Hemalaya Behls Yoga for Urban

This 56-minute yoga practice focuses on strengthening every part of the body via classic yoga postures such as hip openers, inversions, and twists. The warm-up highlights breathing through use of both chants and an "energized breathing" exercise; the workout then moves on to sun salutations, standing poses, balance poses, and floor work. This is an intermediate level workout which contains some more advanced moves, including a pigeon series and lying inversions. The relaxation posture which ends the workout is extremely brief, probably less than 30 seconds--not an effective end to an intense hour long practice. However, the first 35 minutes or so of this workout are excellent; advanced beginners could probably skip the more challenging poses and do an extended relaxation on their own.

The music on this video is quiet and pleasant with sort of a tribal theme (similar to Minna Lessig's 'Strength and Grace'). At times, the music contained odd transitions--ie, the music is upbeat as you perform a specific pose on one side of the body and then more mellow as you complete the pose on the other side. Hemalaya has a pleasant voice and offers good general instruction, but there are two main problems with her cuing: 1) her voice over instructions are often out of sync with her camera performance of the poses, and 2) when she cues right and left, she is inconsistent about using mirrored instructions. In addition, I found that her guidelines for getting into some of the more challenging poses (such as camel) were not as effective as what I've encountered with other instructors. In summary, if you can overlook this workout's flaws, it provides a nice alternative yoga practice.

Yoga can be a place of escape from everyday stress. The tension of the day melts away into your yoga mat and drips invisibly through the floor as a deep sense of peace pervades your entire being. Yoga reminds you to breathe, to nurture the soul that you are, to let your body release the stress for you as you stretch away worry, fear, sorrow and anger. After completing this yoga workout, all you will feel is an incredible sense of peace and bliss.

Hemalaya Behl has created a nurturing environment. The workout is set in a room where purple splashes across the walls in paint and artwork adds a peaceful still dimension. Hemalaya sits on a towel and yoga mat. You only need a mat, a towel and blanket for this routine. I'd also recommend that you find a feather pillow and a down comforter because it adds a dimension of comfort to your yoga routines.

Hemalaya Behl has been studying yoga since an early age and her practice is steeped in authenticity. She has studied the teachings of Hatha, Vinyasa, Ayurvedic and Tantra. You can see that she is living her yoga practice.

In 60 minutes, Hemalaya can bring you from the highest mountain of stress to the most tranquil valley of relaxation. Her pleasant voice leads you into a meditation of the body. The poses follow a logical progression and have a depth and purpose I've not seen in most of the yoga workouts I've tried. It reminds me of how one drop of water meets the next and eventually there is a peaceful stream. This is the best way to describe what I cannot otherwise put into words.

If you complete all the poses to the fullest extent, this could be considered an advanced workout. I could not fully complete the "eagle" or "camel" although I can say that when I was in my 20s, these were much easier for me to accomplish. While doing this workout, I did finally succeed in maintaining the most amazing Tree Pose I've ever done. It is definitely easier to do tree pose while wearing the shortest shorts. Having fabric in the way does not allow your foot to remain planted on your other leg. You just have to do this pose to see why I am saying this. Anyway, I was quite elated that I could finally master this pose. There are many poses in this workout I won't be mastering for at least another year!

If you are looking for unique poses, this workout has an amazing spinal twist. Hemalaya gives precise directions and I was able to accomplish more in this workout than I ever have before. My confidence level soared even when I could not fully master a pose.

There is an added level of serenity and comfort throughout this workout. I especially enjoyed the "blanket" section as it was a cozy way to feel safe and secure and I added a feather pillow and essential oil of rose to help me relax further. The exotic Indian music creates a beautiful mood and sets the stage for a deep relaxation. Each pose is done more slowly than say "power yoga" and this workout contains all the basic poses I can think of. Everything from downward dog to cat pose. I liked how Hemalaya said: "angry cat and walk the dog." This was cute. She also taught me that to make a "sigh" or to say "mmm" helps the body to release stress. There are a few "om" moments, but this is not the focus.

As the workout ended, I was listening to the snow melt off the roof and drip to the ground. The window was slightly open and the cold night air was inquisitively sniffing at my warm skin. Most of my body was wrapped up in a cozy blanket. This is how the workout ends, with a blanket.

I was wondering if perhaps yoga was not just part of being human, it has become so essential to my life. Two years ago, I could have gone a week without exercising, but now my body demands to be nurtured. The release of stress through yoga is essential to maintain my sanity. When I cannot connect with my inner self, I become restless and finally I figured out that when you exercise a lot, you have to keep exercising a lot. It might be similar to an addiction.

Yoga, the bliss of my existence. As Hemalaya would say: "mmmmmm"

Yoga for Urban Living was a unique surprise and now I look forward to trying all of Hemalaya's workouts. There are so few yoga workouts with this level of authenticity.

~The Rebecca Review

I found the poses in this tape really good and varied. It wasn't just another take on the sun salutation. Her voice is wonderful and grounded and she speaks with calm authority. The only problem I found was with the music. It starts out with calm music that complements, but does not intrude upon the instruction. Then, once the poses become more energetic, the music changes into an unsettlingly loud genre which made it really impossible for me to continue. A couple of years later, I found this tape in DVD and was able to turn off the music and still hear the instruction, enalbing me to use this wondertul program.

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