Yoga for Beauty with Rainbeau Mars: Dawn and Dusk

Rainbeau Mars
Year Released: 2005

Categories: Yoga


Dawn
I’m reviewing this workout after previewing it once and doing it almost half a dozen times.

N.B. Rainbeau Mars also calls this Yoga for Beauty: Sunrise.

General workout breakdown: This vinyasa-based yoga video focusing on vinyasa flows, backbends, and twists, has two programs: the main one (about 45 min.) and a shortened version (about 10 min.).
*Main program: Begin seated on blankets in cross-legged position, focusing on the breath; bend forward & to side, w/ a neck stretch, moving to a sweated twist before switching legs & repeating. Move to hands & knees for cat & cow, adding in lion’s breath, then into downward dog. Walk back into standing w/ back flat & extended forward while pumping belly w/ breath held. Back to down dog, then walk forward back to standing w/ flat back for twisting belly cleanser (hold breath & pull in stomach). Come up to tadasana or “truth pose.” Next several rounds of half sun salutations, then full sun salutation A variation (w/ hands clasped behind back in half locust & later twisting kneeling lunge), sun salutation B (i.e. w/ chair pose; 1st round w/ warrior 3 prep, 2nd w/ twisting lunge), then vinyasa w/ twisting half moon into seated twist (sage’s) into “airplane” (warrior 3). Rest in prone position on floor, then lift up into full cobra; after a quick rest, into sphinx w/ quad stretch, then bow. Extend back into child’s pose. Grab blankets & sit in staff, then extend into seated forward bend. Come back to cobbler’s / bound angle / butterfly w/ forward bend, w several suggestions for hand position. Refold blankets & stack vertically for supported reclined cobbler’s / bound angle, then extend legs briefly. Bring knees to chest & roll up to seated. Finish seated in crossed legs pose, w/ hands in prayer to give thanks, then seal w/ a few mudras & a Namaste.
*Bonus workout: Begin seated in cross-legged pose w/ sun salutation arms. Extend arms overhead, then fold forward. Switch legs & extend arms to side, then fold forward. Onto hands & knees for cat & cow with lion’s breath, then twist with arm underneath. Come into down dog, then walk up to hands, bringing back flat for twisting belly cleanser. Half sun salutes, then vinyasa w/ twisting kneeling lunge, full sun salutation A, & sun salutation B w/ twisting lunge. Return to cross-legged pose w/ gentle seated twist before reclining cobbler’s / bound angle. Roll over to side to come back up into simple seated pose w/ hands at heart.
Rainbeau moves deliberately through poses. She pauses in some longer than others, which may be a good thing for some people but disappointing for others. She also pauses for instruction sometimes, which gives this more of a feel of a live class or demonstration than a smooth yoga video.

Level: I’d recommend this to regular exercisers with previous yoga experience. This is best suited for those practicing at an experienced beginner through maybe low intermediate level (i.e. comfortable with sun salutations, yogic breathwork, etc., but not quite ready for headstand, arm balances, etc.).

Class: 2 women & 2 men join Rainbeau. 1 man shows some modifications for limited flexibility; 1 woman shows some modifications for limited strength. (I really like this idea and wish more instructors would do this. Let’s face it: some of us has strength and/or flexibility limitations in one area but may be perfectly strong and/or flexible in another. Few instructors seem willing to acknowledge that a lack of both flexibility and/or strength can hinder full appreciation of practices like yoga and that some people may face need more help in one area rather than the other.)

Music: great vocal / instrumental music by Jai Uttal (from the “Music for Yoga and Other Joys” and “Kirtan!” albums, songs from which are also found on Tilak Pyle’s Altar of the Heart and Shiva Rea’s Yoga Shakti).

Set: indoor studio with wooden floors, colored backlit backdrop, and various paraphernalia like a fireplace, a fountain, steps, and furniture that make the space one of those confused “indoors but it’s supposed to look like it could be outdoors” sets.

Production: clear, crisp picture and sound. The music is very audible, which is good because it is good and because sometimes I just don’t feel that into Rainbeau’s sayings. I didn’t find the camerawork that distracting, although sometimes it cuts off one of the modifiers or focuses too closely on someone.

Equipment: sticky mat (or equivalent), 2 blankets (you’ll want something fairly stiff, like wool or coarser cotton, rather than something squishy, like a down comforter or fluffy quilt), and possibly also a strap. All participants are barefoot.

