This is one of the shorter (20 minute) yoga programs in the Living Arts series. Like the others, this one is filmed beautifully--this time on a Maui beach. The music is new-agey with subtle vocals (kind of chant-like), very much like the music on P.M. Yoga. Rodney starts out by talking about the benefits of doing yoga in the morning as a transition between being asleep and being awake. He then starts out in a reclining pose. He instructs you in proper breathing technique, having you place your hands on your belly, your solar plexus, your ribcage, and your throat (so you can become aware of the "path" that your breath takes). You then will be taken through a guided relaxation. After that, some of the poses that you will do are gentle reclining twists, seated twists, standing side bends, reclining leg stretches with a strap (or belt), downward facing dog, reclining cobbler's pose, seated cross-legged pose (not in order). You will end in seated meditation (cross-legged or lotus) where you do some focusing. The pace of this video is slow, and I think it would be an adequate yoga video for the beginner. Modifications are not shown, but these moves for the most part are not very strenuous; some of them are already modifications. While I think this is a decent video, I am not wild about it. I don't feel challenged, nor do I get a thorough stretch with this one. I need something a bit more "get up and go" when I first wake up. This may be a useful video for some, but I much prefer the other videos in this series (P.M. Yoga, Power Yoga for Beginners, and Stress Relief Yoga for Beginners).

Instructor Comments:
Rodney's cuing is good, although his descriptions of where your body should be during the poses isn't as thorough as Patricia Walden in P.M. Yoga. He does not mirror R/L.

Kristin Aziz