Just Relax

I'm a huge fan of David Swenson's "Short Forms" Ashtanga Yoga video, so I decided to spring for this one, too. It's good, but it's not really yoga -- just stretching/relaxation. I'm really not looking for this type of tape, but I can recommend it to anyone who is. It's shot outdoors on Maui, and if I remember correctly, it's about a half-hour long. You do some stretching and breathing exercises and end with a guided relaxation. Very nice, but not what you want if you're looking for yoga.

This is a 40 minute yoga/relaxation video.

David Swenson is an accomplished Ashtanga Yogi, but "Just Relax" is much much gentler than what most people associate with Ashtanga style yoga.

It is filmed in Maui. There is no music until the very end, when theres a flute sequence during the relaxation.

You hear David as a voice over, and see him as part of five participants in a semi circle with the ocean as a back drop.

The first 20 minutes are very very basic stretching, head rotations, cat stretch, spinal twist on the floor. David provides breathing sequences for each of the poses. The moves are slow and careful.

The second 20 minutes begin lying in corpse pose, then moves into a tighten/relax sequence where you tightening a given body part (i.e., your legs) then let the tension go. This is followed by an elaborate guided image journey where you sink into the earth, and, well, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you. Its quite pleasant. Theres a few minutes of "no talk" relaxation with the aforementioned flute music. Then David brings you out of the relaxation. Toward the end of the relaxation there are various Maui nature images, but if you're relaxing you shouldn't know that!

Its a very nice tape. You get the sense throughout that David is a person of integrity who's deeply committed to yoga and not just jumping on the latest bandwagon. He's trustworthy, and therefore, easy to relax with, and that's the point, right?

This tape can be purchased at David's website, which is http://www.ashtanga.net