Autonomy: CardioYoga

This is a great, if little-known, 42-minute power yoga workout. It’s very much like one you would see from Bryan Kest. This one covers the basic power yoga poses, and you hold the stretches for a good amount of time - enough so that you feel it working, but not too long. The instruction is a female voice-over (Keri Tombazian’s voice). She is a little too perky considering it’s yoga, but she’s not annoying or anything. The set is on the drab side, but you’re not generally looking at it anyway during yoga. In fact, you don’t want to look at the TV with this one, because the voice is often not in sync with the two people performing the moves. I just ignore the TV and listen to Keri’s voice, and it works out fine. The only place I know to get this tape is on eBay. There is a repackaged one called New Millennium Workout: Cardio Yoga, so if you see that, it’s the same thing. I recommend snapping it up if you’re a power yoga/Bryan Kest fan. Grade A.

CardioYoga (B) CardioYoga CardioYoga is a routine that uses a few yoga poses and repeats them in an intensity and order that is designed to get your heart rate up while you stretch muscles deeply. The video, produced by Rick Scott, is a bit weird to follow. There is no real instructor. A narrator's voice cues your moves and discusses safety and breathing, while a man and woman stoicly perform the routine in a sparse, amber-colored setting to club-style world music (ie. Deep Forest). The man frequently demonstrates modifications of poses, to reiterate the narrator's insistence that there is no "right" way to hold a pose, and that you may do whatever makes you feel that you're getting something out of it.

While I'm not sold on the deviant production style, I liked the workout. I felt strong, limber, and relaxed after having done the tape. It actually has helped me cope with a recent minor back injury. If you can put up with the weirdness of the video, I think it does a good job of stretching and relaxing major muscle groups.