Fat Free Yoga - Lose Weight & Feel Great

Ana Brett, Ravi Singh
Year Released: 2005

Categories: Yoga


This kicked my butt around the block but I loved it! High energy and lots of fun. Even though this DVD felt pretty challenging for me I really feel this is about as close to a perfect yoga workout as you can get. This is one I would like to do everyday because it seems to get everything covered from just enough stretching ( which opened my hips nicely and loosened up my spine) to cardio which, even though people would argure with me and say you can't get cardio doing yoga, made me feel totaly oxygenated. If anyone asked me if I did cardio today I would definitely say YES!

Here is a somewhat breakdown of the DVD as best as I can remember after doing this only 1X.

There are 4 parts. You can do them all together like I did or just 1 section.

The first exercise in the 1st section is called Ravi rolls which is quite interesting and got the heart pumping. You are standing and swinging your arms 1 & 3/4 circles one way then reversing, bending your knees as your arms pass center and doing breath of fire the whole time. The 1st section (called Start Your Engines) continues with a lot of breath and movement exercises for energizing. Side Bends and Thyroid stimulating exercises that also really warm up and open up the upper spine. I think this section also had some warmups and stretching.

Set 2 is called Fight Fire With Fire which has a lot of deep abdominal work. At one point you are holding in a sort of half crunch position doing breath of fire and I felt the burn! Other exercises in this section I can remember are a wide leg stretch, leg lifts on belly, leg lifts on back......

The next set is No-impact Aerobics. Walking in place knees high, then Frogs which always kick my butt, then piston pose which I am sure I will feel in my thighs and butt tomorrow.. Then there are these incredible looking pushups on one knee with the other leg straight behind which at first glance made me say "no way!" but I found I could do them. I might not have looked quite the same as Ana but I think it still worked the same important areas i.e. chest, back and arms and butt again! Then more arm work...

The last set is your life is in your own glands. Alternate leg lifts where you raise and lower your head opposite to your leg. Then there is breath of fire in cow and cat pose. Overall this last set seemed to be a shorter set though this is supposed to be four 19 minute sets. I will try to remember to time them next time Then there are 2 meditations(for calming & emotional balance) which I skipped today for time constraints though I will probably do them other times. I actually felt pretty calm and emotionally balanced by the end ot the workout anyway. Overall it is a tough, energizing and refreshing workout and like most Kundalini yoga workouts contains no sun salutations which have begun to bore me beyond comatose!

The soundtrack is really well done. The music has an Indian flavor but mixed with other influences I can't quite recognize but really liked. You can hear Ana's breathing like she is right there in the room. It helped my breath of fire enormously to get into her rythym.

Instructor Comments:
Ana is always an inspiration. She looks like she is having fun and smiles encouragingly making even the toughest sections seem easier. Ravi is off camera speaking. We never see him. He gives good aligment cues and as always emotional and spiritual support with his soothing voice. Also in the credits before and after the workout you see Ana dancing which is really cool.

Amber

10/18/2005