Power Yoga – Total Body Workout DVD Review

by Natalie Belford

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $14.98

I purchased the Power Yoga:Total Body Workout DVD three years ago and, although I own many yoga DVDs, I have used this workout for quite a few times. “Power Yoga” is, as advertised, an excellent, total body workout — albeit not one for beginners — with just the right amount of instruction and no irritating “pep talks” or celebrity prattling: in other words, real yoga.

Most positions are held for 30 seconds, although a few are held for shorter periods of time and one –upward bow — is repeated three times in a row. Sufficient time is permitted for transfer from one position to the next, even if, in the beginning, a practitioner cannot maintain the “flow” and needs to walk from one position to another.

Rodney Yee (the teacher in the DVD) is one of the best yoga instructor making videos, and “Power Yoga” is his best DVD, overall.

The flow of poses is well composed and definitely offers an aerobic benefit in addition to the strengthening and calming effects typical of yoga. I’ve done the whole sequence about fifteen times and have always felt relaxed and energized afterwards.

The DVD’s hour-long time span is enough to provide a challenge for more experienced practitioners but not too daunting for beginners. That said, this might not be the right choice for a complete novice as Yee doesn’t offer comprehensive explanations of each pose, or of how to move from one pose to the next.

This one-hour routine is definitely a challenge. It is not for beginners. You must know the poses already and know how to modify if you can’t do them like the instructor. I like the flow speed and long holding of the poses, but Rodney Yee doesn’t give enough of a pause between the sun salutations to witness.

This is a great power yoga workout with a nice, long stretch sequence at the end. It totals about 1 hour and the last 20-25 minutes is all stretch (forward bend, twist, cobbler, etc.)

While I cannot yet do all of the poses, particularly the back bends, I can do the others well enough to get a fantastic stretching and even muscle toning workout. I don’t see how anyone could get bored in any of the poses, and sometimes would even prefer to hold some of the passive stretches longer–so I pause the DVD and do just that!

If you’re looking for a really intense power yoga workout, this is probably not for you. If you are looking for a really good, smooth flow with some good power vinyasas, then I recommend this one.

It starts off very slowly and gradually progresses into more challenging vinyasas, and as I said, ends with a good stretch. I feel very energized after doing this workout.

Screencap of the Power Yoga DVD

What I Didn’t Like About It

I didn’t fancy the synthetic New Age style music in the background. I’m not averse to New Age sounds per se but I have to work hard to block out the soundtrack on this DVD. I know this is a minor concern but initially it impaired my enjoyment of the practice.

The DVD also doesn’t really take advantage of the DVD features. There are some different “pieces” of the workout, but really the long workout is just divided into a few chunks.

Each section of the workout gradually increases in intensity. When the poses get too hard for you, you can skip forward to the next section of the workout and continue. It’s kind of frustrating, though, because you don’t really know what he’ll be doing next or if the move will be too difficult for you.

As a beginning practitioner of yoga, I would have appreciated more guidelines as to the proper poses. Perhaps a short section in addition to the actual practice that explained the poses. The videography is lovely, and the workout is fluid, so more experienced folks will probably love it.

Final Verdict: For the Experienced Practitioner

I bought this as my first yoga video. DON’T buy this as your first yoga video.

Don’t get me wrong, it provides an EXCELLENT workout. But, as many other reviewers noted, it moves very quickly and it is hard to follow if you are unfamiliar with the poses. Even after watching it a few times, I still find myself pausing every 10 minutes or so to catch my breath, grab a drink of water, move the mat back into place and catch up to the position that he’s in.

If you want to get a great workout and you feel pretty comfortable with your level of yoga knowledge, you’ll like this tape. If you’re just starting out, try something else.

Click here to order Power Yoga – Total Body Workout from Amazon.com