Yoga tape or dvd

[dahlia]

I took my first yoga class during the summer but wasn't able to sign up for the fall session. Does anyone have any tapes or dvds that they can suggest for doing a short yoga session on my own?

[Adagio]

Hmm... I'd be interested in that, as well.

:)

[Erin]

I recommend the Patricia Walden and Rodney Yee DVDs they did for Yoga Journal. You can get them at Amazon/Amazon Marketplace and Gaiam. You should still be able to find them on VHS, but I'd get the DVDs if possible for ease of navigation, which is especially helpful when you're trying to perfect each pose and have to "rewind" a lot.

I'd suggest any or all of these titles to start you off:

Yoga for Beginners--Walden
Yoga for Beginners II (aka Yoga Basics)--Walden
All Day Yoga for Beginners (aka AM/PM Yoga)--Yee/Walden/Deason

Beginners I and II give you a lot of instruction on how to do individual poses with photo/video guides, as well as provide 30-min workouts combining the poses. Beginners I also includes an 85-minute flexibility workout. My favorite (I use it all the time) is All Day Yoga, which has three 30-minute workouts (AM/PM/Stress Relief) you can choose from depending on whether you need to wake up, chill out or wind down; all are gentle and effective, and the poses are simple.

Namaste!

[Naturegirl]

I agree, you can't go wrong with Patricia Walden and Rodney Yee. Ali McGraw's: Yoga Mind and Body is also really good (the music and setting is beautiful in a surreal kind of way).

[meatless]

We started out using one from Yoga Zone... a beginner's video.

We now mix it up with the Yoga for Dummies weightloss workout.

[dahlia]

Great suggestions...those DVDs sound perfect. I already had a list of things I wanted from Amazon, so that would work well! Do you find that you get tired of doing the same DVDs after a while and switch around or can you keep going with one for a while? Thanks :)

[meatless]

We did just the one (there are two sets of 20 minutes on it, so we alternated at first) for about a month... now we alternate between doing BOTH sets of the one video in one night, and the For Dummies video other nights (which is a faster paced cardio video). The first one is more staying in place positions. We do whichever one we have enough energy for. :) We will probably add more eventually too.

[Erin]

Personally, I find it easy to stick with one routine for awhile. At first it takes some time to learn the poses and how they flow together, and then once the routine becomes second nature it really frees your mind to reap the spiritual benefits (I think of asana as moving meditation) and to focus on improving your form and alignment.

It really depends on what you want to get out of practicing yoga. Generally speaking, I do it for flexibility, focus, and to feel centered in my body; I don't think I would get nearly as much benefit out of my practice if I had to keep learning new routines all the time or make it into a sweat-filled endurance challenge (which I also need to do to feel healthy, but I get my cardio and resistance in in other ways). Others just want a hard workout and nothing more, so they would likely choose to do ashtanga or Bikram yoga and change up their routine often to keep their muscles guessing.

I do think there is a lot to be said for having at least one stimulating routine and one relaxing routine at your disposal for different moods and times of day (which is why the All-Day DVD is my favorite). If you don't care to get into poses in depth or know why you're doing what you're doing, then you could get by with that one for quite awhile; otherwise I'd suggest a more comprehensive beginner routine with a lot of instruction, like Beginners I and/or II, to learn before or concurrently with the All-Day routines.

Good luck, and let us know how you're progressing!

[Adagio]

Thanks for the help, all.

:)

[dahlia]

Thanks for the thoughtful answers...I like the idea of having different routines to go between depending on my mood. I'm looking forward to trying this!