Essential Yoga For Inflexible People

I am not very flexible, but wanted to improve. I did a lot of review reading about a lot of DVD's and decided upon this video. I could not have choosen a better workout! There are numerous workouts, so you will not be bored for a long time. Also, don't let the title fool you--it is challenging! You will not be able to master this DVD in a few weeks. One of the things I was worried about since I was new to yoga was if this "beginners, beginning" tape would be too easy and a waste of money because I needed something more. Don't worry about that. It will be challenging, but not enough to discourage you from continuing to do more. I work at a fire station and even managed to get the guys to do this with me! Worth the money and time. I also gives you a slight core workout. Shipping was super fast. GET IT, and Enjoy your purchase!

This dvd is for real real beginners. It uses a chair for a lot of the poses. Not challenging at all.

There are many problems with this DVD, but I will try to keep this to just the biggest, which is its inconsistencies. This disc is riddled with inconsistencies making it difficult to do even know which routine you should be doing! The menu titles of the routines read either "with Chair" or "without Chair" but they are not always correct so you think you're choosing a section with the chair, but when the routine is over with, you find that a chair was never even mentioned. Next, we have the routines themselves. Our "Yogi" will say one thing but will be doing something else, which just leads to distraction. As you try to figure out which thing you should be doing, your attention shifts from your body's alignment to over thinking what's going on on the DVD so that you can be comfortable with the idea that you're doing what you're supposed to. Next thing you know, you've hurt yourself. One more thing and I'll stop: this video moves very slowly, so if you have problems with your knees, for instance, you will spend a significant amount of time putting a lot of pressure on them in certain standing poses. She holds these positions for a long time (15-30 seconds, give or take) and you will feel them. Overall, this DVD had a lot of potential, but in the end, it failed... miserably. It seemed rushed, with lower-quality camera work, editing and voice-overs. The "Yogi" also spends the video smiling like she's in a beauty pageant, which is just silly - it's supposed to be yoga - not cheesy aerobics! (Ok, those were more than one thing, but they were warranted.)

I had tried another workout dvd with the same title (and older), but it was poor image quality and seemed like one had to already be flexible to follow it. With this version, I was able to do nearly all of the exercises (so far), surprising even my significant other. The routines seem to flow easily from one to the next, in a natural progression. I would recommend this to a "non-flexible" person or beginner primarily, although some veterans might want to refer to it to make certain they're still doing the poses correctly, especially at the price.

Someone mentioned I should try yoga, but I was a bit unsure as to whether I would like yoga or be able to do it. A couple of classes had not been a good experience for me to understand what was going on or performing the poses. But I tried this DVD and it does exactly what the title says, teaches yoga to help those who are inflexible. Clear guidance with modifications to start you off then adding more things later on. The use of the chair was helpful (though there was a typo on one selection on the menu, which is the only thing I found wrong.) Maggie teaches well. After the first couple of routines I really felt good and felt I could learn yoga, which was something I was not sure of after taking a couple of classes locally. Overall that makes for a great DVD.

I started out very, very slowly. In fact, I didn't even play the dvd for eight months. ;) But when I did start doing just the five minute exercises every day it definitely helped with my bad knees which I have after decades of standing on a concrete floor for eight or more hours a day. I was really surprised. Some of the more advanced techniques are quite beyond me but it's a fun little ritual that I hope will become a daily, (in the evening) thing with me. I actually enjoy it and after even a short practice, (I don't spend long at it at all) I feel refreshed and tingly. I think I will look for other yoga dvds that are designed for chubby slackers like myself later on, but this one is great. I think anyone starting out would find it helpful and especially calming and energizing. Try this and see. The beautiful background of ocean waves and the simple narration really make this one good. I feel more connected to my body now.

I thought that this video was just okay, but certainly not great. The instructors voice-over is very obnoxious and repetative once you have watched the video several times. I like that the video didn't take long pauses to introduce every pose, but I do wish that the pace would have been just a little bit slower. Beginners do not have enough time to get into a pose correctly, let alone to feel the pose and its effect on their body. I most definately would not buy this video again.

Not sure what they were thinking on this... This DVD was VERY DISAPPOINTING. IT is for FLEXIBLE folks not those who can't touch their toes!!! The exercises in the beginning section require flexibility in your back, arms, quads, hamstrings, ankles and more. Maybe I expected too much or maybe those who CAN do yoga don't have ANY inkling on how hard it it for those with flexibility issues to do yoga. Yoga on my Wii FIT is much easier than this! There are no alternative poses or suggestions for those who are too tight - except one (where you're sitting on the ground with your knees bent and feet on the outside of your knees (ouch!) - they tell you to get a foam block to sit on if it hurts... Like another reviewer said, the menus don't fit with the content (ie said the exercises were with a chair - but they don't use the chair) and my DVD had issues going back to the main menus. I also noticed the person showing the poses not to follow exactly what the voice over (which was a nice voice) was saying. I plan to give it another try JUST because of the beautiful ocean view and my quest to one day RE-reach my toes. BTW - You need to have a 'sticky' mat to do the poses so your feet (if you're not flexible) won't slip on carpet.

I have found this to be a really good dvd for inflexible people. I am now feeling much healthier. Thank you

I'm pretty inflexible, especially my hamstrings - and I suffer from shoulder and neck pain from my desk job. A recent 'yoga for beginners' course helped me a lot but became too costly so I decided to invest in a DVD. This DVD has all (and more) of the stretches I was doing in the class so I'm glad I invested in it. There are a lot of menu options to choose from, depending on how much time you have and which part you want to stretch. It also shows how long each section takes which is helpful. The short routines (for learning the basics) are: - Sun Salutation Warm Up with Chair - 6 minutes - Sun Salutation Warm Up without Chair - 7 minutes - Standing Poses without Chair - 25 minutes - Standing Poses with Chair - 14 minutes - Seated Poses - 9 minutes - Forward Bends with Chair - 15 minutes - Beginning Back Bends - 8 minutes - Yoga Twists with Chair - 11 minutes The longer routines are: - Extended Standing Poses - 40 minutes - Legs - 40 minutes - AM Wake Up - 45 minutes - Spinal Work in Three Dimensions - 40 minutes - Stubborn Hamstrings - 65 minutes - Full Routine - 90 minutes The long routines draw on all the poses learned in the short routines. The equipment you'll need is: - Yoga mat - Blanket - A chair - A yoga belt (I tried using a normal belt - it wasn't long enough!) - A yoga block for sitting on Some previous reviews note that sometimes the the voice describing what to do doesn't always say what is being shown, however there aren't huge differences and I think sometimes it's just giving you a choice of what to do with your arms (what you see or what you hear) without mentioning that there's a choice! It feels a little slow moving at times but this may be because I'm used to Jillian Michaels' DVDs. There is a lot of description on each pose to ensure you're doing it correctly, though this repeats frequently as you tend to do each pose twice on each side. Overall, it's great for helping with my flexibility and the poses are pretty simple - I'm glad I bought it instead of continuing to pay for classes.

Excellent for the older generation

DVD was damaged and unplayable.

I attend regular yoga classes but bought this dvd so that i could introduce my husband to yoga. He does exercise regularly, but has neck, shoulder and knee problems. We found that the instructions did not always match up with what was being shown on screen. As a beginner my husband found some of the moves difficult to follow. I myself found that it was lacking in any sort of cool down / stretching for the muscles which had been worked. I found I needed to do some stretches myself before the relaxation. The poses do not follow on one to the other so that it is therefore difficult to use the dvd for an effective workout. Over all I was disappointed with this dvd. There are definitely better dvds on the market and it no way repalces attending a class.