Customer Reviews

Beyond Basic Yoga for Dummies (Full Screen)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought the First DVD, Yoga for Dummies. It was great because it had a section where she showed you each pose and then she actually gave you a full routine that you could practice to. This DVD only gives the instructional part but there is no routine to follow. And I agree with the other reviews...the pop-ups are beyond annoying. I do not think these existed on the first DVD and I am not quite sure why they were added. I like Candle Light Yoga and Crunch Fat Burning with Sara but I would not recommend this DVD due to the fact that it is basically instructional with no practice routine to go with the instructional.

This dvd is exceptional for beginners! Before purchasing this, I had never done Yoga before. I really love Sara Ivanhoe, she has a very soothing voice and makes you feel very comfortable. There are a lot of explanations before every pose, so if you have no idea to what you are doing, you will be perfectly fine. However, if you have some basic yoga knowledge already, this won't be the dvd for you. You will then find it very slow and boring due to all the explanations and slower pace. But, I would recommend it 100 percent for someone who has never done yoga before!!! Don't be afraid to give it a try!!

Just when I was getting bored with the routine from "Basic Yoga Workout for Dummies", they decided to come out with a sequel with the same instructor (the always wonderful Sara Ivanhoe) but with a more challenging workout. I had been doing the old routine for about 10 months when I decided to step things up a bit and buy the sequel. This video is a fitting follow-up to the first. While the first routine introduced you to yoga and got you used to practicing it on a regular basis, the second video really gets you into it and presents a good workout for the body. You will be surprised at how fit this yoga workout will make you feel. I've been doing the workout for 6 months now, and I'm more toned and muscular, and I've even lost some weight! (Never meant to, though, it just happened...) When I noticed that my clothes didn't fit as snuggly as they used to, and I had to buy smaller rings, I knew the yoga was working!

Like the first video, the instructor goes through each pose step-by-step to make sure you are doing it properly. If you're a veteran of the first video, you'll have no problem learning the new routine. But even if this is your first time, you will have no problem learning and doing the poses since the instructor makes yoga so accessible for everyone. And the good thing about the video is that you can watch it a few times, memorize the routine, and then do it on your own after that.

With this video, who needs to spend money on expensive yoga classes at the gym? You'll get a great workout at a great price.

I have found both Sara's DVDs useful and fun. I will not repeat information from other reviewers that I agree with, but I will offer a few tips to those who have a concern over the length of time and "patter" in this series (Beyond Basic and Basic). These tips will work for both DVDs.

If you have gone through the daily dozen with Sara several times and know everything she's going to say, do one of the following...

1. Mute Sara and just watch her do the poses with you while you put on a calming CD. You'll still feel like she's there with you and she'll keep you moving from one pose to another.

2. Don't use the DVD at all, but put the daily dozen list in front of you and just follow it at your own pace. (Also listening to some calming music.) You can increase or decrease the amount of breaths you take in each pose to modify your session. We do this a lot.

3. Do the intermediate session on the Basic DVD or the meditation on the Beyond Basics. Those 2 rotated make a great session on their own!

When you want a refresher course on how the poses should look and feel, just turn Sara back on and review with her.

Don't be scared off by other reviewers' comments! I've been using this series for a year now, and it's the one I'm happiest with! This new DVD is a great companion for the first.

Namaste.

I received this as a gift from someone that chose it for the familiarity of the brand, against the myriad of other yoga videos available. Like many other Dummies publications, it delivers an adequate amount of information in an easy-to-understand and unsaturated fashion. While I would have preferred a better exposition of the principles involved, Beyond Basic Yoga for Dummies provided a fairly rigourous and rewaring yoga workout that left me with an extremely calm feeling of energy upon completion. My biggest complaint is the frequent interruptions of the trademark Dummies tips as they're very distracting, especially when you're supposed to be focusing on the movement; Ironically enough, one of the tips tells you to eliminate distractions! Sarah Ivanhoe is a great instructor, but I think that her Crunch Candlelight Yoga video far surpasses this one if you're interested in a better understanding and demonstration of Yoga.

For those new to yoga, this video provides non-threatening, carefully explained instruction. If you are beyond the beginner level, however, the pace soon becomes too slow. What's worse is that the video is, as another reviewer put it, overnarrated. There are four voice-overs during the relaxation pose alone! Since this is supposed to be the pose in which one pleasantly zones out, I found this to be very distracting.

I have been praciticing yoga for about a year now. I purchased this video after about 4 months of practice and was completely bored. I couldn't even get past the first couple of segments. I found the pace slow. The first video that I bought was Crunch: Fat Burning Yoga, I loved it! I found it easy to follow and just the right amount of challenge, so I looked for other videos by Sara Ivanhoe. I purchase this and was very disapointed. For anyone with any prior yoga experience I would not recomend this, however if you are unsure of the proper way to do poses, this could be very helpful.

I do this tape most mornings before getting ready for work. I really like it. The poses are challenging and Ivanhoe does a very good job cueing and explaining things. I do have to say that it is a tad over narrated and that can get old over time. Also, I find her voice to be a trifle too saccharine for my tastes. However, despite those two downsides I still find this tape very effective. I'm often sore after I do it. This is a good choice.

Sara Ivanhoe presents another good, effective yoga workout. This one is only a slight bit tougher than the first Dummies video but it is worth having. It seems to be assumed that the viewer has been doing the first video faithfully and has developed more flexibility and balance. It uses both quite a bit more than the first video did. It is a good workout and Sara Ivanhoe talks you through it like in the first one.

This video is a great addition to any yoga video library!

I've never done yoga before, but started with this one. It was great to hear the whole thing for about the first two times I watched it. After that, I've found that the only way to really get the benefits from it and not spend an hour listening to Sarah talk about yoga, is to keep the remote with me and try to zip through some of the setup. But it's a real pain, and I wish that there a section that allowed you to run through the entire workout at once, without spending 5 minutes to get into each pose.