Geri Body Yoga

Katy Appleton
Year Released: 2006

Categories: Yoga



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The DVD is divided into five sections:
Warm up; Sun and Moon; Strength; Chill and Bliss. The practice is 90 minutes long. There is an interesting mini- documentary that shows you how the video was put together and what could be called, a workout blender, that allows to you reorganise the five sections.

The warm up is one of the most relaxing and interesting yoga warm ups I've done. You begin in savasana and slowly move through the poses taking care to stretch out your back until you feel very relaxed and warmed up.

The Sun and Moon section is chaptered in a way that allows you to skip the sun or the moon salutations. Katy leads you through three different versions, the first of which is the modified slower paced sun sals ending with what Katy calls the "pure astanga" version sun salutation. The sun section is as invigorating as it is relaxing.

The moon salutations were absolutely great :) I loved what Katy called "The Lion" and it's worth doing the moon section twice. It is so much fun to do :)

The Strength section is short and consists of Warriors, triangles, a wide legged forward bend or two and balance poses. Throughout Sun and Moon, and Strength I felt relaxed enough to have fallen asleep in any of the poses. Very unusual even for a sleepaholic like me.

Next is Bliss, which calls for shoulderstands, plough, wheel, forward bends and more. I felt rejuvenated. Chill came last of all and I'm happy to say that it was no trouble to lie flat in savasana.

Katy is a very good instructor, who checks on Geri and Nate's form regularly. She helps Nate into a modification and Geri into a deeper version of the pose. The modifications shown are very useful especially the shoulderstand variations. Katy's attention to stretching and safety really won me over. I began this practice feeling tense and tired. My back was sore and I couldn't manage to lie flat in savasana. By the end I felt completely at ease and very relaxed.

There are little breaks between each section, which breaks the flow a little bit. Geri's shorts are a bit short, which might bother some people. There is a little bit of humour, which made me laugh out loud but instead of feeling distracted, it helped me to relax more.

This is a very good practice for people with back problems and I believe, for beginners. The modifcations shown are some of the best I've seen on a yoga video. You don't have to be a fan of the Spice Girls or Geri Halliwell to enjoy this practice (I am not). This is a genuine production and one I felt was definitely worth owning.

Instructor Comments:
Katy Appleton, formerly a professional ballet dancer who trained at the Royal Ballet School and English National Ballet School (full bio here: http://www.appleyoga.com/katy_01.htm ) leads former Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell and a chap called Nate Dushku who demonstrates modifications. According to her bio, she is a Sivananda trained teacher of yoga. Her vocal style is very British and clear.

Lisa

02/01/2004