Space Requirements: enough room to perform a full sun salutation and to lie down with arms and legs extended

DVD Notes: The main menu allows you to choose play feature, chapter selections (introduction, warm up, belly cleansing, strengthening, inversion, cool down, and solo performance, where Rainbeau nearly effortlessly moves through series of challenging and advanced photos, a performance not unlike Ana Forrest’s Embodying Spirit), special features (bonus workout, workout to music w/o narration, photo gallery, and trailers for Rainbeau’s Yoga for Beauty: Dusk, Sacred Yoga Vinyasa Flow for Beginners, Sacred Yoga Vinyasa Flow Pure Tranquility, Sacred Yoga Vinyasa Flow Pure Power, Sacred Yoga Vinyasa Flow Pure Sweat, and Zen Mama Prenatal Yoga; Yoga for Wimps; Complete Yoga Fitness for Beginners, Yoga 101 Workout for Beginners Props to Poses, and Am & PM Yoga for Seniors, all by Lilias.), audio features (dolby digital 2.0 or 5.1), or credits. When you start both the main program and the bonus, you have the choice of regular (4:3) or widescreen (16:9) format.
My DVD also came with a booklet entitled, “Rainbeau’s 40 Disciplines for Beauty.” Since it doesn’t deal much with exercise, I’ll let you hunt it down and see what’s included.

Comments: This program is definitely different than the accompanying Yoga for Beauty: Dusk, which focuses primarily on corework and hip openers for a more relaxing practice. I was surprised that I found myself reaching for Dawn more than Dusk, since I’m a hip opener junkie. Part of it seems to be that I just don’t love yoga abs workouts, part of it that Dawn, although it has many poses commonly found in other yoga practices, somehow feels different enough from other videos in my collection.
From Rainbeau’s other series, Sacred Yoga Vinyasa Flow, I’ve only tried Pure Tranquility and Pure Power, which also focuses more on upper body, although it has more corework than Dawn. Yoga for Beauty: Dawn is different from those, too, although you’ll recognize a few poses and flows here and there, especially from Pure Tranquility. This is definitely a big step in intensity from Pure Tranquility, but I wouldn’t say it’s as vigorous as Pure Power.
Rainbeau has designed this for the morning, and I’d recommend doing it earlier rather than later in the day because of the number of backbends. If you do it later, you may want to counterbalance all of the backbending with additional forward bending before you go to bed if you’re anything like me, who finds that backbends affect me like caffeine: neither perks me up, but indulging in both too close to bedtime keeps me from falling asleep.
As with any vinyasa-focused video, those with wrist issues should approach it with some caution.
Rainbeau stresses the detoxing effects of this practice, and I’ve experienced some of those effects just about every time I’ve done this twist-filled program. (What I’m trying to say is this would not be a good program to do if you know you won’t have access to a bathroom facility for the next few hours afterwards.) I know there’s a lower back Yoga Zone that gives perhaps even stronger, ahem, results; I’ve personally found Barbara Benagh’s Yoga for Stress Relief’s digestion practices quite effective. If you’re looking for a detox that works more than just your digestive tract, you might want to check out some of Ravi Singh & Ana Brett’s videos, particularly Fat Free Yoga: Lighten Up & Purify.
It’s nice to see an emphasis on exploring beauty, particularly inner beauty and radiance, even if it is kind of corny. (I’ll take a practice for beauty over yet another “fat blasting sexy bikini body toning boot camp” any day…) In addition to the “beautify your body” talk, there’s also some brief mentions of things like chakras. Also, Jai sings in Sanskrit (I think), although there is no chanting and just a brief “Namaste.”

Instructor Comments:
Rainbeau alternates between instructing live and via voiceover. For the most part the transitions are done smoothly, without too much noticeable difference in volume, tone, etc., but sometimes the class has to pause for one to catch up to the other. Rainbeau tends to be more straightforward in the live instruction, where she spends more time explaining how to get into or out of the pose, breath, etc. The voiceover is more about the pose’s benefits, how to bring or find beauty in the pose, and exhortations like “enjoy your breath.”
Rainbeau is Rainbeau – young (“that’s totally OK”), flowery in her language and metaphors, and happily hippy. She seems a little unpolished here, which is surprising given her experience in making videos, in that she sometimes pauses to let the production catch up or to fiddle with props or to instruct and she’s regularly messing with her hair (it’s long and left down, and not surprisingly it gets in her way). Her mirror cueing is sometimes inconsistent.

KathAL79

09/18/2007