Kabbalah Yoga Ambitious Beginners

First off to say this is ambitious is certainly correct. I feel for the newbie to yoga that picks this up as their intro, which could easily happen since I picked up mine at Target. I do not think in any way, shape, or form that this is a beginners video. There is no instruction at all on how to get into the poses or transition from pose to pose. It is a female voice over who announces the name of the pose and then gives info on the meaning of the pose itself. I was shocked at the lack of instruction and form pointers especially since it is marketed towards beginners. I also feel that it includes poses that should NOT be on a beginners video such as crow, wheel, and shoulder stand just to name a few.

The dvd has a few options at the beginning which include the main program, modified program, areilla's asanas, and a primer on Kabbalah. I think I may have forgotten one. I have done the main and modified progam, viewed the asanas but couldn't get the primer to work past the first page (it is just text material). I saw no difference between the main and modified program except the camera focuses more on the male background exerciser who is performing modifications of the poses. Areilla's asanas were basically her showing advanced poses with or without a "helper".

The set has a very light blue, almost white background (looks like curtains) with some painted circle things that are on the front of the dvd covers. The floor is mainly white with what looks to be splash painting on it of different colors. There are also numerous candles lighted throughout. I thought it was kind of an odd set but it did not bother me. The lead is Ariella along with 3(?) female background exercisers and one male who shows some modifications. I really didn't pay much attention to what they were wearing, I think I recall red and black and they all have those red strings tied around thier wrists. The music is by Jai Uttal and I really am not too sure how to describe it but it seemed to fit the workout and I enjoyed it.

The workout clocks in at around 35 minutes and seems to pack in quite a bit for that time period. The pace seemed quick (but not to much so) but I am definitely no expert.

The poses are as follows:

Start out with 3 chants of Shalohm (sp?)

Then proceed to the section they call Preparing for the Light

Easy Pose w/ Twist

Cat-Cow Stretch

Balance Table

Thread the Needle

Plank to upward dog

Downward dog hold ankle

Dolphin

Forearm push up

Chair

Standing Forward Bend

Standing Spilt with Twist

Then proceed to the section they call Non-Reactivity

Warrior I

Warrior II

Yoga Mudra Warrior

Extended Side Angle Pose

Lunge with Prayer Twist

Star

Triangle

Half Moon

Wide Legged Forward bend, and then a variation of this

Wide Legged Revolved Triangle

Pyramid Head to Knee Pose

Tree pose

Prayer Squat

Crow

Cobblers

Balancing Bear

Boat

One Legged Forward Bend

One Legged Side Bend

Half Upward boat

Half seated twist

Staff Pose

Seated forward bend

Eastern Plank

Pigeon

Wind Relieving Pose

Bridge

Wheel

Plow

Shoulder Stand

Boat Prep

One legged spinal twist

Roll up to easy pose

Then to what they call their Fighting Inertia section which is basically

Final Relaxation

Despite some of the major drawbacks (lack of instruction) I did enjoy this practice. I liked the pace and felt worked and stretched out after I was finished. I am mainly a dabbler in yoga but over the last few months have really seemed to click with it. Just for reference sake some of my faves include Yoga Complete For Everybody (Bodywisdom), PY4H, some of the older GAIAM/Living Arts series and recently I have really been enjoying Kundalini Yoga with Ravi and Anna.

Oh, one more thing the dvd is not chaptered at all from what I could tell. When I hit the skip button it just took me straight to the next section on the main menu not the next pose.

Jeanette (janzia)