Yoga Conditioning for Weight Loss

Yoga in it's pure form is about breath, focus and meditation, as well as the poses, and Susanne Deason does an excellent job integrating all these aspects. In the west, all the focus is on exercise and doing the poses, but breathing and focusing is an essential part of yoga that makes it much more effective!

And much to my surprise - there are very overweight women doing yoga and doing it well! I weigh 180 lbs and exercise regularly and do a lot of yoga and it's great to see other women the same size who do it too. You don't have to be a skinny toothpick to do yoga! I've known that for 10 years, but you wouldn't know if you look at any other yoga DVD or video.

I love the way the instructor uses voiceover to talk you through the routine while the 4 people do the poses at various levels. She explains so much more than someone who's talking and doing the routine at the same time, and explains it beautifully.

Beats me why they call it weight loss yoga. The routine is slow and soothing, and I haven't lost a pound since I started doing it - but I enjoy it anyways as a great form of relaxation, toning and meditation.

I did not give it 5 stars because of the misleading title only. Otherwise, it's a great workout and would be awesome for anyone who is overweight and intimidated by the super thin, athletic and flexible bodies in all the other yoga DVD's and videos out there. In fact, the second thinnest woman does the most modified & easiest version and two heavier women do the more challenging levels.

Overall - great for overweight yoga enthusiasts and beginners and even someone like me, who likes to do moderate yoga, but is not a beginner.

This is very good yoga workout. I really like the idea of having four different people doing different levels of the same workout. This way, it can be accessible to people of all levels of fitness, flexibility, etc. There is also a feature on it called the Personal Instructor. This is great if one is not sure how to do a position. It was filmed in a very beautiful location in Arizona which makes it that much more relaxing. Suzanne Deason is a great instructor. She has done voice-over which takes you all the way from beginning to end without leaving you hanging wondering what to do next. There is a warm-up period, the workout period that includes a variety of poses, then there is a 14 minute cool-down ending in the Relaxation Pose. Suzanne tells you to stay in Relaxation Pose as long as you like. Really good for reducing stress, etc. I highly recommend this workout for anyone no matter what one's level of fitness may be. Each instructor does great with each level of the workout. There is fully modified for people with that are not flexible. There is 1/2 modified for people with some flexibilty (which I do). There is 1/4 modified for people that are a bit more flexible. Then there is the full pose workout for experienced yoga practitioners.