Better Sex Through Yoga, Vol. 2: Intermediate

For anyone who practices yoga regularly, BSTY vol. 2 provides a light, fun workout for "off" days. The production value is low (home movies) and it can be difficult to hear the instructor at times. The music is a bit imposing at first but not overly distracting once you become engaged in the workout. The entire workout runs approximately 40 minutes (~25 min. of floorwork, including 5 minutes of guided relaxation at the end) Outside of a few cheesy tones and a couple of references to the "sexual core", the program is fairly tame. A beginner could work up to this program fairly quickly. Experienced yoga practitioners might want to start with volume 3. Though there is not a lot of detailed instruction during the workout, the special feature section offers more guidance on the poses. All in all, a solid workout that targets the ab/pelvic muscles.

The title of this video is likely to turn some people off, but it's actually a half-decent yoga program focused mainly on strengthening your core muscles (or "inner sexual core" as it's referred to in the video). The practice begins with several series of sun salutations, adding 3-legged dog, pigeon, and warrior poses to make each series quite challenging (14 minutes total). Next comes 8 minutes of standing postures. This section begins with simple, dance-y hip rolls and stretches then moves on to balancing postures and forward bends, including an extended wide-legged forward bend. The longest segment of the video is the floor work (19 minutes). You will start on your stomach for locust and then flip over to your back for a challenging table/boat series. Also in this series are lying twists, bridge pose, and seated forward bends. Following this, you will do core abs work which includes a pelvic lift series performed with the legs in 3 different positions. Finally, there are some challenging reclined stretches (eg, reclined hero's pose), and then the practice ends with a 4-minute lying guided relaxation, bringing in the total time at just under 40 minutes.

I liked this practice's focus on engaging your "sexual inner core" muscles. Although this is not all that different from engaging your abdominals in other yoga videos, I found the near-constant reminders to be both important and beneficial. Instructor Jacquie Noelle provided good, non-mirrored cuing, but because the overall sound quality was below average, as it was often difficult to hear her instruction. The video also includes occasional on-screen written instruction, but I found that most of the time, I was not in a position to see the TV when these pointers appeared. Finally, I should note this video was not nearly as erotic as the title would suggest. First of all, Jacquie is dressed as erotically as she is on the video cover: during most of the practice, she wears blue satin shorts and a white baby t-shirt, although she later removes the latter to reveal a tank top underneath. The music, which includes slight moaning sounds at times, was a bit more obviously sexual; I barely noticed the music, but it might bother others.

This is definitely an intermediate practice, as Jacquie provides little instruction on how to perform the poses and no modifications are given. More traditional yoga devotees will probably not like this one; I soon tired of it myself, mostly because there are much better options available. However, if you have some prior experience with yoga and are looking for a practice with a different, more modern feel, this video might be a good match.

I started with 1, and was very skeptical.
I moved up to 2 becuase 1 was a great start to yoga. A bit challenging..but it kicked me in the butt, and got me to 2 quickly.
I love these DVDs. They are a great reason to start doing yoga.
I honestly took one class years ago and was a little off-put by the spiritual stuff. It was relaxing, ubt a litle too stuffy. these dvd's are just fun, and sexy, and get me"centered", but also get me energized, and feeling really good about my body.
My wife thinks it cool I'm doing yoga, and she has NO complaints in the bedroom anymore. I' m defintley more aroused and "into it' than I used to be, and for that, so is she.
can't wait too get to 3
Highly recommend.

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