Healing Yoga for Aches and Pains

This is a stretch tape with a yoga focus presented in 3 sections. The first section focuses on breathing, the next on seated stretches in a chair and the third is sort of a sun salutation using a chair. There are no chapter breaks except for the three sections, which, oddly, cannot be chosen individually. You have to go to the chapter breakdown and just jump in someplace. What is up with that? The seated stretch is, imo, the best of the three. You start with some cat/cow stretches, then go into a nice long eagle stretch (arms only) which was delicious, then a basic tricep stretch. Then you hug your knee in to your chest, then put your ankle on top of the other knee for a nice hip opener. There is also a nice lunge stretch. The last section is led by the husband. You do chair assisted everything, including triangle, chair, down dog, lunge, warrior 1, and end with a savasana done with the feet elevated on a chair. I got this to help with an SI joint problem, and it did a good job at alleviating the pain. I initially rented it from Netflix and I don't think I will buy it. I checked on Amazon and it's going for over $40!! Eek! Also, I get the gist of it and will do these stretches on my own, with my own modifications and hold them however long I feel I need to that day.

Over all grade B+, only because of the odd chaptering.

This workout is done outdoors by a pool with a scenic backdrop. Lisa and Charles alternate doing the three sections and the person not doing the moves does the voiceover describing the moves. Overall, it is a very gentle workout.

I was drawn to it because I have gotten into stretching in the past year. One of my most problematic areas is my neck and shoulders, where I carry a lot of tension. I read that this workout addressed those areas. And, boy, DID it. My neck and shoulders felt wonderful and relaxed after the first section. The other two sections didn’t give me as much benefit as they did not address specific problems, but they were relaxing.

I decided, however, not to keep this workout because of the high level of “mind-body connection” talk. It was just too New Agey, or something, for me. Keep in mind that I am not a yoga person; I just do a couple of yoga workouts that give me stretches that relax me and I have a couple of beginner-level yoga workouts that I use periodically.

I think anyone already into yoga would find this workout very easy. Someone who wants a gentle, stretch type workout t address specific problem areas in their body may enjoy this workout. It is a hard one to classify.

One comment about the DVD: In the descriptions, this workout was described as having three sections, and it does. However, on the DVD menu, it lists all the moves individually, not the sections. So, for example, you would need to know that the first five moves comprise the first section in order to move directly to the second section. It means, however, that you can skip over any individual move you don’t want to do because each move is a separate chapter point.

FYI: I consider myself to be a beginner.

In my opinion, the parts of this video done seated in a chair with Lisa are gentle and appropriate for those with aches and pains. However, at the part with Charles standing , I found that my back hurt doing the lunge and downward dog modifications over a chair. And near the end of the workout with Lisa, there is a bridge pose, which in my opinion is too challenging for someone with aches and pains.

So, overall I found that this video was a good non-intimidating intro to yoga, but not for someone with aches and pains.

And I ultimately traded this away once I felt less intimidated to try other yoga videos.

I've been practicing yoga with videos for some time now, and I thought that this would be a relaxing workout which would help with my frequent headaches. However, I discovered that the video is more focused towards bodily aches and pains--namely neck pain, back pain, arthritis, or injuries. For someone suffering from one of those conditions and who has only a limited range of motion, this tape might be useful. It is a led my a husband and wife team, Charles and Lisa, and broken into three 10 minutes sections. The first, in which Lisa demostrates and Charles provides voiceover, is a series of seated poses on a chair with a strong emphasis on breathing. Charles leads the second section with Lisa's voiceover; this section includes gentle standing postures using the chair for assistance. In the final section, Lisa again leads, this time demonstrating a series of floor poses for relaxation. Anyone who has some prior experience with yoga is likely to find this video to be much too easy, but for those who are absolute beginners and/or those who have chronic pain, this workout could be beneficial.