Yoga Videos

Hi Everyone,
I was taking a mixed yoga and ashtanga yoga class at my gym, but they will no longer be offered next month. So I was hoping to purchase a few really good videos, does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!

Howdy! As you can tell from my user name, I couldn't resist answering this question. I do a class or two at my gym as well...it seems the gyms or health clubs tend to offer power yoga or hybrid yoga.

I have found some cool DVD's lately, but I am trying to exercise restraint and only buy a few. I did purchase a cool one called Yoga For Athletes. It's made by bodywisdom media and includes 16 sports (including cycling!) with 12 customized workouts per sport. It's a good deal price wise...The explanations are very thorough. It's cool because you can mix it up. Even if you don't do the other sports, the workouts work other aspects of the body, which is a nice mix. My only complaint is that there's not a big flow between postures (I like to do the fun, smooth transitions), but hey, you can always do your own. I like the fact that the person doing the voice on the DVD is an avid cyclist and has been teaching yoga 25 years, so it's very cool.

I also own an older VHS version of a Rodney Yee Power Yoga workout (it might be discontinued but they might have a new one). Rodney does a great job of explaining the poses in a slow, controlled manner without going too fast or talking too much.

I have a book by Baron Baptiste about power yoga (he has a couple but I think mine is the Journey into Power one). He has several DVD's, VHS, etc. I am considering get some of his (I am going to ask Santa). On Amazon.com they have quite a few reviews on his work, which might help you choose.

Also, the company Living Arts has many good yoga videos and DVD's...they are very well done in general.

I hope this helps...

Namaste,

Lisa :)

Thanks Lisa! I originally started yoga to help with those tight hamstrings that cycling creates and loved it, so I might try the Yoga for Athletes dvd you recommend. I'll hit amazon and see what I can find.
Thanks!

Speaking of yoga.... I am thinking of taking my first class. The only thing that worries me is the fat chick thing! Yeah, I'm overweight and my belly keeps me from stretching as far as I'd like to! I wonder if Ti Chi might be better, until I slim down some. I want something to do for flexibility and stress reduction. Any thoughts?

Barb wrote: Speaking of yoga.... I am thinking of taking my first class. The only thing that worries me is the fat chick thing! Yeah, I'm overweight and my belly keeps me from stretching as far as I'd like to! I wonder if Ti Chi might be better, until I slim down some. I want something to do for flexibility and stress reduction. Any thoughts?"

Hi Barb, Couldn't resist chiming in on this one, I'm a second degree black belt in Aikido, another martial art but one that people often take for stress reduction. My teacher, a 6th dan, also does yoga and uses it in warmups for each class, but I don't do yoga itself, alone...I really should, it's great.

anywho, go ahead and take the yoga class!! no one is going to ask you to stretch further than you can, and just because someone is a skinny gym rat they may be less flexible than you! Yoga is great for reducing stress.

Tai Chi (or any other well taught martial art) will give you balance, concentration, help your strength and breathing, core muscles but not that much for flexibility.

Barb,

I think you should go for it and take a yoga class! The nice thing about yoga is that even though you are in a group setting in a class, everyone is working at their own level. There's different levels of each yoga pose. The goal is not to be a pretzel, but to work where you are at now. Plus, I think once you are in the yoga mindset or space, you are in a place of nonjudment and noncompetition (this is obviously supposed to happen off the mat too, but hey, we're all works in progress...).

I know for myself that once I get working, I do not notice what others in the class look like or what they're wearing or whether they can get into a pose easier than me. I become very focused and in-tune with my breathing and everything else is there, but I don't "think" about it or anyone else...if all goes well, I forget all of my problems from every day life too class LOL. :) When faced with every day life challenges when not doing yoga, I find myself better able to deal with things...It's very cool how it works.

You see yoga is really about the breath and being in the present moment. Also, it's about personal discovery and growth for some of us...I have learned to be o.k. with and even love myself for where I am at now (in yoga and in life)...kinda deep, huh? And, I have learned to appreciate my body for the marvel it is, even if I can't touch my toes because my hamstrings are so tight LOL.

In the classes I attend at my gym, we have people of all sizes and shapes and ages and everyone is very friendly and encouraging and supportive of each other. I think if you don't find this to be the case, you just have to find the right yoga class for you.

