50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best yoga DVD I own, Nov 22 2004
By IronM - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Sampoorna Hatha Yoga at Home With Yogi Hari: Level 1 (DVD)
I'm surprised no one reviewed this video. This DVD is a perfect yoga workout. I bought this DVD to practice yoga at home. I have taken many classes, in many different styles, and just wanted something to guide me through the postures in the proper sequence. What I got was so much more. This is by far my favorite yoga routine. The instructor is amazing. He is peaceful, meditative, and incredible strong. His instructions are clear, concise and unobtrusive. You are led through a complete yoga routine from
- Initial relaxation and centering
- Chanting Ohm
- Pre-breath exercises
- Breathing exercises including: abdominal, 3 part breath and breath of fire
- Eye exercises
- Neck exercises
- 6 rounds of the sun salutation
- Shoulder, abdominal, leg and hip strengthening exercises
- A series of Asanas
- Final relaxation
- Chanting Ohm
I've never taken a class that balanced everything yoga has to offer this well.
This yoga DVD doesn't have menu options, it just plays from beginning to end, and I like that.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yoga -- in its Most Honest Form, Mar 28 2007
By J. Smith - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Sampoorna Hatha Yoga at Home With Yogi Hari: Level 1 (DVD)
What a great, honest yoga session. I could end up doing just THIS DVD most mornings. I have been using Yogi Hari's first four "Yoga at Home" series videos since 2000... and still consider them to be the best there is.
Yogi Hari's videos ARE probably what you're looking for in a Hatha Yoga session, you just don't realize yet. I didn't at first either.
This Level 1 DVD seems to me, to be Yogi Hari's "Come full Circle" session, after doing his other four videos for seven years. This is labeled Level 1, but one could easily consider this to be as well-rounded and fulfilling a session as his more Advanced videos. It's also his most up-to-date video... and it's now the FIRST one in his older series.
Ths invocation, pranayama, asanas and closing sequence are as well balanced as any of Yogi Hari's other videos.
The choice of asanas are very are accessible to almost anyone, but challenging as well.
As YOGA INTERNATIONAL magazine stated years ago, "If you're looking for the essence of yoga, look no further".
I've tried all the contemporary DVD's, classes, and styles. I came to yoga from a fitness lifestyle... and it was Yogi Hari's videos, books and conversations with him that helped me to have a better understanding of what yoga is in general.
Get this with an open mind. It truly has more to offer.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific, little-known yoga DVD, Oct 9 2007
By E. A. Moon - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Sampoorna Hatha Yoga at Home With Yogi Hari: Level 1 (DVD)
I have lots of yoga DVDs and had never heard of this one--I saw a reference to it on a review for another yoga DVD here on Amazon and checked it out. I was intrigued by the reviews and ordered it, and it has become one of the most-used DVDs in my collection.
A caveat--if someone has never done yoga before, I would not recommend this DVD. There really is not enough instruction for a total beginner (actually, that is true of most yoga DVDs, period). If someone wants production values a la Shiva Rea, I would not recommend this DVD. If someone wants chaptering to be able to slice and dice the practice, I wouldn't recommend this DVD. However, if someone is looking for a deliberatively-paced yoga practice, taught by a long-time yogi who really knows his stuff, with no show-biz razzmatazz and annoying New Age-isms, I highly recommend it.
It is quite a complete practice, with exercises I have not seen elsewhere (eye exercises); the music is very soothing; it is in an outdoor setting (if you've seen David Swenson's 'Short Forms' ashtanga video, it is like that--shot in a botanical garden) which I like a lot, and Yogi Hari doesn't skimp on the savasana at the end. One of my biggest complaints about most yoga DVDs is that the final relaxation is only a couple of minutes long.
The DVD is taught in voice-over, with Yogi Hari demo'ing the postures. He is incredibly strong and flexible; most inspiring!
I've been doing yoga a long time and I am long past the need to push myself to the utmost with grueling power yoga practices on a daily basis. Yogi Hari's DVD is one that I truly enjoy doing, with zero dread factor, and I feel terrific afterwards. It gets no better, for me.