Yoga With Linda Arkin Complete Set
Yoga for Flexibility regards flexibility as “one of the key foundations of good health.” Instructor Linda Arkin promises that her routine will promote this, along with increasing “range of motion, muscle tone, and energy flow.” Lofty goals, to be sure, but Yoga for Flexibility could actually deliver–providing, of course, that the user practices regularly and consistently. Following an informal, chatty intro in which Arkin and an accompanist demonstrate the use of the breath and proper body alignment, the tape moves through four sequences of asanas (poses). The first two, both of which are repeated, focus on gentle forward bends and twists, all of them approached from a seated position; the third, which is repeated twice, includes five standing positions (finishing with the eagle, perhaps the most difficult pose in the entire series); and the fourth consists of a few final relaxation poses. None of it is what you would call grueling, or especially strenuous. But Arkin’s good, clear instructions and the overall gentleness of the series make this a tape that will stand up to repeated viewings–and perhaps lead to a deeper, more challenging practice. –Kelly Welldon
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Too much talking
This is a great DVD if you’ve never ever practiced yoga. The poses are very simple and there is a lot of repetition. There is too much explanation, and not enough yoga. The sets aren’t as long as they should be since there is so much pre-session explanation.
The pictures on the back cover of the DVD depict poses that are never practiced on the DVD.
Great scenery and music, but definitely not a video for advanced-beginners or intermediate practicioners.
2 Stars It was ok - doesn’t take one deep though
I found this DVD just ok. Linda does provide good information and instructions, however, I felt just “ok” afterwards.
She does several sets of poses in a class, and then duplicates each set. The outcome of this is that the poses are somewhat rushed, and there wasn’t time to truly “open” and sense what was going on in the body, since we moved from one pose to another quickly. I personally felt that there would have been more benefit if she held the poses longer, and just performed one set, instead of duplicating them. There wasn’t time to really quiet the mind and go inward - the whole purpose of yoga.
I also felt that the music didn’t really match the “mood” of yoga. It sounded like some elevator music from the 80’s. It didn’t help to induce any sort of meditative mood. However, to each his own.
I prefer something with a bit more spirituality and eastern themes. This was definately more a western version of yoga… more instructional. They were good instructions. Linda seems like a kind soul who can help people. But the overall feel of the class for me….was just ok.
5 Stars Great for beginners
This DVD got me back into yoga after almost ten years of avoiding yoga due to bad wrists. Linda Arkin has a calm voice and the three routines on this DVD are great, flowing naturally from pose to pose, quite unlike some of the Yoga Journal tapes with Patricia Walden which are more like a random assortment of poses. The one section I omitted when I first started practicing was the downward dog section in the “Yoga for Strength” workout, but after doing these routines for about a month was able to do downward dog correctly without hurting my wrists. I had constant back pain before I started yoga, and even after one day of Linda Arkin’s DVD, the back pain was gone. Her focus on breathing is very calming as well and useful as I have moved on to more intermediate workouts.
The one drawback to this DVD is that the routines are fairly easy, and I outgrew them pretty quickly. I wish strongly that Linda Arkin had made some intermediate yoga videos, because she is a great instructor and not nearly as irritating as many of the other video yoga teachers out there.
3 Stars Good for the older generation & those who like a non-spiritual yoga workout
This has three programs, Flexibility, Strength & Relaxation + Rejuvenation. They are set outdoors with muted light music & nature sounds. Linda Arkin looks to be in her early 40s to late 50s, speaks fast & hurried in the intros, but her voice over is much better. Almost all poses are held for 10-20 seconds. She tells you benefits in a western way, how to keep alignment & never speaks about eastern or spirituality. She could give more cues about body placement so those who like detailed instruction might be frustrated by her slow late in the pose instruction on body placement. She does have a decently calming voice over, slow & unhurried, the music is barely audible, but since her voice is calming, you barely notice. Each of the 3 programs has the help of Linda Hiller (who models the more advanced ways of doing the pose) who is in her late 30s to late 40s.
