Element: AM & PM Yoga for Beginners

Nice gentle practices perfect for waking up or winding down
I was so excited to get this product as I have another of Elena Brower's Yoga DVD's and absolutly love it. I'm happy to say that this did not dissapoint either.

The AM workout slowly warms up and opens your body and manages to pack in quite an impressive variety of poses into 30 minutes that work your entire body without making it seemed rushed. It leaves you very invigorated and is really the perfect quick workout for the morning.

The PM workout is so relaxing, soothing, and just leaves you feeling all ooey gooey good! Elena adds a lot of breathing and centering in this workout, something I find missing or lacking in many Yoga workouts. It is a soothing workout for both mind and body, the very essence of what Yoga is supposed to be!

Here's a breakdown of the poses:

AM:
-Mountain Pose w/ some gentle arm and shoulder warm ups
-Warm ups w/ cat-cow, down dog, childs pose, a down dog/plank vinyassa, ending in cat cow
-Twisted...

good, but not for rank beginners
This is a good yoga video, but it is important to realize that it is not an instructional video for absolute beginners. The poses may be easy enough for beginners to tackle, but this is not a video for teaching yoga to a novice.

The video consists of two sets of postures (poses, movements), one for morning and one for evening. Elena Brower obviously knows her stuff, and each pose is shown from a variety of angles. The narration is helpful and clear. There are some instructions for a few variations based on the learner's abilities.

While the video is well shot and the poses well done, I find it lacking in instructional value. There is too much unexplained jargon; "soften your eyes," "inhale brightly open," and so on. The yogic names, when used, are not explained, spelled out onscreen, or pronounced slowly. There is no booklet included to explain, define, or clarify any of the material. Someone already familiar with yoga, or other similar practices, could learn...

Very helpful for beginners :-)
When it comes to yoga, I am definately a beginner and don't do it often because some yoga programs are too challenging for me. This one is great and I'm glad I decided to give it a go. I didn't get it the first time round but I'm finding it getting a little easier with each go and now I'll be enjoying the challenge of progressing to a higher level of it.
This has a gorgeous setting outdoors by the ocean and so that in itself is nice and relaxing. The AM segment is done with standing movements to help energize you and the PM segment is more focused on relaxing and elongating your muscles and nice stretches. I find down dog and sun salutation to be my two favourite moves here. Ellen is a great instructor who has the perfect soft voice for yoga teaching and the way she describes the moves, helps you visualise them without necessarily having to look at your tv set.
While I'm new to yoga, I do find this great. As I mentioned, yoga usually seemed intimidating yet this...

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