Saturday, September 7, 2013

Maya Fiennes' Yoga for Real Life



Kundalini Yoga for the Chakras (in a Blizzard!)
This DVD presents a series of Kundalini Yoga exercises and meditations for each of the seven chakras. It starts out with a tune-in mantra and a set of spinal warm ups, and then proceeds up through the chakras from the base to the head. The instructor, Maya Fiennes, recommends doing the warm ups and two or three of the chakras in a session. If you haven't done this sort of yoga before, it tends to include more movement (often synchronized with the breath) than classical hatha yoga, which emphasizes static holds more. Almost all of the exercises are done in a seated, prone or kneeling position, and usually at least one for each chakra includes breath of fire, which is a rapid, rhythmic abdominal breath. The meditations often include arm movements and chanting. The fifth chakra exercises consist of the famous "Five Tibetan Rites" and the sixth chakra included exercises for new mothers and pregnant women (I'm not sure what the connection to the third eye is here).

The...

Love Maya's kundalini yoga
...however, if I'd known this dvd is a companion to the similarly named book by her, I wouldn't have bought it. She shows how to do the exercises from the book, but this isn't a "workout" or a yoga routine. Unlike the other reviewer, I like the white look, even though it is a bit on the bright side. I also like the music and the atmosphere - just wish this was a proper routine.
I own all the dvds by Maya and the only thing that sometimes bugs me is that she isn't very specific with her instructions. I'd also enjoy longer routines with a bit less hasty feeling.

I can't get past the GAIA commercial!
If you have ALL of Maya Fiennes previous videos (chakra series and her first one), there will be nothing new and different here. I LOVE Maya Fiennes and have wanted her to make more and more videos. I think there were 2 0r 3 things she'd never done in this (if that) so it wasn't worth it to me. I was disappointed. This video is also hard to see - white on white.

BUT WHAT I HATE is that you have to sit through a LONG GAIA commercial just to get to the workout. Sometimes twice if you try to bypass it. I won't even do this anymore because I find it so frustrating trying to get past this stupid advertisement.

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