Rodney Yee's Ultimate Power Yoga

I have been working out mostly with Rodney Yee's Power Yoga Total Body, and found the Ultimate Power Yoga DVD a very helpful DVD to alternate days with. This DVD has 5 parts ranging from 15-20 minutes which can be done alone or combined to make a work-out that you like. The first section begins on the mat and begins slowly with some abdominal exercises. Later in this section, stretches include cobbler's pose, open leg pose, and a stretch with your legs forward. As a general note, I find I need to do something to warm up a little to prepare for this stretching. I suggest anything of about 15 or 20 minutes to get the heart and lungs working prior to doing this DVD. I do tai chi before this. A great follow-up section to this is the second section. In this section, you begin in mountain pose and do basic sun salutations culminating in a sequence that includes forward folds, chair pose, back bends, downward dog, cobra pose, and warrior 1. I think this is a good work-out to leave off with if you are on the go and going to do things, but I feel that I personally need something else as I do my practice in the evening. This section kind of leaves you standing in mountain pose. At the moment I continue my routine by skipping the 3rd section because it moves too fast for me and does standing poses from side to side. The first pose after mountain pose I believe is the triangle pose. I am quite flexible in my forward fold, but find I need time and much more of a build up to do triangle poses properly - time which this section of the DVD does not give you. So, at the moment I don't not use this section. I skip to the 4th section, a nice section on backbends. Just be aware that it is building up to include the reverse bow - but it does follow with some relaxation after to restore the body. The last section compliments this section well with slow standing stretches - simple forward fold, wide stance forward folds, and others, and ends on the floor with seated stretches (at this point you should be ready for these!) So in summary, even though I don't use the 3rd section yet, the other sections are a nice slow progression. The first 2 sections go well together, as do the last 2 sections. Or, if you have time for about an hour work out - sections 1,2, and 3 and 4 make a nice work out. Just bear in mind this won't include any standing balances (i.e. half moon pose, warrior 2, warrior 3, triangle, side stretch poses). Overall, a nice DVD - Rodney as always is a modest and unassuming male teacher - a great model for male students such as myself who want to see what the potential of the male body is. The audio options are full descriptions or shortened instruction when you become more familiar with the work-outs. Rodney narrates the entire DVD and demonstrates all of the lessons.

I'm fussy about what I like in yoga. In reading reviews, I realize everyone has their own style that they gravitate to. I've tried countless yoga DVD's and pretty much kept going back to Bryan Kest Power Series and Janet Stone. I've even tried a few of Rodney Yee's other videos but for whatever reason, didn't like them. Well, NOT anymore!Yoga/stretching had been put on the back burner for us because we already work out daily for 30-90 minutes and adding a 50+ minute yoga routine to that was almost impossible. Enter Rodney Yee's Ultimate Power Yoga..... As I said before, I've tried some of his other DVD's but didn't like the flow or whatever. I decided to give this a try because of all the positive reviews, and much thanks to all reviewers! (One of the reasons I shop Amazon and give my 2 cents when I can)!This dvd gets a solid five star rating from me. The five routines are short (15-20 minutes each) which allows us to stretch almost every day, yet they can also be combined for a longer workout. The holds are fairly long, and what I find exceptional is Rodney's cuing. Even though it was my first time trying each routine, I didn't have to look at the TV to see what he was doing!!!! That's huge for us. We like to do yoga with no television picture, just ambient light for relaxation.BOTTOM LINE: This dvd is not a substitute for a full yoga practice. But it's absolutely perfect for the following:1) You don't have time for a full yoga practice, but want to maintain your flexibility. (Our situation at the present time).2) You're a beginner and want to work at flexibility and yoga moves. Or you just want to work on your flexibility. Period.3) You already do a yoga practice and want to work on certain areas. For instance, the "Broadening Back Bends" practice in the dvd is excellent if you have trouble with backbends. I'm absolutely amazed how it loosens up my back in just 20 minutes!This is a wonderful dvd with relaxing, soothing music! The only CON for me is that I didn't discover it sooner!

This dvd is just what I'v been looking for. I've been doing yoga on and off for years and ave struggled with keeping a steady fitness routine forever... the workouts and yoga routines have always been either too slow to keep my attention or too difficult to make me want to try again. Sadly I've just started a round of steroids for my autoimmune disease, and from previous experience I've come to the realization that I *need to be active* and I need to make this change actually stick. This dvd hits that sweet spot where it's just challenging enough to give me jelly legs at the end of each session, but it's all poses and combinations that I've done before... and with the selection to choose from on the dvd I can change it up each day. Thank you Gaiam and Rodney Yee.Having said the praises- you do need to have some prior knowledge of basic yoga and some established flexibility.As this is power yoga (think yoga + cardio) there is a bit of a pace to this, so having that familiarity with basic poses is a definite plus. I also came across a few other reviews complaining about the adverts before getting to the main menu. Yes, they are there. Yes, it's always obnoxious. My dvd didnt give me issues with moving forward to the next section and on to the main menu- so not a problem for me.