Yoga Journal - Your Daily Yoga

I found this yoga DVD set (2 DVDs) at a used book sale and decided to purchase it without knowing much about it. The main thing that appealed to me was that it offered a variety of short practiced by different yoga teachers. I am a new yoga teacher myself, and being exposed to the styles of other instructors helps me develop in my teaching, so I thought I could learn from this video.

Unfortunately, the DVDs themselves offer little additional information. Each disc has a Main Menu that lists the practices on that disc, but nothing is given other than the names of the routines--not times, descriptions, instructors, etc. When you select the practice, a female voiceover provides some very brief basic info, including the name of the yogi who designed the sequence and the main focus of the sequence. I have provided further details for each practice below.

***DISC 1***

OPENING CEREMONY (16:15 mins)

This first practice was designed by YJ regular Annie Carpenter; a male model demonstrates, and both a block and blanket are used to assist in opening deeper into backbends. The first few postures include hero's pose with a block, blanket under the shoulders, and boat with the blanket. The practice continues with cat/cow, down dog, high lunge, baby cobra, and warrior 1. The remaining poses are on the floor, including sphinx, half-frog, full cobra, and child's pose.

SOLAR POWERED (24:54 mins)

I expected this sequence by instructor Dina Amsterdam to be focused on sun salutations, but it wasn't. Instead, this practice is designed to "open and nourish," and it felt very much like a Yin yoga practice. It begins with the male model performing shavasana using a bolster and then moves on to additional supported postures, including Yin butterfly, half-saddle, lateral dragonfly with blanket, dragonfly with twist, and full forward fold with bolster. Reclined poses included knee-to-chest, bridge, hand-to-big toe pose, and bound angle with a bolster. The practice concluded with a very brief (<30 sec) supported shavasana with a blanket and the bolster. This wound up being one of my favorite practices in the set!

FLUID NATURE (16:05 mins)

This sequence was designed by Ashtanga-trained Kia Miller, and it's demonstrated by a female model. The practice begins seated and then quickly comes to standing for a dynamic twist followed by a dynamic forward bend. A long series starting from downward dog is next: from downward dog to plank to knee in (5x) to high lunge/pyramid pose to downward dog to twisting lunge on the opposite side, then repeat. This is followed by child's pose/low cobra flow, moving on to bow pose and then finishing in child's pose.

CLEAR AND CONFIDENT (16:27 mins)

Elena Brower, a former Anusara yoga instructor, designed this sequence, which is also shown by a female and which uses an optional block and strap. The routine starts seated with the hands at the heart, then moves right into two rounds of sun salutations. Next is a series that starts with downward dog and moves through triangle, locust, side angle pose, pyramid, and warrior 3 before repeating on the other side. The standing work finishes with standing hand-to-big-toe pose, and then there is an extremely brief (<15 sec) shavasana to finish.

PEAK FORM (18:29 mins)

The voiceover notes that Richard Rosen designed this practice as a preparation for shoulderstand. The female model uses a block, a chair, an extra yoga mat, and 3-4 blankets as props. After sitting briefly, the routine starts with a chest opener using the block, followed by dolphin pose with the block. Hero's pose is next, practiced with both cow-face and eagle arms. The chair is then used for a west stretch and a reverse shoulder stretch. Next, it's time to move into supported shoulder stand (bridge pose) with the block, and then supported shoulder stand with 3-4 blankets. The practice concludes with fish pose and a brief shavasana. Shoulderstand is not my favorite pose, but I loved the shoulder-opening work leading up to this posture!

***DISC 2***

GROUNDING GROOVES (15:40 mins)

There is no mention of who designed this practice, in which a female model begins seated. The practice quickly moves through all 4s and child's pose to standing. The first series of standing postures includes triangle, side angle, and half-moon before switching sides. Next is standing wide angle and tree pose. Moving to the floor, the postures include bound angle, reclined twist, and legs-up-the wall (using a chair), which is a position of final rest for several minutes.

STEADY AS SHE GOES (14:17 mins)

This sequence is offered by instructor Shannon Paige Schneider; as the title suggests, the focus is on balance and stability. It starts with observation in a seated position before moving to standing for an alternating lateral stretch. This is followed by a standing forward bend, then back to the floor for cat/cow and variations. Down dog moves into 3-legged dog and high lunge, then back to down dog for half-frog, and returning to down dog a final time for half-camel. The practice concludes with child's pose and a brief shavasana.

GROUND CONTROL (17:15 mins)

This sequence, which focuses on "balance within," is a vinyasa flow designed by instructor Elise Lorimer. The routine starts seated but moves right into a standing side bend, downward dog, and horse pose. After moving back into downward dog, there is a warrior/lunge flow called "riding the wave." Next is a squat called elephant pose followed by standing wide-legged forward bend, moving into a squat on each side. Then, goddess squat with a twist, a variation on head-to-knee pose (knee up), seated meditation, and an extremely brief (mere seconds!) shavasana to finish.

STAND STRONG (20:15 mins)

This final sequence is designed by Nicky Costello, and it's intended to be for the stress of the "holiday season." (Note: it seems likely that these sequences originally appeared in YJ magazine.) The practice begins seated with an observation of the breath, then moves to standing for tree. Downward dog pose is performed between EVERY single standing posture, which are completed individually on both sides before moving on to the next. The standing poses were as follows: triangle, warrior 2, side angle, warrior 1, half-moon, pyramid, and wide angle forward bend. The routine concluded with a longer-held down dog, child's pose, and short (<1 min) shavasana.

Overall, I did like the variety of practices on this set, and I found a few of the routines (more so on the first DVD) to be surprising gems. What I didn't like so much was the bland voiceover instructor and model demonstration--it would have been SO much better if the same instructor who had designed the sequence had modeled it as well, or had at least provided the voiceover instruction! Yoga Journal did a better job with that part in their Complete Guide to Home Yoga Practice - Your Yoga Guide: The Foundation of Your Home Practice, where YJ frequent contributor both models AND does the voiceover. Still, this is a worthwhile DVD set, especially if you enjoy a variety of yoga styles, and I would recommend it.