Hot Yoga Level 2

This is the second program in Baron Baptiste's older "Hot Yoga" Series. In my opinion it's the most challenging of the three from that series, though they all present their own challenges for sure :)

It's over an hour long and it is a very thorough practice that covers a large amount of poses.

While I would admit that I probably like most of his newer programs a bit more than this one, I still feel that it's an excellent program to work into one's Power Yoga rotation.

Here is a breakdown of the practice:

00:00 Intro

01:50 Uttanasana

03:10 Clasp hands and reachg overhead (while still in forward fold)

03:58 Rag Doll

04:08 Sweep up Palms together overhead and look up …..then continue with Sun Salutation A 3x’s

08:20 Sun Salutation B variation 4x’s

18:10 Hold Chair Pose

18:40 Clasp hand and reach over head in Forward Fold

19:10 Standing Side Bend (One Arm by the side, one overhead)

20:30 Standing back bend (hands at sacrum)

21:10 Bent Leg Forward bend with hands under heels (Gorilla Pose/Padahastasana)

22:10 Standing Side Bend w/ hands interlocked (index fingers point up)

23:00 Backbend w/ arms out, palms up

23:30 Standing Forward bend w/ hands under heels

24:00 Chair pose w/ arms out front

24:30 Stand on toes with arms out, then bend knees w/ toes still raised

25:00 Knees together, Feet hip width, Knees bent

25:40 Knees bent w/ Knees and Thighs together, Toes Raised with Arms up and back

26:05 Stand on toes, Knees bent, Arms forward

26:35 Knees bent w/ Knees and Thighs together, Toes raised wit Arms up and back

27:10 Eagle Pose (2x’s each side)

29:30 Sun Salutation A

30:15 Uttita Hasta Padangustasana with leg forward

30:50 then straight out, hands on hips (then repeat on left side)

31:50 Balance on Bent Left Leg, Right Leg Forward and raised forward, place hands around the soles of feet (then switch legs)

33:15 Natarajasana 2x’s

35:30 Warrior 3

36:50 Airplane Balancing on one leg, then

37:20 Bring right hand to right heel, then lunge (switch sides)

39:15 Wide stance forward bend

40:00 Wide stance forward bend (holding toes)

41:10 Triangle to Warrior 2 to Reverse Warrior to side angle pose

43:00 Do the same sequence on the left side

44:50 Parsvottanasana (left leg forward) w/ arms forward by front foot (then repeat on the right side)

46:30 Tree pose (bend right leg against left thigh first, then do on other side)

48:20 Sun Salutation (vinyasa)

ABS

48:55 Navasana

49:35 Twisting Situps

50:30 Supta Padangustasana (lying or sitting) grap right toe w/ leg up (other leg on the floor) then bring leg out to the side

BACK BENDS

52:45 Bridge Pose

53:30 Wheel Pose

54:15 Rock and Rolls 6 times (while moving in a circle) up to flat feet on the last one. Then to

54:40 Sun Salutation (vinyasa) to

55:00 Cobra to locust to Bow

56:00 Camel

57:15 Child’s Pose

57:20 Up Dog, Down Dog to:

57:35 Pigeon to Janu Sirasana w/ same leg to seated twist

then Vinyasa to Pigeon/Janusirasana to seated twist on the other side

1:03:25 Pachimottanasana Vinyasa to

1:05:00 Kneel w/ “fire” breathing

1:06:10 Savasana

I picked up this video at Target for $7, a real bargain. It is definitely a step up from the "basic" yoga video. I love this tape, but do not recommend it for those who have never done yoga before. This is a good one for me because most yoga videos (Living Arts, Yoga Zone) are way to easy for me. I found myself able to do most of the poses, but I still have plenty of room to improve. I learned several new postures I had never seen in other videos. There is a very thorough warm-up of sun salutations, LOTS of back bends, standing poses, balancing poses, and a floor series. I definitely recommend this for those who want more of a challenge.

This video is very challenging and it moves at a quick pace. Baron begins with a long standing forward bend. Then you jump right into the upward and downward facing dog series and repeat this several times. This really gets your heart rate up and warms you right up. Later you move into some other challenging poses like eagle, tree, warrior, sun salutations, camel, and pigeon pose. There was one pose that I could not do. It is a backward bend where you bend back so far that only your feet and hands are touching the floor. The last part of the workout is floorwork, but don't think you will get a break here. This section includes cobra to strengthen your back, and a slow motion bicycle exercise to work your obliques. Finally, you get to the very deserving final relaxation pose.

