Yoga Break

YogaBreak is a CD-Rom set produced by Rodney Yee and his wife (ex-wife?) Donna Fone. It is designed to be used to provide stretching breaks while you are at work. Here's how it works: after loading the program onto your computer, you set the break interval (7 choices between 30 and 120 minutes). At the designated time, the program pops up, and you are led through a series of yoga stretches. All stretches are performed sitting in your desk chair or standing, and each series lasts approximately 3 minutes. Each series also has a specific focus--for example, spine release, chest opener, hip and shoulder, sitting meditation, etc. You can set the program to scroll through all of the series, or you can choose a particular area you would like to focus on (Arms and Hands, Meditation Sequence, Spine Series, etc.).

Overall, I really liked that this program reminded me to stretch throughout my workday, and I felt looser and more relaxed as a result. You could probably devise a similar program on your own, but it was nice to have it already laid out. I'm not sure if it is worth the cost, however, as I borrowed the CD-Rom from my library. If you can do this too or find it at a good price, I definitely recommend the program.

Instructor Comments:
Rodney Yee provides the voiceover for all segments in his usual calm, soothing voice. Pictures of both he and Donna Fone are used to illustrate the postures; both display excellent form. My one complaint was that the pauses from one move to the next went on a little too long, although you can manually continue on to the next posture.

Beth C (aka toaster)