Beginners’ Yoga Video Offers Good Instruction
Trying to find well-produced fitness videos that are truly
suitable for beginners can be a daunting challenge.
Most tapes these days aim at intermediate exercisers, the
ones who know a grapevine from a box step and a lateral raise
from a biceps curl. These tapes may offer a few easier moves
here and there, but the instruction clearly is geared to people
who already know what to do.
The few tapes that are marketed for beginners often are
unspeakably repetitive, as if flabby muscles always mean a
flabby brain. And too often, they provide no way to add extra
challenge or difficulty to the routine, as if beginning
exercisers are going to remain beginners forever.
It's nice, then, to discover Yoga Zone: Flexibility and
Tone, a beginners' tape that offers the depth of instruction
and easy pace that true beginners need.
The instructor here is Alan Finger, a genial-looking
middle-aged man who wears a polo shirt, rolled-up cotton pants
and a chin-length bob. His physique is not the standard
chiseled form of exercise videos; he looks as if he might carry
a few extra pounds around the middle.
But he has a lovely voice (with a hint of a brogue) and a
calm manner, two essentials for a yoga tape, where relaxation
is key.
And he has a true gift for instruction, combining the
nuts-and-bolts details of positioning with what it feels like
to stretch and balance.
When he describes how the muscles of the feet ought to
rotate through to the little toe, you'll know -- and be able to
feel -- just what he's talking about.
But each move contains so many of these instructions that it
can be a little overwhelming to try to master all of them at
once.
If you have tried yoga before, you'll recognize some of them
-- the down-on-all-fours stretch called the cat, the inverted V
that forms the down dog, and the corpse, which requires little
more than lying flat on one's back, completely relaxed.
In another nod to beginners, Finger also provides true
modifications and tips for those who may not be as flexible as
they'd like.
Finger shows how a folded blanket can be placed under the
knees or for better support while performing seated postures. A
folded towel also is used for several poses, although Finger
doesn't announce that in advance.
The 50-minute session ends with stretching and relaxation,
set to gentle New Age music that might lull you to sleep.
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