Customer Rating: 
Summary: Wow!!!
Comment: After a recent urge to get into yoga, I decided to purchase this program through Amazon due to the reviews it has gotten. I'm so glad I did. I've only tried it a few times but have felt great everytime. It is a bit difficult as I'm not flexible at all but I am definitely looking forward to mastering some moves.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very good mental as well as physical workout
Comment: I haven't had a very wide range of yoga experience -- I've never taken a live class, for example -- but I've used videos by a number of different teachers, and Bryan Kest is my favorite. From the first time I did the first video in this series, a few months after my fourth child was born, I understood it completely. Bryan Kest's cuing is clear and easy to follow, and he gives exactly the right amount of detail on how to do each pose. I could tell what the pose was supposed to look and more importantly feel like, and I understood how to modify poses that were too challenging. To my surprise, the most useful part to me was the breathing. It teaches you how to be in the moment without judging the moment, a skill that is fundamental to good mental health, and that you use surprisingly often -- while stuck in traffic or the dentist's chair. I would be uncomfortable with too much talk about the spiritual aspects of yoga, which is one reason I don't take classes, and a reason that I really like Bryan Kest. These classes are straightforward, effective, and easy to follow. They aren't easy to do, however, and I don't think I'd recommend them to someone who didn't start out in pretty good shape. I've found that when my back is feeling touchy, these classes will push it over the edge. If you have back problems, you might want to look elsewhere. If you want an athletic but still calming yoga experience, try Bryan Kest.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Bryan Kest at his BEST
Comment: This dvd set is amazing! This is Bryan Kest at his best (this was filmed quite a while ago!) This yoga is for no wimps though... so hang tight because you're going on a ride of extreme yoga! Bryan has such a way of pushing you to go further in your practice. However, you don't feel overwhelmed... he is very incouraging and before you realize it, you just held Half Moon for an HOUR! No, seriously, this is a workout, but, you also know by the end you have just been "opened" up... mind, body and spirit. Plus, who cares if he's another pretty face in yoga, he's still an awesome teacher. I highly recommend this dvd.. PLUS, it's on sale now too! TAMARA'S YOGA FUSION
Customer Rating:
Summary: Who gets to define what yoga should or shouldn't be???
Comment: I have to begin by addressing the wide array of reviews here. It seems that the biggest discrepancy is whether or not Kest is truly doing yoga or if he is truly a yogi or an appropriate teacher. Really, I agree with the person who said that it is a personal thing. I had not done yoga before getting this set. I had done pilates and have a good foundation of body awareness, so that helped in overcoming the fact that I did not have a teacher there to help me with my form. But as long as I felt good, I didn't worry about it. And now, my form has improved greatly.
I have used Yoga Journal's website to read about each pose to educate myself further about body position and pitfalls to avoid. But overall, just doing the tape again and again, my body has learned the poses and grown into them.
I gained 55 pounds during my pregnancy with my now two-year-old daughter. I went from a size 4-6 to a size 14! The last two years, I have really struggled to lose the weight and it has affected me emotionally as well. This summer, I began using this tape and I immediately began to lose weight. I am now back to a size 6 and down to my pre-pregnancy weight (I was 15 lbs. over when I started this program).
More importantly, it has completely changed my way of life. It has affected the way I eat, breathe, sleep, and look at the world. I don't know why and maybe that is not the case for everyone, but I truly feel that my life has been changed by my practice.
To each their own...I greatly dislike many of the DVDs that folks who have dissed Bryan Kest's have recommended. There is no need to dissuade people from trying this because it is not "true yoga." Who gets to decide that anyway? Diversity...tolerance...acceptance...isn't that "true yoga?"
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome video series
Comment: I bought this video after getting a recommendation from my yoga teacher and reading other Amazon reviews, before leaving on an extended vacation (where a live class would not be available). Like many others here, I think this yoga set absolutely rocks- it is an excellent and balanced yoga series (bends, balance, strength) which is challenging, but not dangerously so (and there are three levels to choose from). I can see how it would be a matter of personal preference whether you would like the constant chatter and direction Bryan Kest gives during the set, but in my opinion his encouragement and focus on breathing calmly through challenging poses is very motivating and keeps things focused and moving along (others may like silence and peace during their yoga) I find this series very similar to going to a live class where there is generally direction ( and this style is my personal preference). In any event I cant say enough about this dvd, I find it as beneficial as going to live class, and you will definitely get a good yoga body/ mind experience here, along with a strengthening amd motivational workout. One of my favorite things about this set is Kest's frequent instruction to work with where you are at, challenge yourself to your own edge, but if you need to bend your knees etc, so what, its your practice and you are built differently then everyone else, so push yourself only to the point where you can breathe calmly etc... good stuff and good instruction..
Finally, a personal note as to the effectivenees of the wokout series, at first I was challenged and sweating during parts of level 1 such as holding down dog for minutes at a time and the constant chattarongas (sp?)- but after 5 weeks level 1 and 2 have become challenging but very doable without much sweat and flexibility and strength have improved dramatically ( ie can now hold standing prayer twist and camel pose at length etc0 and attribute this to the effectiveness of the series ( and there were no injuries over this time)...
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