Yoga Journal's: Yoga Practice for Beginners

Patricia Walden
Year Released: 2000

Categories: Yoga


After reading many reviews about "is this tape for beginners" or not, I'd really like to make one comment: I think that all the rest of Yoga Journal's series (and the Living Arts series too) assume that if you have not taken yoga classes, then you have done this "Yoga Journal's: Yoga Practice For Beginners" tape. And rightly so. I personally think that all the rest of the "beginners" tapes should be renamed "for Advanced Beginners; beginners return to beginner's tape", but that would be bad for sales.

I would encourage everybody that hasn't had yoga classes to get the "Yoga Practice for Beginners" tape first, and work with it for several months. I used this tape for six months before I moved on to another one, and I'd recommend that to anybody.

I personally think that doing yoga (pardon me) "Rodney-style", meaning fast-paced vinyasas, without having a good detail-oriented grounding in "Patricia-style" yoga is cheating yourself out of all that spine-stretching and chest-opening, and selling yourself short. Don't get me wrong, I love Rodney's tapes; I use them very often. But I consistently return to Patricia's detailed instructions to refine my poses. I love Rodney's flowing choreography; but with Patricia, I get those wonderful moments of triumph: "I've never done this pose with my spine so extended before! Ever!" Those moments are very rewarding.

So-- I alternate between Rodney and Patricia, which is probably what the producers intended in the first place. And I'm definitely not knocking Rodney's tapes. But I would encourage those reading these reviews and considering Yoga: If you are a beginner, then start with the beginner's tape and learn how to do it right.

Instructor Comments:
Excellent: detail-oriented, thorough, and precise. Very consistent about stretching the spine and opening the chest.

Helen Wright

11/30/-0001