Assisted Living Movie Reviews

Living Yoga has created an exceptional yoga DVD with their three-in-one All-Day Yoga Workout, which combines three of their most popular programs. The first workout is A.M. Yoga for Beginners, a 15-minute morning set led by Rodney Yee. In the morning, Yee tells us, "the body is rested but stiff from inactivity." The stretches he demonstrates are designed to increase circulation, improve mobility, and bring clarity to your mind. The movements are easy to follow (they include a conscious relaxation, the a.m. workout, and a guided meditation), and the set is short enough that it can be squeezed into the most hectic of morning schedules.

The next set is Stress Relief Yoga for Beginners, led by Suzanne Deason. This 20-minute practice, during a sunset on the beach at Maui, will help relax your mind and muscles--especially those of the neck, shoulders, and lower back, where tension accumulates--and let stress drift away. The yoga practice includes 4 minutes of gentle stretch, a 13-minute stress-relief workout that increases circulation and flexibility, and 3 minutes of deep relaxation to leave you calmed and balanced.

The final workout is P.M. Yoga for Beginners, filmed at Death Valley and led by Patricia Walden. This 20-minute evening routine is designed to quiet the mind after the stress of the day and to help you make the transition from active to quiet. She uses a combination of a centering series, standing poses, forward bends, and restorative poses to help you ease into night. These workouts are perfect for the harried and the beginner, and you will need some props (a yoga strap, a brick, a mat, and some firm blankets).

The DVD format is ideal for a workout program--the chapter search makes it easy to skip the introduction and jump right into the body work. Or if you're short on time and just need to relax, you can move directly to the meditations. An extra feature, "Learning the Basics," has pictures of every pose with written instructions on how to do them, which is just the thing for beginners who feel befuddled when told to do a cow-face pose or gate pose. A section on props explains how to use straps, bricks, and mats in order to modify more difficult poses for less limber bodies. Finally, the interviews with Suzanne Deason, Patricia Walden, and Rodney Yee round out the DVD, making for a full program. This is the ultimate introduction to yoga; it's a workout regimen that's easy to incorporate into your daily life and fun enough to convince you to stick with it. --Jenny Brown

Meditating on a white sand beach as the clear blue water rolls toward your peaceful body is what Power Yoga is about. Yoga master Rodney Yee leads this three-part workout against the backdrop of grassy fields, deserts, and beaches. Each of the three segments focuses on the mind-body connection while increasing flexibility and learning the basic (and the difficult) postures of yoga. These 25-minute segments can be done in sequence for an overall body challenge or (if time is a factor) divided into individual workouts. The first session concentrates on stamina and introduces the sun salutation with attention to breathing and body awareness. This portion is less physically demanding than the two that follow and would be ideal for beginners or participants who crave relaxation. The second segment makes strength the focal point through a series of cross-legged lunges and more strenuous postures. Yee challenges the upper body here by incorporating a variety of arm balances and more difficult poses within the sun salutation. The third and final workout centers on power movements that utilize major muscle groups. This is a great format for advanced participants because the poses are more physically demanding and require greater flexibility to hold. Yee gradually increases the difficulty, which allows for optimum form and range of motion. Each of the three sessions concludes with meditation that is both calming and restorative. The variation of intensity makes this collection perfect for beginning and experienced yoga students alike. Overall this total body workout is designed for those who want to strengthen both mind and body. --Olivia Voigts

Living Yoga succeeds in re-creating its superb yoga programs for DVD with the three-in-one workout The Total-Body Yoga Workout, which combines the individual body part programs on one disc.

The first workout, Lower Body Yoga for Beginners, led by Suzanne Deason, is a fun, short routine that will help you to invigorate and stretch the lower body in a series of flowing postures, working to stretch, tone, and challenge one's muscles and balance. In the second segment, Rodney Yee leads Abs Yoga for Beginners, which is designed to firm and strengthen your abs while providing a soothing respite from your hectic lifestyle. The poses are, for the most part, simple to follow, although the beginner may need to ease into some of the positions. Finally, Yee leads us through Upper Body Yoga for Beginners, a workout that will stretch, strengthen, and energize the upper body. Yee flows through poses designed to develop an open, supported chest, which in turn promotes healthy circulation, breathing, digestion, and posture. For all of these programs, a firm blanket to sit upon is needed.

The extra features on this disc are the same as those on The All-Day Yoga Workout. Once again, the DVD format is ideal for a workout program--the chapter search makes it easy to skip the introduction and jump right into the body work. Or if you're short on time and just need to relax, you can move directly to the meditations. An extra feature, "Learning the Basics," has pictures of every pose with written instructions on how to do them, which is just the thing for beginners who feel befuddled when told to do a cow-face pose or gate pose. A section on props explains how to use straps, bricks, and mats in order to modify more difficult poses for less limber bodies. Finally, the interviews with Suzanne Deason, Patricia Walden, and Rodney Yee round out the DVD, making for a full program. This is the ultimate introduction to yoga; it's a workout regimen that's easy to incorporate into your daily life and fun enough to convince you to stick with it. --Jenny Brown