Chinese Yoga

Description on back of DVD case: "This is an active form of Yoga with circular rotation of joints, yet it is very gentle. Includes standing, kneeling, sitting and reclining postures. This beginning Yoga relaxes all areas of the body, especially the back, hips, shoulders and neck. Chinese Yoga is very helpful both for people with active lifestyles and for people just beginning to exercise. Many menu chapters allow you to advance to any section of the DVD."

This is a good description. It has a mixture of static stretches, moving (gently) stretches, and some joint mobility. It has a lot of variety between these and the stretches are held for various amounts of time; some short & some up to 20 seconds. The poses are similar to those that are in most stretching videos, however, for most of the poses, Bob does them in a unique way so it is very refreshing and interesting.

There are two main sections. The first is 40 minutes of stretching & moblity and the second section is 12 minutes of stretching, mobility, & massage using a playground-type of ball. I used my Fluidity ball & it worked fine (although you lay down on supine on the ball so the ball has to be sturdy enough to support your weight).

This is almost a full body stretch routine - no stretching for hands & feet, and more emphasis on lower body and back with some on neck, shoulders, and sides. You don't need to do the second section (with the ball) to get a great overall stretch routine.

I was hesitant to try this because one of the chapters is labeled, "kneeling postures" and I don't like sitting on my knees; in actuality, there is not much kneeling at all.

I liked the music - it is a variety of light music tracks such as instrumental flute music that is unobtrusive and pleasant. The setting is a nice, green garden. Production values are not slick...the audio is good; the video is fine but not crystal clear/high definition quality.

This is one of the best stretching routines I have done. I have many, many stretch and yoga videos and, for stretching, this is in my top 5 favorites (Chinese Yoga, Yoga in the Garden of Serenity, Baron Baptiste Unlocking Athtletic Power, Karen Voight Pure & Simple Stretch, and Healing Yoga for Aches & Pains). This ranks in my top 2 for putting new twists on the same old stretch postures (Chinese Yoga and Yoga in the Garden of Serenity). This also makes it fun & not boring. I just love this one!