Yoga Zone - Introduction to Power Yoga (1999)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Produced and Directed by Andrea Ambandos

Features:

• 9 separate segments
  
• Audio-only option
  

Rating: NR

Anamorphic: N/A

My Advice: Rent it.

Tired of chipper Barbie dolls leading impossibly complex aerobics routines while shouting hollow encouragement at you? Maybe you should try Power Yoga. Introduction to Power Yoga for Beginners contains two twenty-minute workouts intended to tone without causing pain or physical stress. While yoga, even "power" yoga, is not precisely a fat-burning, aerobic workout, it definitely can get your heart going and tone your muscles.

The instruction is good enough--clear and supportive, but not intrusive. You definitely feel that the people leading the sessions are enthusiastic and experienced. Viewers are given warnings about their safety, which is always good in an exercise video, especially one presenting information and moves that many viewers will never have seen before. Concentrating on teaching breathing and body awareness, yoga can have an overall positive effect on your person even without the strenuous activity of most exercise tapes. I have to say that I prefer Al's instruction to Lisa's, however.

The moves themselves are not too difficult. Geared for beginners, both routines are simple, and even uncoordinated viewers will pick up the moves rather quickly. The routines, while not strenuous, do leave you with a sense of increased flexibility and strength; you'll know you've moved your muscles, but won't hurt. It's possible that some of the moves will be harder for people with weak knees or backs, but the instructors advise you about this, at least some.

The disc quality, including sound and visuals, is good. Music and voice instruction both come through clearly with no crackling or distortion. The disc's visuals are good if not stunning; there's only so much cinematography you can expect from an exercise video, and the quality is plenty good enough.

The extras are minimal: there's an audio-only option, and there's a segmented system that allows you to mix-and-match the various yoga bits, creating your own routine out of the two on the disc. This freedom is a nice touch; viewers can avoid any postures that cause them pain. Yet it would also have been nice to have had an encyclopedia of poses, an overview of yoga as an aerobic activity versus an anaerobic one, and the pros and cons of using yoga as your exercise as opposed to a harder fat-burning activity. Many viewers, after all, might need to be sold on yoga as a non-slow, non-tranquil activity.

I have a couple of quibbles with this disc, however. I would have liked to have seen a warm-up period; even old hands at yoga need to stretch their muscles before they begin. Also, even though there are two "routines" on this disk, there just isn't much to go on here. Once you've learned the postures, or if you already knew them, there's very little reason to keep the disc. It might be a good refresher course sort of thing, but not much of a keeper.

Overall, any exercise is better than none at all, and as doctors keep coming out saying that gentle workouts are better than the no-pain-no-gain workouts of the past, power yoga's time just may have come. I'd like to see more variety out of the routines, and there should definitely be a warm-up/cool-down segment. However, if you're still unsure about whether or not yoga can be for you, or if you only see old men twisting their bodies into pretzels, then this disc might set you straight.