The poses in this video require a lot of balance. There are a lot of standing on one leg poses and other poses that incorporate squats and lunges (and even calf raises). You will feel your leg muscles working hard throughout the workout. Overall, I think this is an excellent intermediate/advanced power yoga workout that will increase your strength and flexibility. The production quality is not the greatest (picture could be a little criper and clearer), but this did not bother me. One small thing that did bother me was the fact that everyone was wearing white - it kind of made the video look boring. Baron says that the workout is called "hot yoga" because you are suppossed to do it in a warm room so that your muscles will become more pliable and you will be more flexible. (I didn't find it necessary to practice in a hot room, because my muscles were plenty warm in my nice, cool workout room!)

Baron Baptiste made a three-video series in 1998. There are at least two versions of these tapes on the market, and the production quality varies significantly. The videos labeled as "Hot Yoga" are distributed by Good Times and are the poorer quality versions, and the video's labeled "Power Yoga" are the better productions - however, it aint quite that simple...

The covers of the better tapes are labeled: Baron Baptiste's Power Yoga, and the individual tapes were titled 1) Level 1: Power Yoga For Beginners, 2) Level 2, Ultimate Power Yoga Challenge, and 3) Power Yoga The Next Challenge. They do not mention "Good Times" as the distributor.

"Good Times" productions began distributing the tapes shortly after they hit the market. Good Times made cheaper reproductions that look like 5th generation copies and have spots on the tapes that are blurry - at least mine do! Good Times originally mass marketed the tapes for $14.95 each but many people got the Good Times version as part of a Walmart distributed three-pack which sold for $12.96 for the set of three. Rather than being called *Power* Yoga, these tapes are called "Baron Baptiste's *Hot* Yoga", with the same individual tape titles as the *Power* Yoga version.

So, you're figuring, "ok, if I want good quality, I'll just get the *Power* Yoga tapes rather than the *Hot* Yoga Tapes. Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple.

Baronbaptiste.com offers tapes which show a cover graphic for the *Power* Yoga series, however, the description which accompanies the graphic says *Hot* Yoga, Levels 1, 2, and 3. This was done so people would not mistakenly buy the Power Yoga series believing it was a different program than the Hot Yoga series. The baronbaptiste.com tapes sell for $20 +S&H each.

Collagevideo.com indicates they purchased their tapes directly from Baron, and were quite miffed that Baron had allowed Good Times to package a lower quality version for $12.96 for all three - a price below their wholesale cost for the better tapes. The Collage tapes are entitled *Power* Yoga. However, you might get confused because their catalog and website graphic for the Level 3 tape says *Hot* Yoga (they indicate this will soon be corrected). Collage sells the tapes for $14.95 each, and the set for $40.00+S&H.

The $12.96 Walmart three-pack does not appear to be currently available. It does pop up on Ebay, and the Videofitness and Firmbelievers swap forums. Please note that in addition to the 3 shrinkwrap bundle, the tapes are individually shrinkwrapped, so it's quite possible to unwittingly trade for one of the cheesy Good Times tapes. If you want the better tapes, avoid versions which reference "Good Times" productions.

Finally, none of this has anything to do with Baron's most recent, and completely different series, which came out in 2001 and is entitled "Baron Baptiste Live" - these tapes feature a completely different program which I personally prefer - the real smart money will go there.

This is m favorite yoga video. More athletic than most. At the end of this tape I feel like I've gotten a great workout, but I also feel relaxed. I find this tape to be a great compliment to my routine. I stretch and strentghen my muscles and it's done wonders for my back pain. Get it you won't be sorry.

I just received this yoga tape (thanks Rosie) and I have to say that I thought Bryan Kest's tapes were tough. This tape is almost as challenging as The Power Within by Mark Blanchard and this is only his level 2 tape, I'd hate to see level 3. What I like the most about this tape is that you do almost 55 minutes of standing poses so it is a very thorough yoga routine. You do a good warm up before going through the routine and it includes all your basic yoga poses plus Baron includes balancing poses and some you do twice. I think it's a much more thorough routine than any of Bryan's tapes, I'm not putting Bryan down by any means, but this is one tough yoga workout and a true meaning of Power Yoga. The total length of the video is 70 minutes with about 15 minutes being floor poses. You do back stretches, hip stretches, inner thigh stretches and different variations of each that you don't find in other tapes. I happen to love doing Power Yoga and I'm thrilled that I am finally finding tapes that go beyond Bryan's vol. 3 workout. Between The Power Within and now Baron's tape, I know I will be able to continue to grow in the poses. I still love doing short yoga routines after my cardio or strength workouts but for days when I only do yoga, these 2 tapes are the best! Now I can't wait to try Baron's vol. 3.