The Flexibility comes with 9 min of intro set at the beach, including helping to find your proper alignment posture when standing, sitting & lying down. She also teaches deep yogic breathing she calls the “whisper breathe”. There is a sitting series which includes seated forward bends, knee to chest, twists, wide legged stretch & butterfly. There is also a standing series which include side bends, side angle, triangle pose & eagle. That’s all the poses that are done since these are done in a sequence & that sequence is repeated 3x. It ends with a sitting arm stretch, lying down spinal twist, breathing into middle section & 1 min of corpse pose. The whole thing is 47 min including the 9 min speaking intro.
The Strength program also has an almost identical intro for 8 min & set in a forest. It starts with shoulder rolls w/bend elbows, cat/cow pose, lifted opposite arm/leg in cow pose, semi crunches with legs bent the 1st time & lifted 2nd time. The next sequence is done 2x, starting with lunges on each side with arms on floor or up for advanced, regular plank, downward dog & child’s pose. The stomach down sequence is done 3x: cobra, locust done 1-legged, then both legs, then both legs & arm & last, child’s pose. Standing poses are done 3x: warrior 3 (leg leg stand, each side), standing forward bend, warrior 2 both sides, plank, downward dog, mountain pose. It ends with arm stretches, seated spinal twist, lying down twisted leg twist for 3 min with 1 min corpse pose.
Relaxation has 5 min of intro of posture with her alone. This program is her talking real time, no voice over so she’s constantly speaking. It starts with forward bends, wide legged bend with bent elbows, head rolls. Seated, head bends with lifted arm, facial contractions, palms to eyes, shoulder rolls, arm stretches & slight side bend, triceps stretch, spinal twist, ankle rolls, wide legged one leg stretch, head rolls w/knees up, butterfly, mid-torso breathing, one legged forward bend & then twist, indian style forward bend, lifting foot slightly in that pose & abdominal breathing. Lying down, knee to chest, butterfly lying down & twisted leg spinal twist for a total of 40 min. The meditation is 4 min.
I did find her voice somewhat soothing, she does cue YOUR left/right, not hers, there is close captioning for those hearing impaired, this is good for the older generation to see older people doing it & not using age as excuse why they can’t be flexible, I do feel she has some decent body awareness, it’s great for people who don’t want any spiritual/Eastern information, just yoga cut/dry for stretching & strength & somewhat taught to blend breath with body movement.
I didn’t like is her doing sequences 2-3x, I felt she should have just held the poses longer or done them 2-3x in a row. She didn’t give enough focus on breath, sometimes she wouldn’t mention it at all, the poses were never done in a flowing/vinyasa way, but more like a gym/stiff hatha yoga style. I see other reviews have been put/scared off by really flexible yoga teachers on other dvds which I find incredible. I don’t expect to be able to do it as well as them, but I rather learn by them then someone who can’t since it means THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING & more BODY AWARENESS then those who can’t do a simple sitting forward bend. In the past 5 years EVERYONE has jumped on the yoga dvd bandwagon to make $$, even those who have no business teaching.
Interesting Note: I did this once when I first got it at the date shown, but now in 2007, I did the flexibility & strength programs again (though only did poses 1x each - I find repeating sequences monotonous) and I got a backache for 10 min & stiff back feeling for another 20 min. I did not even have any back stiffness before doing the yoga dvd. I think I did the first time as well, but I thought it was a fluke. I never get backaches from any of my other yoga dvds (except Rodney Yee’s Yoga for Back Care ironically enough) & I’ve been doing yoga for 5+ years though dvds. I also never get backaches in my daily life & also can touch my nose to the ground in butterfly (knees on ground as well, feet all the way into the groin) all my life w/ease & that pose is for stretching the lower back & hips.
Try renting it online or your local library first.
5 Stars wonderful yoga DVD
I am completely new to Yoga. This is a wonderful tape for beginner!! My husband and I practice the yoga together every night with this DVD and we both see the difference. Now we are moving to more advance one!