Search - Rodney Yee - Advanced Yoga on DVD

Another success for a very successful series of DVDs

James E. White | Oak Park, IL | 04/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have purchased Rodney Yee DVDs for the past five years, progressing from the basic ones, through the intermediate to this advanced DVD. Rodney Yee has put together another great DVD. This DVD is by no means meant for a beginner. I would not advise any one to try the routines without three or more years of consistent yogic practice. Otherwise, you could either hurt yourself or just wind up frustrated from not being able to keep up with the sequence(s).



With the disclaimer out of the way let me tell you that this is a great DVD. I have practiced to Rod Yee's DVD's for a long time, and this one is the best one yet. People who are familar with Yee will find that the pace of this DVD is a bit faster than normal, so I would advise watching the DVD before following along. He moves through the poses quickly and effortlessly. He will stay a bit longer in really advanced poses and arm balances, but for the most part moved right through the sequence.



The 1st DVD includes two sequences, an arm balancing and hip opener coming in at approximately 50 and 25 minutes respectively. The arm balancing sequence includes alot of intermediate to advanced arm balances (e.g. a few advanced versions of headstand, crow pose, balancing while one leg is over the should and opposite leg is extended, and a few I hope to be able to do in the next five years). The hip opener sequence is amazing. Normally it takes me 60 minutes of doing Ashtanga Yoga before I can even consider sitting in a full lotus, with Yee's DVD I could sit comforatably after 20 minutes of his routine. The arm balance sequence does include a lot of the hip opening poses you will see in the hip opening sequence. The hip opening sequence includes alot of half and full lotus based poses including rooster poses (sitting in full lotus and balancing your weight on your hands). The breath work is a good DVD as well, but my interest is moreso in the poses than the pranayama. Again, this is a fantastic DVD if you have the yogic background. I cannot stress enough that if you are fairly new to yoga or you are looking to start doing yoga, then this DVD should only be used as a source of inspiration for where you hope to be in the next few years."

Truly Advanced

Or Geshury | Philadelphia | 09/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are a lot of intermediate yogis out there who struggle with what "advanced" yoga is. Transitions from beginner to intermediate are typically very easy and systematic in yoga, with most people learning from a book or a tape and eventually progressing to a yoga basics class and then eventually to an intermediate "all levels" practice. Many systems, most notably Ashtanga yoga taught in the Mysore tradition, emphasize a day to day individual progression in the various yoga postures. Because of the dedication and discipline this requires-from both student and teacher-this kind of training is a rarity. Many traditional Ashtanga schools are either very small, or end up teaching more streamlined led classes.



Advanced yoga, whether it's David Swenson running through the primary series, a Baron Baptiste photograph, or an Ana Forrest demonstration, can be seen as a combination of three components: breath, arm balances, and hip/leg flexibility. With clear and direct instruction, Yee models with stunning alignment the various aspects of yoga mastery individually. Exercises to open the hips, instructions and tips on hand balances, and an introduction to pranayama, are dealt with separately. This is significant, because it shortens and demystifies the learning curve, and illuminates the clear progression of a devoted practice. If you are an advanced yogi, or a gymnast or dancer, and have sufficient flexibility, upper body strength, and balance, this dvd will be a wonderful journey into the heart and soul of the most challenging yoga postures with a seasoned veteran as your guide sharing what works for him.



While Yee provides ample instruction, it's important to note that the DVD will not take you from the intermediate to advanced level. For me, it was eye opening and led me to do a couple of things to augment my practice so I can eventually reach this level of proficiency. First, I emphasize hip opening much more than I used to, and add a short sequence of postures and stretches almost every day to reach a higher level of flexibility. Second, I spend some amount of time each day training to fluidly support weight on my hands, my reference to this is the york hand balancing course, which is free online and found after a quick Google search. I recommend this to yogis especially since many of its instructions are actually yoga postures, but they hearken to a time well before yoga achieved recognition in the states, much less popularity.



All in all, an excellent guide for advanced practitioners and inspiring for intermediates."

Advanced Yoga from a very competend Teacher

K. Haselmeyer | 01/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"At first I would like to make a few comments about myself. This might make it easier for you to judge if this review is helpfull for you or not. I praktice Yoga (Power Vinyasa Yoga) since about 6 Years. Í teach Yoga at a local Hotel Spa Fitness Studio and praktice every day. Since I'm german, my english, exspecially the spelling, is far from perfect. Please excuse that.

About the DVD: The Armbalance series is very advanced stuff. There are a lot of preparations like Streches and such before and between the Armbalances, but since most of the advanced Armbalances are done the classical way (Going into an headstand than moving into the Armbalance, than back to headstance (see Iyengars "Light of Yoga" Book to compare)it is only for very skilled and advanced people. If you can't imagine going into an headstand, than from there going into Bakasana (Crow-pose) and than back to headstand, this workout is not for you. Even though I can do all Armbalances in the Workout, I can't do them all starting from headstand and not so many in a short time. And I have to say that Armbalances are my favourite and I practise some every day. This is really very advanced stuff, but it is great for any experienced Yogi who wants to push his body and mind further to the edge.

The hip-opening-routine is great! It is medicine and for everybody. The hips are so important for your Yoga practise, and they're often very tight and overlooked. The second DVD is about Pranayama. Very interesting for everybody who is interested in all the advanced meditative Aspects of Yoga. Rodny guides a student through the breathing exercises in a very professionell way.

Rodny Yee is a very gentil and highly skilled Instructor. I really recommend this programm! But the armbalance workout is only for very Advanced people.

By the way, the setting in the DVD is beautifull.

Namasté"

Caution!! Must be limber :-l

Little Miss Cutey | Melbourne, Australia | 03/02/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Rodney Yee is one of the best. I do have 2 of his other dvd's and yet this is truly advanced and not recommended for those with flexibility issues or those who haven't tried yoga before. This is truly an advanced dvd and whilst it is excellent (because it will give you a great workout and because Rodney is so professional), if you aren't a big yoga person or have trouble getting and staying in some of the usuall yoga positions, then this isn't for you. I've done some yoga before and thought I could challenge myself with this, but it's still pretty tough. Not for everyone."