I’m reviewing this workout after previewing it once and doing it twice since getting it several months ago.

General workout breakdown: As other reviewers have mentioned, this workout is divided into two sections, one of about 32 minutes and one of about 28 minutes, which you can choose to do separately or together.
The first routine includes the following poses: seated pose, mountain seat breath (raising and lowering arms with breath while seated), lateral side stretch, seated cat and dog tilts, moving knees side to side, spinal rotation, cat pose, lunge series (low lunge, kneeling straight leg stretch, low lunge, high lunge, plank), child’s pose, table, extended table (with one arm and opposite leg extended), cat and dog tilt in table, downward facing dog, high lunge, standing forward fold rolling up into mountain pose, supported back bend, half sun salutations, warrior two, mountain pose with eagle arms, forward fold, high lunge, plank, half locust, cobra, boat (actually more of a locust pose), child’s pose, staff pose, seated forward bend, rolling down into supine, spinal twist with bent knees into side lying pose, rest (i.e. corpse) pose. You then choose to come up to a seated position or remain in rest pose for the second routine.
The second routine begins in rest (corpse) pose and contains the following exercises: drawing one knee to the chest while supine, supine spinal twist with knee bent, both knees into chest, table, downward facing dog, squat, roll up, breath of joy (stand in mountain with arms at side, then breathe vigorously in time with arm movements to side, then up, and then release body down), chair pose, little dancer, half moon (standing side bend), star gazer (mini backbend with one straight leg out in front and the other behind), standing yoga mudra (forward fold with hands clasped behind), forward fold, controlled roll down from sitting to supine, bridge, knees to chest, rest, and seated cross-legged position.

Level: I’d recommend this to beginners (although they may not find it gentle at first!) through intermediates. I’m not sure how this would work for true beginners unless they had already dabbled in yoga and/or had some strength and flexibility (i.e. an intermediate exerciser who hadn’t tried yoga but who normally did some flexibility work). More experienced yogi(ni)s will find this a great lighter day workout. I consider myself a low intermediate in yoga; I have almost three years of experience but still need to improve my strength and flexibility. I found this an appropriate level for a day when I didn’t want to do power yoga.

Class: One woman and one man accompany Carolyn. Both are clearly normal middle-aged folks. All three wear form-fitting lavender outfits which flatter none of them. Sometimes one will show a variation, but there aren’t really any modifications. Carolyn instructs via voiceover.

Music / Set / Other Production Notes: The atmospheric music is barely noticeable and doesn’t detract from the mood at all. The set is a dark room with purpley and blue spotlights on the three exercisers. The picture and sound are fine, but certainly nothing special.

Equipment: You’ll need a sticky mat (or equivalent). Everyone performs the exercises barefoot.

Comments: You don’t need much space for this routine: just enough to stretch out on your mat and move your limbs around without hitting anything.

DVD Notes: I have the new edition, which only has the Gentle routine (not the additional Dynamic and Partner sequences). The DVD comes with a poster of the exercises for both the Gentle and the Dynamic routines. The chapters are: Precautions and Introduction, First Sequence Breathing and Warm-ups, Posture Series, Second Sequence Warm-ups and Breathing, Posture Series, Meditation in Motion (the freestyle section), and Relaxation and Mediation. At the end is a blurb on the Kripalu Yoga Center.

Conclusion: This is a good yoga video, especially for a somewhat experienced yogi(ni) looking for a lighter or shorter routine. It should appeal to people sick of seeing fitness models or yoga instructors certified in a course last weekend. Carolyn teaches real yoga to real people. There are some New Agey elements, namely the inspirational-type quotable phrases already mentioned. Those and the man’s purple spandex pants might keep away some people who would really benefit from this video, but you won’t need to look at the TV much once you have the routine down and may figure out how to tune out anything not involving cueing or form pointers.
That said, for some reason I’m having trouble getting into this video. I’m not yet confident enough in my yoga practice to enjoy the freestyle segment. I normally don’t even notice outfits, but apparently I can’t get past the lavender spandex. (I need to work on my acceptance if I’m going to call myself a yogini!) Seriously, though, it’s more if I’m in the mood for a gentle yoga practice or a less intense yoga routine I tend to reach for Body Wisdom Media’s Yoga (Complete) for Every Body (which was my first real yoga video and thus has a comforting familiarity), Yoga for Inflexible People, Rainbeau Mars’ Pure Tranquility, Karen Voight’s Yoga Focus (now Yoga Power) stretch, or Kathleen Anderson’s Yoga in the Garden of Serenity. So maybe the reason this DVD hasn’t found its way into my player much is that I already have a wide selection of gentle yoga videos, so I’ll probably pass it along to someone who’d put it to good use.

Instructor Comments:
Carolyn deliberately paces her words; with her deep (for a woman) voice, the voiceover narration thus is a great one for this type of yoga practice. She cues well enough and mirror cues. As mentioned, she normally sticks to cueing but occasionally sticks in a New Agey-sounding nugget (like the “look forward into your life” bit), but there are only a few such statements and they’re short.

KathAL79