Yoga Journal's Yoga Practice for Intermediates

First, who has a solid, bare wall in their house where a full grown human being can freely kick up against it, without any danger of knocking into furniture on the way down (we all wobble when we're learning, don't we)? Or, denting drywall with your heel on the way up, for that matter...

Second, from what I've read in various yoga books since aquiring this tape -- it is not recommended that students learn these poses against a wall! The thinking is, with the wall keeping your balance for you, you're not working all your stabilizing muscles; plus, with the wall essentially holding you up, a beginner is able to stay in these inversions longer than they really should, risking injury. Better to work your way up from the ground at your own pace, heeding the pressure in your neck & shoulders as indications that you need to come down, rest, and then try again -- gradually learning to hold the poses longer.

Experience has shown me this is true. When I first got this tape, I didn't know any better and diligently practiced these inversions w/ Rodney. After weeks of regularly doing the tape, I encountered a website with step-by-step instructions on how to do headstand (and a big warning on the page saying NOT to use a wall for support). I figured with all my experience from the tape, I shouldn't have a problem trying the pose a different way.

Yeah, right. I had none of the balance & coordination needed to do headstand away from the wall. All that work w/ this tape had been for nothing -- except, I guess, I was getting comfortable with being upside down, so that's something, at least. But not enough, for all my effort.

So I abandoned this tape & started working on headstand the way the website (and some yoga books I bought) advised. Within a week, I was able to achieve the pose. So much for Rodney Yee's method.

Otherwise, the tape is a nice workout. More like advanced beginner, I think, than intermediate, but then that's just mincing words, I suppose. If you're comfortable with backbends & shoulderstand, you're probably not gonna learn a lot from this tape. However, you might find this a handy tape to have around if you just want a decent workout that holds poses a little longer than Living Art's beginners stuff and provides some nice inversion work, to boot.

Just please, for your own safety, skip over the handstand/headstand section! Or, at least, research some alternative ways to master these poses and perhaps practice this way when you're ready to wean yourself away from the wall.

Have fun!