Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice--First Series With David Swenson

I am blown away - the quality of instruction is excellent! I was immediately impressed with the careful consideration and thought he has brought to this DVD. The Modification Section is invaluable and must be watched first, along with the Intro. There is a way for most everyone to do these poses through the use of modifications - and he goes into extensive instruction showing various modifications of the more difficult poses, in a separate section of its own. The DVD is broken up into its main 4 sections, so you can work on sections without having to fast forward, and then within master sections, you can Fast FWD by Chapter. It does not take long to move around, which is a plus when you need to watch the modifications again, then continue on with the workout. At any time, whenever you are ready to stop, you can move onto the Closing Section to finish. There is no fluffy wording, no distracting background or other people, just a Master Teacher doing a fantastic job. The picture is crystal clear and looks fantastic on my high def wide screen TV. He tells you with every move whether you should be breathing in or breathing out, so it is easy to get back on track. He has a gentle and calm voice which really helps set the tone. His attitude is encouraging and peaceful. I have only worked my way through the first 60 minutes (with lots of modifications!), but I can say that I leave the mat feeling invigorated and calm, not exhausted and trembling with the effort. Highly recommended!

I love the fact that you can leave this book open while you're attempting a pose and it doesn't flip closed on you. He is one of THE people to go to for Ashtanga! He shows great modifications for each posture whether you're new to Ashtanga or a seasoned veteran. Some postures will definitely take some time to master more than others, but overall it is an amazing series and well worth the challenge of disciplining your body for strength, flexibility, and stretching. I use this book as a supplement along with an Ashtanga class, which allows me the choice of how many practice days I want to have. If you're completely new to Ashtanga I would recommend going to a class in order to get a feel for what it's like and if you like it you can ask your instructor to give you any tips since reading a book is much different than going out first hand and experiencing it.

pros- offers modifications so you can work up to a posture. Beginners to Ashtanga will find this particularly useful as the postures are challenging and most people will not be able to do them straight away. Most DVDs, true to the culture of Ashtanga yoga don't mention modifications so this is DVD is a jewel in this respect.- encouraging throughout the DVD and contains constant reminders on working at your own pace, respecting your body's limits.- likeable speaking voice.cons- possibly a little quick on the breath count.- could do with a few more alignment points.Overall, one of my favourite Ashtanga DVDs.

Like other reviewers mentioned--if you do not know many yoga moves and feet positions then this video is probably not right for you. You should at least be very familiar with how to properly do the triangle pose, side angle pose, tree pose, and do a chatteranga in good form. My yoga experience is that I've been practicing basic Hatha yoga for five years at the gym. Ashtanga yoga is a very challenging practice and I can only get through the Sun Salutations and Standing Poses in the video which is about 30 minutes. The rest of this video (about an hour longer) you need to be quite flexible and very strong to do the poses, which I am unable to do...I can do Crow but I cannot do any headstands, handstands, jumping from downward dog into sitting pose, or other difficult poses. So I just practice the 30 minutes each day which is a great basic workout for me. I really like his instruction and pacing of the video as I've tried other kinds of yoga videos and I feel they are very slow due to too much instruction and talking. He gives just the right amount of quick, simple instruction and keeps the workout at an excellent pace. Yes, some reviews mentioned this video is "pixel-y" on tv and I don't mind it as it's still clear enough.

If you have done an Ashtanga class before and are looking to continue your practice at home, this is a great DVD. It is much better that the Gaiam Ahstanga Yoga DVD. David Swenson is a much better instructor and the full Primary Series is on here. David includes options for modification and he also includes a lot of reminders for engaging the core, using proper form, etc. While it cannot replace taking a class with an instructor, I highly recommend this DVD to use at home to supplement your practice, or to use on vacation, etc. I am very pleased with this dvd, worth every penny.

David Swenson's instruction is clear, the pace is a little bit fast to follow. But the quality of the video is far from satisfactory. The pixel is too large, you can not see clearly the fine features on the screen. To me, it looks like they copy it from a poor VHS to make a DVD. Though I bought it new from Amazon, the first time I follow it, some places are not even continuous, there are sound breaks. The different sections showing in the main menu are basically continuous, after I chose to jump to a certain chapter, the DVD show doesn't run smoothly.Overall, I really like David Swenson's instruction. It is like taking a led-class, helping me pace myself. But it is a poorly made DVD.