Hemalaya Behl Yoga for Urban Living
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Well-rounded
It’s always a plus when yoga videos offer options. In this case, you can choose from 3 routines:
There is a 30-minute “morning quickie” which focuses on warming & energizing the body. It consists mainly of sun salutations and breathing exercises, such as “energized breathing” and the quick and powerful exhales through the nose called Kapalabati.
The 25-minute “evening bath” involves mostly twisting and inverted poses.
The “daily connection” is a 60-minute routine that encompasses a wide variety of stretching, strengthening, balancing, and energizing poses.
Behl also includes an instructional and breathing segment for those who are new to yoga.
Overall, it’s a great yoga video for those who prefer a well-rounded yoga practice.
5 Stars Nice to have options
I like that there are different options for the time of day or time period you are working with- early morning, evening, etc. A very good instructor, the cues are easy to follow and the postures are challenging but not too difficult. A good workout.
5 Stars Great and Calming DVD
This DVD is great for those who are starting to bring Yoga into their lives. It has good instructions. It has good breathing techniques for all to practice. Stimulating.
5 Stars Great Variety
I am pretty new to yoga, so some of the poses in the PM section were a little too much for me to do before bedtime. But, I really like the AM routine - I feel like I get a good mix of stretching, strengthening and relaxing in a short half hour. I haven’t done the hour long routine, yet, but I plan to work my way up to that. I really like the fact that this DVD gives you options for day or night and half-hour or hour long routines. Hemalaya’s voice and the background music is very soothing and I like the simplicity of the scenery (in a living room).
5 Stars Lovely strong slow flows
I really enjoy this DVD and use it often. I like the choice of poses and workout lengths it affords. Hemalaya flows, but moves slowly, and holds each pose long enough that you can sink into it, something I really like to do.
I am quite flexible and would classify myself as an advanced beginner. I find that this disc is pretty much at the exact pitch I’m looking for. If you’re a beginning beginner, it might not suit so well. Behl doesn’t stop to explain things - she demonstrates and moves on. She performs the workouts alone, suggests no modifications and uses no props. However, because the pace is so stately, I think it should be possible to follow along comfortably, once you have some basic grounding.
The 60 minute Daily Connection is a well-rounded workout which always leaves me feeling nicely stretched and ready for anything. I often do the two other workouts in one day, the enlivening Morning Quickie (30 mins) first thing and the Evening Bath at bedtime.
I’m puzzled by a previous reviewer’s contention that there’s no spirituality in this yoga. I find the opposite to be true. Hemalaya opens the sessions with chanting, and includes pranayama - kapalabhati and a kundalini energizing breath. Overall, I found the atmosphere quite traditional and Eastern - in no way is this Westernised or gym-style yoga.
I have to agree with another previous reviewer, however, in disliking the music. It particularly bothers me on the main practice. But it’s easily enough remedied, since there’s a voice-only instruction option. As others have observed also, the shavasana is extremely short. A CD player and some music of your own choice comes in handy, if you like practising and relaxing to music.
European readers might be interested to know that although Amazon have categorised this as a region 1 DVD, it plays perfectly in my DVD player which isn’t a multi-region model and hasn’t been adjusted or hacked in any way. In fact it’s just a little cheapie compact player, about two years old. Nowhere on the disc itself or its cover is Region 1 stated. I think this might be a default categorisation by Amazon of US yoga DVDs. I’ve bought many others here (Gaiam and Yoga Zone, to name a few) which were also supposedly Region 1 but happily they all played without a blip.