Total Yoga - The Flow Series, Complete Set

Total Yoga: Water presents a 45-minute intermediate workout with basic combinations of standing postures and floor poses. Based in the foundations of Hatha vinyasa, Water draws on core energy and ujjayi breathing to increase focus and flexibility. Rich and White illustrate modifications for most postures and limit the amount of advanced asanas. Participants will get a solid workout through a series of sun salutations and familiar poses such as triangle and warrior. Spinal rotation and inverted postures are kept to a minimum, but some great flexibility-building movements are incorporated that will increase the students' capacity to work into these poses later in their discipline.

The most rigorous workout is Total Yoga: Fire, which combines both classical and contemporary postures in one continuous flow. These poses are advanced to begin with, but the difficulty is increased with the length that each asana (pose) is held and the repetition of each vinyasa (series of poses). Rich and White silently lead this 60-minute session with verbal instruction from a narrator, who gives direction in both traditional yoga terminology and simple directional cues. The fundamentals of balance, ujjayi breath, and safety are addressed at the beginning, but the intensity level increases quite vigorously. Rich and White exhibit impeccable form and alignment through standing postures and three series of sun salutations. All of the programs in this excellent series end with meditations. --Olivia Voigts

Description
Internationally renowned yoga masters Ganga White and Tracey Rich bring over 60 years of teaching experience to Total Yoga: The Flow Series. This comprehensive and dynamic follow-up to the popular Total Yoga program is divided into three separate videocassettes, each representing a complete daily workout routine that brings the many benefits of yoga to all levels of students. The first in this series, Earth, builds foundations for balanced daily yoga routine for both the beginner and more experienced students, including sun salutations, standing and other classical postures, emphasizing flexibility, attention, flow and breath in a comprehensive, restorative manner. The second in the series, Water, advances the positions and postures for continuing students with the fluidity and grace of Hatha Vinyasa, flowing transitions, with a broader complement of standing, seated and inverted yoga postures. The third and final volume in the series, Fire, forges elements from the first two videos into a higher level of aerobic intensity for intermediate to advanced students.

1) The increasing challenges of the Earth, Water and Fire sequences let me vary my practice. So far I have tried Water and Fire, and even though a few of the Fire poses are beyond me, I could modify them and still get a great workout.

2) I found many other yoga videos to be too introductory or not a real flow session. Total Yoga - The Flow Series really provides an everyday workout -- for days when you feel weak or strong. I have also been turned off by videos narrated in overly dreamy, otherworldly voices. Total Yoga includes no-nonsense narration that focuses on posture, focus and safety.

Highly recommended!


Excellent Find   September 4, 2003
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I am a beginner Yoga enthusiast and I found this series perfect for me. I did the beginner earth series for a couple of weeks and then I moved to the water series. I find the videos very soothing and easy to follow, but at the same time I sweat like crazy. Great workout and relaxation in one. Looking forward to the fire tape.


Monotone, mediocre instruction   August 12, 2003
 3 out of 7 found this review helpful

The level of detail in the instuction varies widely; some asanas are almost painfully dissected, others seemingly glossed over. Also, instruction is delivered in a very serious-sounding monotone. I would recommend the Yoga Zone tapes over these.