, but I couldn't finish it, which is ok to start, and I feel like Abby was suggesting that as well, it's ok to do as much as you can do, and stop if you're feeling any pain. Some of the warm-ups in that set were also difficult for me to do, one I had to improvise more than was shown in the DVD. I have never done Yoga before, but I like it. It seems to be a lot about finding your center and balance, which is very helpful, especially for a larger person. The exercises/stances/poses: For the most part, if you are an active person, this probably isn't the right DVD for you, even if you're just beginning Yoga I'd suggest something else. I've seen other Yoga DVDs, and this one does go a little slow, allowing you a bit of freedom or 30 seconds to readjust (which as my size I *NEED*). If you are like me, relatively inactive, do not know much about Yoga or have never practiced, I think you'll love it! ESPECIALLY if you're heavy. Abby Lentz: Is very encouraging, realistic, and doesn't make you feel like a big fat cow. She's heavy herself, and sometimes needs to put her foot down for stability, as well, and that just feels more real than a model or sports type teaching me. Abby speaks in a soft, easing tone, giving you all the instruction you need through her calming voice, reminding you to do the most basic things you might forget otherwise. Abby has an amazing range of movement, and appears to do most poses with such ease! DVD menu and choices: The menu itself is easy to use, I suspect that anyone with a DVD player would be able to make their way around, especially because there is a video of Abby describing the usage and ways to put together your own class rather than use a preset one. There are many to choose from, as well.

I have been doing Yoga for nearly 4 years and bought this DVD to introduce my wife to the practice. It left her frustrated, sore, and discouraged. Which is the exact OPPOSITE of how one should feel after doing Yoga. This DVD is just terrible. The quality of the recording and presentation is very poor. The audio is very difficult to hear clearly. And, the instructor's speaking skills are not good. But, the main reason for my low rating is the lack of insight and explanation provided. There is no review of what the key tenants and goals of practicing Yoga are. There is no mention of how to compensate for weakness or how a pose should feel. There is not a proper gradual progression for those who are brand new to Yoga. And, no details are given as to what each pose is meant to accomplish.

I am a heavyweight woman who just turned 50, and I've wanted to learn yoga for years. After trying to learn on my own, then trying to take a Bihkram yoga class and failing at both, I thought I'd have to give up. Then I heard about this DVD, and thought I'd give it one more try. This DVD understands my unique needs, says yes you can, and here's how. I suggest watching all of the instructional segments first, otherwise some of the details like fan folding the blanket for starting the warmups will be missed. The verbal instructions are thorough, but I'd encourage watching the long session entirely before attempting to do it. That makes it easier when the DVD is hard to see because of the position we're in. Abby doesn't move too quickly, and although it's challenging to hold some of the poses at first she encourages us to be as kind to ourselves as she is to us. It's an awesome DVD.

The quality of this video is horrible. It is a severely pixelated home video, not professionally made.

First, I hope Abby is a therapist, she does a wonderful job helping you recognize the good in yourself and to focus on you. She is kind of chatty, but topic related, so it's not as if she's blabbing about her dog or the dishes. I would expect her to show moves with more variations if you are not able to do the poses. That is where I feel the video falls short. The poses are relatively easy, but adding a chair, the wall, etc to make it do-able for some folks would have made this a 5 star video.

I had always loved yoga before gaining a lot of weight, but found it impossible to do with my much larger body. Abby's routine worked for me, and I feel as though my strength and flexibility have improved in only a few weeks. I look forward to the routines and actually feel good after finishing. Some postures are still not possible for me, but I think I am improving. Abby is a wonderful teacher, and I love her gentle, encouraging manner. One note for future DVD's.....I would like to see the instructions and advice for alternate postures seperated from the main yoga routine. So after working through the instuction segment, we can move through the regular routine without the stops and starts for extra instruction. Otherwise, love HeavyWeight Yoga and plan to buy the 2nd DVD in the near future.