neimad Posted September 7, 2005 ok so now prasara has been experienced by people.... i just started power vinyasa (flow) yoga last week (baron baptiste method) on a 10 day introductory pass (meaning can go as many times as you like in 10 days, been 7 out of 8 days so far haha) and i love it! however when the pass ends the price jumps up dramatically and i just wont be able to afford going as regularly as i like. i am looking for a dvd with a good 30-60 minute practice that i can do daily in the evenings. just asking those people out there with yoga experience (saun?), what in their opinion is the best dvd to get. is prasara the best for this, or is there something better? i am looking for something similar to what i have been doing, which covers both strength and flexibility. might just get the baron baptiste dvd, but wanted to see others opinions on other dvd's first. thanks for any help! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sean Posted September 7, 2005 Neimad, couple questions ... What would you say your experience level with Yoga is? Also, do you have any experience with Warrior Wellness or Body Flow? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neimad Posted September 7, 2005 Neimad, couple questions ... What would you say your experience level with Yoga is? Also, do you have any experience with Warrior Wellness or Body Flow? 6860[/snapback] well i have done 7 ninety minute yoga classes now. so my experience is not huge, yet i have progressed within those 7 quite far (in terms of my own body) already as i feel my body is really ready for this kind of work. i am not very flexible though, especially not in the hips. i have been doing warrior wellness for a couple of months now and just moved on to the intermediate program today (it's quite a bit more complex than beginning huh!). body flow i have the book and have tried a couple of the exercises a few times but many of them i am just not really in a position to be able to do as due to tightness in my hips i cannot squat flat-footed on the ground. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sean Posted September 7, 2005 Sorry for delayed reply, been busy today. Heard to give a recommendation, really. I'll just give a brief review of my favorites: David Swenson's Short Forms This is the man to see for traditional Asthanga. Vinyasa (flow) is based on Ashtanga forms, just ashtanga is more traditional and vinyasa is more experimental/playful w/ sequence. This is a good set. There is a 15 minute, 30 minute and half hour set on here if I remember correctly and he shows you easy/intermediate/advanced variations. The book is cool to have too. Yoga Shakti by Shiva Rea The most beautiful Yoga DVD I've ever seen. Has many interesting forms I've never seen anywhere else before. Lot's of creativity here. Beautiful music, menus, navigation, cinematography, instructor, everything. There are solar and lunar flows on here, so it taps into some Sun Moon alchemy. (Most Yoga is just very solar IMO). You can turn instruction off and just have music which is a great feature. Also has an amazing feature where you can take any of the 30 flows / meditations and build your own customized flow of as many or as few pieces in any order you want. Sets a new watermark. The Pleasure of Strength by Ana Forrest Ana Forrest is amazing and she breaks down the subtleties of each pose in extraordinary detail. It's also very very challenging (for me) and, as the title suggests, places a good deal of emphasis on strength over just passive flexibility. I haven't watched this one enough yet to review much more than that. Prasara by Scott Sonnon The first DVD is basically an interview with Scott where he talks about Prasara and gets into the details of the breath scale. The practice DVD itself is basically just clips of Scott doing the 5 flows. It's shot well although in some ways I feel they put it looking nice over quality of instruction as there are a few times there are sexy transitions or zoom ins that make it harder to see what Scott is actually doing. On top of that there is zero instruction which was disappointing. You'll want to be proficient at the advanced level of Warrior Wellness and at least have run through the Body Flow tapes and done most of the exercises a few times. You'll also want to have a DVD player that do slow motion because you really have to deconstruct the flows on your own. Which is maybe a good thing in the end, that you have to use your head and really pay attention and break the flows down and figure them out because that is a good ability to have. I just wish I believed this was done intentionally. But when all is said and done, the flows themselves are very very cool. And when the TV is off and I am standing on my mats thinking about what I want to mess around with that day, invariably it's Scott's flows because they are just so damn fun once you get them. Whereas I rarely rarely will do traditional Yoga flows without a video or instructor prompting me because they just frankly bore the hell out of me. Hope that helps ... gotta run to work now. Sean. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yoda Posted September 7, 2005 Awesome post, Sean! I have Swenson's short forms and it's nothing short of spectacular. If I can dig it up, I'd be happy to lend it out to whoever. (VHS) I acknowledge the huge benefits and coolness factor of Swenson's sort of yoga, but it bores me to tears--so I'm happy to find a like minded comrade! That's what I'm diggin about Warrior Wellness--it's fast paced, I keep moving, and I stay satisfied. As I'm just a WW newbie, no need to branch out yet. I'll be interested to see if Prasara holds your attention. -Yoda Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
