Intermediate Yoga - DVD

I've been doing Yoga for 9 years every day and I have about 100 Yoga programs between VHS/DVD/CD and many are Rodney's.

I've had this Rodney Yee Intermediate Program on VHS for years (I don't have it on DVD) and rarely do it. For some reason I decided to pull it off the shelf this morning and give it a go since it had been so long. I can see after doing it why it's not one I tend to reach for. It's not bad, it's just not one that works well for me, I don't have that great inner Yoga "glow" in terms of how I feel compared to the way I feel from the programs I really love.

This program starts w/ just a short Sun Salute section which I feel could have been a bit longer. Then there is a very good selection of standing/balancing poses.

The next series are inversions, Handstands, and forearm balances which I passed on this morning. While I can barely do those to begin with, I especially don't like the placement in the program of those types of asana and feel they'd be better placed towards the end. It really interrupted the flow and I'd prefer to go straight into the backbends after all the standing poses. Once again, that's just a personal preference.

The backbend section was very good by the way and there are some hip openers as well.

Overall, this program leaves me feeling very "eh" compared to his other programs (particularly his Power Yoga Stamina, and his Flexibility program) which really create an amazing feeling due to the sequencing and flow of those practices. His "Energy" program is another one I like better than this Intermediate program as well.

In spite of my personal reservations about this program, I still gave it 4 stars, because even though it wasn't a great program for me, it is still (aside from the placement of the inversion section) a decent enough program and I don't think a review should just be based on personal preference, but rather on a more objective perspective.

Still, In my opinion, The following programs are all that I feel are better overall than this "Intermediate" Program:

Rodney's Power yoga Programs ("Stamina", "Flexibility" and "Strength")

Baron Baptiste's excellent Power Yoga ("Journey Into Power" levels 1 and 2, "Soul Of Strength", "Power and Precision", "Unlocking Athletic Power", "Core Power", "Hot Yoga, The Initial Challenge", "Hot Yoga" The Next Challenge" are ALL excellent)

Bryan Kest's Power Yoga Programs


Sherrie Baptiste (sister of Baron Baptiste who has also been doing Yoga since she was a child) "Baptiste Power Of Yoga"

Kathy Smith's New Yoga ("Intermediate" as well as her "Advanced" Programs)

Total Yoga "Water", "Original" (Fire is also great also but a bit more advanced)

Shiva Rea "Yoga Shakti"

Janis Safell "Beverly Hills Yoga"

Rainbeau Mars "Pure Power" and "Pure Sweat"

This DVD is very similar to Rodney Yee's latest Power Yoga DVD. The big differences are inversions and slightly more difficult seated poses. The average person with 2+ years of experience would benefit from this DVD (I suggest 2 plus years, but a person could get plenty of benfit out of this DVD by modifying a few poses with less experience too). The inversions are performed against a wall, but can be performed out in the open if you have good proficency with forearm balance and headstand poses. The flow is smooth and depends upon the style of yoga you come from as to whether you would consider it fast or slow. If your background is based in ashtanga, then you would probably consider the flow as kind of slow to moderate, if you have more of an iyengar (or any yoga style where a long period of time is spent in a given pose) backgound then the pace may be a little quicker than what you may be used to. Personally, I think the flow is good giving some time to get into poses and start to feel the stretch, but the flow keeps the heat going. This DVD is about 65 minutes long and is good if you are working your way to hour plus yoga sessions. Overall, this is another great Yee production, and as I've stated in previous reviews, Yee hasn't let me down yet.

This moderate/slow pace workout is set in Maui. It's slower then his power yoga, more relaxed for meditation & getting in touch with your body. You don't hold it so long you get bored, but enough to really be aware & fix little things before pulling back out. The first 30 min the pose flow very nicely into each other, no separation.
It starts with sun salutations w/chair & warrior 1 for a short time which aren't done again after the standing poses. Side angles, triangles turns into half moons, warrior 1 turns into warrior 3, prayer hands behind you for front leg standing stretch, 3 different kinds of standing forward bends & more.
Inversions: handstand, shoulder stand & headstand using a wall w/standing fwd bend, child's pose & downward dog in between for rest.
Integration: bridge, bow, camel, half wheel/upward bow, laying down single leg stretch, laying down figure 4, laying down knee to chest spinal twist, rocking on spine, half lotus twist arm sitting spinal twist (never seen in any other yoga dvd), sitting half lotus spinal twist (never seen before), plow & shoulder stand w/o wall, double leg sitting fwd bend, ends in 4 min meditation.

See a trailer at the distributer site at gaiam com

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