In Yoga for Athletes, instructor Barbara Benagh has created a huge variety of practice options for athletes and others. The DVD addresses 16 different sports (baseball, basketball, cycling, football, golf, hiking, kayaking, martial arts, rock climbing, running, skiing, soccer, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and weightlifting), and for each sport, 12 practices of varying lengths and with various areas of body/postural focus (eg, hips, legs, shouders, backbends, balance, twists, etc.). [For more detailed information about breakdowns, see the DVD chaptering section of this web site.] I think this is a great concept--although I don't play any particular sport, I love the idea of choosing a specific practice based on whatever type of focus I might want to have that day.

Unfortunately, I didn't think this DVD worked as well in actual practice. First of all, how the DVD works is that each and every pose is its own individual chapter (with a male model demonstrating and Barbara providing voiceover instruction). This means that the practices themselves are simply a series of the individual postures strung together with no transitions inbetween. To me, this made the practices feel very disjointed and without any flow to them. Secondly, Barbara's instruction is meticulously detailed, which is sometimes a good thing, sometimes not. For example, when I was lying in a relaxing, restorative posture (such as reclined eagle--this was very nice), I didn't mind and in fact appreciated Barbara's comprehensive cues on form. However, for some of the standing postures, I felt that my enjoyment of the full posture was delayed as I waited on Barbara's overly detailed setup.

Finally, I think that I have been spoiled by Barbara's more recent DVD release, Yoga for Stress Relief. This DVD follows a somewhat similar format, but all of the practices are restorative, and thus I really enjoy Barbara's detailed instruction here. However, Yoga for Athletes might be a better choice for those who are newer to yoga, prefer their yoga to be very straightforward and no-nonsense, and/or are looking for practices designed to their particular sport. Overall, Yoga for Athletes is a well-done DVD that I would recommend, but it's not for everyone--3 1/2 stars.

Instructor Comments:
Barbara does not appear on screen at all here; personally, I don't really like having one person provide voiceover while a different person is on screen. I do like Barbara's manner, including her softly drawled speech, but I lose patience for her slow instruction during the standing postures.

Beth C (aka toaster)