Gentle Yoga: 7 Beginning Yoga Practices for Mid-life (40's - 70's) including AM Energy, PM Relaxation, Improving Balance, Relief from Desk Work, Core Strength, and more.

I love this entire dvd. Every practice is wonderful and easy to follow. Great instruction. Very peaceful. Beautiful scenery. I feel like I’m in the woods or next to the lake with each session. The variety of session times is perfect. From 8 minutes up to 34 minutes or several times in between, there’s no excuse not to do a practice. I’m 54, was losing strength and dexterity… I’ve been growing stronger and more flexible with each session. I loved it so much I bought one for my sister too!

Gentle Yoga with Jane Adams is an absolutely wonderful DVD for people that are just beginning with yoga, for people suffering from sciatica, for people who have had injuries, for people who live a sedentary lifestyle and want to incorporate a healthful, but gentle exercise program into their lives, or for people who are older. I actually qualify for all of those things mentioned. This DVD is also a very healthful way to learn to how alleviate stress out of your life, as well. Besides sustaining injury and dealing with sciatica, I am also an older, non-traditional student who lives a sedentary life right now due to a heavy course load at school. This video will also help you stretch out and strengthen your body, if you sit in a chair all day like me. I never thought I'd be purchasing a DVD for exercise as I have always lived a very active lifestyle until now, but I am finding that I actually much prefer this over every type of exercise I have ever done! I 'want' to do it every day throughout the day, whereas other forms of exercise took muchself -encouragement on some days just to get going. Jane moves along at a pace you can follow and she explains everything as you are doing it. I have gotten to the point to where I just close my eyes and relax in the different stretches and poses to enjoy it and relax more. I highly recommend your purchase of this product! It was created with excellence and the scenery is beautiful and relaxing. After reviewing many DVDs for yoga, I feel I made the best choice! ☺ -RobinI have been using this DVD now for about two years and can say that the benefits are wonderful! I prefer using a DVD for yoga over going to a class or YMCA setting as the ability to focus on what my body is doing is so much easier because the distractions of being in a facility aren't there. It's also extremely relaxing because of the aforementioned fact. I still "highly recommend" this video!! ☺

I began taking yoga classes about 5 months ago. This video is not quite what I think beginning yoga practitioners need, but I like having it to supplement and extend my studio classes with additional poses. The video also provides direction and flow when I need to practice at times when I can't get to the studio. Jane's narration is very good--serene and slow. It takes several viewings to adapt to her pace, and this would probably be true with any yoga video. She reminds the viewer when to inhale and exhale, which is very important in yoga and the mark of an excellent yoga teacher. Within the spectrum of yoga poses, the asanas presented are considered to be for beginners, even though some viewers have found them very difficult. If you're starting yoga in midlife after being mostly sedentary, as I am, it will take time for your body to adapt. Don't push it; you'll be a beginner for quite a while. The outdoor settings are a bit distracting for me, though lovely in themselves. I also wish the camera were closer to her in order to see the details better. In a face-to-face class, the teacher can correct alignment and help the student adapt poses to one's own body. Obviously, that's not possible in a video, but more close ups would help. In my limited experience, yoga seems to be taught by immersion; there don't seem to be true introductory classes. The definition of "beginner" seems to be rather broad. Thus, starting with a F2F class might be more beneficial and safer for the true neophyte yogi of any age. For someone who has a little yoga experience, these are gentle poses that provide some challenges and help you develop and maintain your practice.