Sunday, September 16, 2012

ELEMENT: Prenatal & Postnatal Yoga

I've already tried an Element Yoga DVD and I enjoyed it. I really liked her teaching style. This DVD I wanted my sister to take a look at, since she is actually pregnant. Below are her thoughts:

"This is a great routine for beginning to intermediate yoga practitioners. Both the instructor demonstrating and the voice-over guidance are easy to follow. The calming, but minimal acoustic guitar in the background combined with the soothing voice of the instructor sets a relaxing tone for the work out. The exercises themselves flow well, encouraging gentle opening, energizing and strengthening without holding the poses for so long that it becomes uncomfortable. This routine would be good from the beginning all the way to last month or so of pregnancy - with the second trimester probably being the best time for it.

For me personally at 38 weeks, there were a few poses I had difficulty with and chose not to do, namely triangle, side angle, tabletop and plank. If I had been doing this routine a few months ago perhaps these poses would not have presented any problems. So if you are far along be prepared to modify or exclude some of the exercises as needed. The instructor mentions a few third trimester modifications, but does not dwell on them, so previous knowledge of how to modify poses is helpful though not absolutely necessary.

This 30 minute sequence takes you from standing salutations to variations on chair, warrior 1 and 2, side angle and triangle and mixes in some floor work with plank, squats, pigeon, tabletop, and child's pose punctuated with plenty of down dog and forward bends. The last 10 minutes or so are a seated cool-down sequence and meditation. Overall, I thought it was a very balanced work out, though not ideal for the last few weeks of pregnancy. Always listen to your body and if a pose doesn't feel good, back off and substitute one that does."

Thank you Krysta! This DVD also has a routine for about 6 weeks after giving birth. You can look forward to another review regarding that routine, also by Krysta, in the future.

If you are interested in purchasing this DVD on Amazon.com see below:

If you are more interested in Element Yoga see below:

Happy Training! à bientôt!

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