There are so many benefits to doing yoga and there are many styles of yoga...there's something for everyone. It's a great adjunct to cycling or any other activity (or even a stressful life)...I find that I can apply the principles of breath and focus to other aspects of my life, including my cycling. Plus on a physical level, I have much more flexibility and balance and coordination...great for cycling and mtn. biking.

Just thought I would add my thoughts...I say, you go girl!

Many blessings on your path,

Lisa


:)

yogabear wrote..."There are so many benefits to doing yoga and there are many styles of yoga...there's something for everyone."

Yoga is the "glue" that holds your workouts together, it's the missing link to so many activities, go for it!

Barb,
In general I'm very self conscious of my body and my inflexibility, so yoga terrified me! But our gym had a contest where you had to participate in a yoga or pilates class once a week during the holiday season and if you attended all of them you would get a month free, so I started going and loved it. You forget that other people are around you because you are so focused on what you are doing. I felt calm and relieved after my session, so it works great for stress relief. I hope you give it a try, good luck!

5 months later.......

I got too busy with work and biking to do ANYTHING indoors! Today I signed up for Tai Chi. I wanted to go with yoga but it was not offered at any time that I could attend (at my gym anyway). So now I am into water aerobics 3 times a week and Tai Chi once. I am also commited to riding my bike outdoors every weekend. Well.....it's supposed to be in the teens this weekend so we shall see how brave I am!

Hi Barb,

Hey there...glad to hear you are going for it :) I am from Michigan too and don't like to ride outside in the winter (brrr...I can only do it if it's over 32 F out...brrr...). Tai Chi is great too...you go girl !!!

Bear hugs,
Lisa

Good luck Barb,
My gym offered Tai Chi for three months last year, I enjoyed it unfortunately there wasn't enough demand. You also focus on breath in Tai Chi and this will be great for when you transition to yoga.
Enjoy!

Here's my 2 cents on yoga tapes -- I like most of Rodney Yees because they fit my mental speed. Some are faster than others but they have a nice "American" pace. I'm not into the meditative side of yoga so I like the more athletically-paced tapes. One thing you should know if you are looking at DVDs, some have bookmarks or chapters or scenes selections so you can jump around. Some of Yee's tapes are just copied straight to DVD without any way of making use of the technology advances of a DVD.

I also have the first tape by Brian Kest. Wow! 60 mins of an incredible workout. When I can get through the whole tape I know I'm in good shape. Then, my mantra on the trail is to fall with "sensitivity and awareness." :)

I don't particularly care for the Living Journal tapes by Suzanne Deason or the other female teacher. I don't know what it is. Too soft, too slow, too touchy feely, I don't know. Maybe I'm just into the workout and the mind control of concentrating on the breathing and poses and can't deal with the warm nuturing feeling they seem to try to exude through your TV screen.

There you go for what its worth.

I agree to some extent. I also love Rodney Yee and I myself tend to lean more toward athletic varieties of yoga. I started out doing hatha though. I am lucky because Brian Kest has studios in my area :) I really like Baron Baptiste but have not done his DVD's as of yet...I like his books.

One thing though to consider is that yoga, when viewed from a physical exercise standpoint, is similar to any other fitness program...you have easy days and hard days. For instance, I don't do athletic types of yoga (power, ashtanga, etc.) every day. I might throw an "easy" day into the mix using hatha or a variety of approaches. It's all about balance, which is a tenet fundamental to any yoga practice. I have found this to be true with my cycling program as well...it doesn't make much sense to me to ride at a race pace every day so I have to mix it up.

However, I don't consider yoga as purely exercise. To me, my yoga is my life. I practice being conscious each and every moment and focus on my breathing. This helps me in cycling and in other areas of life, especially when I have created a stressful situation in my life (notice I said 'create' because I truly believe we create our reality. I also meditate as part of and separately from my yoga practice. I find this helps me with grounding and being centered which translates into being focused and in optimal performance mentally and physically on the bike as well as spiritually in life.

Now, that's just my $0.02 and I don't mean to negate anything anyone said. I just wanted to share some perspective on how yoga has contributed to my personal and athletic journey. By all means, find the yoga teacher (whether it's in person or from a DVD) that is right for you. After a while, you will become your own teacher/yogi :)

Namaste,

Enjoy the journey,

Lisa

Internet shopping gets me in trouble. I just purchased a dvd from velo called Yoga for Cyclists, I've never heard of it, but I'll let you all know if it is any good.

