Morning Flow #1

Dawnelle Arthur

Categories: Yoga
- Audio Workout


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I’m reviewing this workout after doing it once.

General workout breakdown: This 25-min. yoga MP3 is meant to be done in the morning and focuses on backbends. Postures include child’s, down dog, standing forward bend w/ chest expansion, half lift, full forward bend, tadasana, standing back bend, plank, 1-legged down dog, low lunge, crescent lunge, warrior 2, reverse warrior, chaturanga, up dog, cobra, locust, bow, knees to chest, bridge, wheel (optional), supta baddha konasana, seated forward fold, reclining spinal twist, plow, shoulder stand, dead bug, and savasana. The pace isn’t too fast but isn’t too slow (I never felt rushed; also, I have to modify chaturangas and found I had enough time to do so here). If you’re looking for long holds, especially in shoulderstand and savasana, you’re out of luck here, however. (Dawnelle puts you into savasana but leaves it up to you to continue, for example.)

Level: Yogadownload rates this as Level 3-4, or what they consider intermediate to advanced intermediate. I’d say this would be accessible to someone with a good amount of yoga experience under his/her belt, enough so that an audio-only practice isn’t something frightening. If you’re familiar with the poses listed above and have a decent amount of strength and flexibility you’ll be just fine. Although I’ve been doing yoga for something like 6 years now, I’m not practicing fully intermediate poses like wheel, headstand, etc., or advanced ones like forearm balances, and I found this a great level for me, especially with the option to stay in bridge. The only tricky part was doing plow in the morning, when my back is still stiff.

Music: none.

Production: clear sound, no extraneous noise.

Equipment: yoga sticky mat (or equivalent).

Space Requirements: enough room to perform a full sun salutation, lie down with limbs extended, and extend your legs behind you into plow.

MP3 Notes: This MP3, available at yogadownload.com, comes with an Adobe Acrobat file showing you the poses. There are also 30 min., 45 min., and 60 min. versions of this practice available.
There are no chapters within the audio file.

Comments: This isn’t anything fancy or innovative, just a straightforward yoga practice that dives right in.
Although this practice is designated as a morning one, you could do it any time during the day, especially if you need to energize or recharge yourself. I personally wouldn’t do this right before bed, however, as I find I react to backbends like I do to caffeine: neither gives me a jolt of energy, but if I indulge in them too close to bedtime I have trouble falling asleep.

Instructor Comments:
Dawnelle has a pleasant voice. The low, calm tones of her voice appeal to me more than chipper, perky ones, especially in the a.m. She cues well. There’s not a ton of form instruction, alignment tips, etc., but Dawnelle includes a decent amount to keep you on track but not overwhelm you. Dawnelle uses mostly English names of poses, and aside from a few metaphors like telling you to lift your heart is relatively straightforward and plain in her language.

KathAL79

10/12/2008