I'd Rather Be Doing Yoga

This is a really pleasant Hatha yoga workout suitable for beginners and intermediates. Of the various types of yoga, I would say this leans more toward Iyengar, but J. J. Gormley really has her own style. For example, she starts with some gentle non-yoga warmup stretches -- something you wouldn't see Rodney Yee do. In this tape, she tries to address beginners as well as more experienced people, and I think by having the non-yoga parts, she does that pretty well. The total workout is a little under an hour. You do "work" as you get more into the workout, but overall, it's more relaxing than it is working.

The setting is outdoors, and she has a relaxing voice. The production quality is very good (something you're never sure about when you buy the lesser-known tapes).

She also has another video called "I'd Rather Be Doing More Yoga," which is at an intermediate/advanced level. I have that one as well and prefer it over this one (because it's harder). However, I'm not sorry I bought this one. It's good to have around for days when you need something easier.

By the way, I loaned it to a 61-year-old friend who does not exercise at all, and who has hip and back problems. I was really impressed by how much she liked it. She really took to J. J. -- as a point of comparison, she didn't like Wai Lana or Suzanne Deason. And she told me she couldn't do a lot of the postures, but that she was going to work at them, so the workout didn't intimidate or overwhelm her. I mention this to point out how accessible J. J. tries to make this workout, without making it "too" easy.

I give this an A+ easily. Her tapes are available at www.sunandmoonstudio.com for anyone interested.