Trek420....I would just like to add my congratulations on the second degree black belt in Akido. I am not currently practicing martial arts due to time constraints and such, but I have a black belt in Shotokan Karate and in Taekwondo. I have also trained in Gracie Jujitsu and Pasaryu among others. Have you found it helps with your cycling skills? My friends marvel at my balance, and my ability to keep my head in a fall and almost always roll out, avoiding any injury at all.

:D

mtbstarr asks "Have you found it helps with your cycling skills? My friends marvel at my balance, and my ability to keep my head in a fall and almost always roll out, avoiding any injury at all."

Yes, I've found the balance helps, riding from my center, helps my breathing and is great for my range of motion. I mostly road ride so falls are not often an issue.

But I've had a few incedents that I *know* I would have fallen if not for that, and one embarassingly spectaular idiotic endo on the road bike where I was fine ;-)

As you know from your rank (congrats back atcha!) MA is a hard taskmisstress, she requires temendous commitment and a lifetime of study. I love it, and will always train, it has helped me on the bike but I don't recomend it for all. Cross training is essential, our bodies get curled up like shrimps on a bike, combine that with sitting at a computer, we all benefit from something that frees up your range of motion like yoga, pilates, Tai Chi etc. My teacher, 6th degree black belt Pat Hendricks does yoga and....bike rides ....on a full custom steel Eisentraut no less ;-)

As for falls that's a learnable skill and especially mtb riders should practice. This was kinda endlessly debated on my *other* board and I hesitate to get into that again ;-) We all can learn how to take a basic roll or survivable fall but to get truly great at that is a lifetime of work as you know.

I asked someone I know who coaches racers and she says that pro racers do practice and drill falls of the bike. I'd wondered about that seeing the pileups on the TdF etc.

I always wondered if they did practice falling. Some of them always look so composed during some pile ups, or gnarly crashes in the case of mtb. I have wanted to teach my husband how to fall, but he won't have any part of it. (He falls like a ton of bricks. Any small fall he always gets hurt. We won't discuss the big ones.) He says that's part of it. I can see why you are hesitant to get into the discussion.

I feel you completely on the "curled into a shrimp" aspect of riding. Even though training is out of my reach, I do stretch all of the time.

I was wondering....do you (or anyone else) recommend yoga over pilates or visca versa? Never ventured into either. The new rec-center the University is building is offering both. Will probably only have time for one. Any suggestions?

I don't have as much experience with Pilates as yoga but I have noticed there is one difference...the breathing. Pilates uses a different type of breathing and I thought there was a more forceful exhale and it was through the mouth. The breathing with yoga is typically in through the nose and out through the mouth and not as forced (depending on the style, however).

Pilates really focuses on the core or what they term the powerhouse. I think yoga can be pretty versatile where you can work on the core, but also, balance, strength, functional fitness type of things, flexibility, agility, etc. I have done lots of matwork for Pilates and noticed pretty rapid strengthening. I think you could maybe experiment to see how to incorporate both or try both and see if you like one or the other. Many of the yoga and pilates instructors I have had taught both and utilized a few elements of the other in their teaching...One thing I have noticed though for myself is that Pilates was harder for me LOL...it really wasn't but I perceived it that way as it used different muscles than my yoga workouts...

Don't know if this helps or not...

yes this does help. Thank-you

I'm sorry to reopen this old thread, but I was wondering... Snowtulip, did you like the Yoga for Cyclists? I was considering buying it.

Hi Nuthatch,
I love your red-breasted nuthatch photo! I haven't been too excited about the Yoga for cyclists video. I find myself using my Rodney dvd and the yoga for athletes more. If just doesn't flow to well for my liking. The dvd is also of low quality (I thought I had a bad copy and sent for an exchange, but apparently they all are a little grainy visually).
Enjoy!

Thanks, Snowtulip! I think I'll just skip that one and try out the Yoga for athletes instead!

P.S. I could sure use some tulips through the snow about now here in Illinois!

Had been contemplating the Yoga for Cyclists DVD so thanks for the heads up. I really enjoy Yoga for Athletes. I like how the person speaking goes in a nice slow manner...it's a nice break from all of the vinyasa classes I did at my local gym LOL...I have graduated onto home practice and feel competent now, but I like to go to yoga studios now and then for a tune-up and make sure my alignment is good...next house is going to have a mirrored room for yoga and cycling :)

Namaste,
Lisa