Please note that I wrote this review about 4-5 years ago; I've cut and pasted it as originally written. At the time of the review I had done it about half a dozen times in the several months I had it.

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General workout breakdown: The relaxation workout begins with breathing and centering while seated cross legged. Next come seated stretches and twists, then a vinyasa (linking cat & dog tilt with child’s pose), standing balance postures (including tree), shoulder stretches (eagle arms), lunge sequences, and forward bends. Restorative poses (reclined butterfly or supta baddha konasana followed by lying twists) and a final relaxation (corpse) end the practice. This routine lasts about 40 minutes total.
The DVD also includes Yoga Energize, a 15 minute more vigorous practice meant to get you moving in the morning (or whenever you need it). You begin with cat stretch while standing, shoulder stretch, reverse namaste (prayer) hands while bending forward over warrior 1 legs, squats, vajrasana with side bends, modified camel, and ending in sukhasana with a mudra. This features the same cast and set as Candlelight Yoga, by the way.

Level: I’d recommend this to experienced beginners to low intermediates. Candlelight Yoga’s gentle enough for beginners, but I’m not sure how comfortable true beginners would feel with the level of instruction here. It would make a great choice to acquire after an instructional video and/or class. On the other end, anyone beyond a low/mid-intermediate level might find the pace too slow, particularly since Sara stops to introduce the next pose. The flow was thus a little slow and disjointed for me.

Class: 6 women and 1 man, all young, join Sara. One demonstrates modifications (actually helpful here).

Music / Set / Other Production Notes: The instrumental music is pleasant and appropriate. The brightly lit set is some sort of brick loft with hardwood floors. There are billowing curtains and numerous candles to the back and sides. The sound and picture quality are very good.

Equipment: sticky mat (or equivalent). The modifier uses a towel and strap. All participants are barefoot.

Comments: You don’t need much space; you should be able to lie down comfortably on your mat with your arms and legs extended.
Although this is called Candlelight Yoga, you don’t have to do it in the evening. In fact, I don’t recall any mention of night or darkness.

DVD Notes: The chapters split the routine into appropriate segments (e.g. the shoulder stretches make one chapter). Yoga Energize, on the other hand, has no chapters. You can choose “instructor & music” or “instructor only” for each workout.

Conclusion: This has made its way to my trade pile. It’s lovely, and I would have done this much more had I gotten it a year or two ago. (In fact, it could have been one of my most used yoga videos.) However, now that I’ve moved up to the (low) intermediate level and tried a larger variety of yoga videos, this doesn’t have much of a place in my collection any more. I’d rather do Rainbeau Mars’ Pure Tranquility or Karen Voight’s Yoga Focus stretch, which have less dead time. A more similar workout, by the way, is Kripalu Gentle.

Instructor Comments:
Sara is positive and encouraging, but not annoyingly so (in my opinion). She offers some form instruction, but to me her form tips are better. She has a young vibe and voice. There isn’t much “New Agey” talk here.

KathAL79