Videos Bring Yoga Instructors Into Home

For a yoga experience in the privacy of your own home, consider renting or buying a yoga videotape.

Here are some to consider:

“Ali MacGraw: Yoga Mind & Body” (Warner Home Video, 54 minutes). Excellent video, easyflowing sequences, visually stimulating. Directions clear and soothing by yoga master Erich Schiffmann. Beautiful scenery, filmed at White Sands National Park, New Mexico.

“Kathy Smith New Yoga” (Body Vision, 60 minutes). Energizing workout, geared toward aerobic students transitioning to yoga. Fast pace, with resulting little time to enjoy each pose. Kathy’s flexibility may be intimidating to beginners; alternate positions are shown for the “less flexible.” Two 30-minute segments.

“Jane Fonda’s Yoga Exercise Workout” (A Vision Entertainment, 65 minutes). This no-nonsense approach is smoothly orchestrated by Fonda, whose flexibility and strength are impressive. A popular video, its major focus is the Sun Salute, repeated several times for beginners to intermediate levels. Cool-down and relaxation segment enjoyable.

“Yoga Journal’s Yoga Practice for Beginners” (Healing Arts, 72 minutes) and “Yoga Journal’s Yoga Practice Series, Flexibility, Strength, Relaxation” (Healing Arts, 240 minutes total, call 800-359-YOGA to order). These videos set the standard. Yoga instructor Patricia Walden offers a precise, acclaimed introduction in the beginners tape. Walden and Rodney Yee go deeper in the practice series, providing six yoga classes, precise instruction and plenty of challenges.

“Total Yoga” with Tracey Rich and Ganga White (Healing Arts, 68 minutes). A great workout, starting with basic breathing instructions and moving quickly to a warm-up series. Alternate positions for advanced students presented. Good variety and flow.

“Lilias! Alive with Yoga,” Volumes 1 and 2 (Nityananda Institute, 60 minutes each). Lilias Folan’s videos are a pleasure to follow, and poses are easy to move into. Lilias, ever encouraging, presents a well-rounded program for strength and flexibility. Consider her “Forever Flexible” tape for back muscle and joint work.

“Yoga for the Young at Heart: Gentle Stretching Exercises for Seniors” (Healing Arts, 50 minutes). Although not previewed, this video is recommended by local yoga instructors and Yoga Journal magazine. Designed for seniors, this is a gentle introduction to yoga. The video includes four seniors who demonstrate poses.

“Tri-Yoga, Level 1” (Planet Lakshmi Publishing, 70 minutes). An inspiring video for all yoga students. Four practice sessions starting with opening flow, all demonstrated by the exceptional Kali Ray of Santa Cruz, Calif.

“Hatha Yoga, The Hidden Language of the Body” (Timeless Books, order at 838-6652, 40 minutes). Although this is not a workout video, yoga students will learn how different positions are tools to self-discovery. The tree, shoulder stand, mountain, eagle and other poses are reviewed in a class setting. Swami Sivananda Radha outlines the benefits of yoga and discusses her own journey.