Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great Back Stretches
Comment: Yes, she talks too much, yes, it's annoying, and I also get tired of hearing her infomercial for the makeup she uses. But I bought the DVD for the stretches specifically for the back. I have been stretching with Classical Stretch for a few years now from PBS! Again, she talks too much, but her stretches are affective!!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Two gentler Classical Stretch programs
Comment: I don't have back pain, but I like instructor Miranda Esmonde-White's other Classical Stretch programs and thought I might like the two programs on this DVD for a bit of variety. Also, my upper back and shoulders tend to get tight, so I was hoping that these two workouts would be helpful to me.
The first program, Back Pain Relief, is 25 minutes long. Miranda begins the workout on the floor with some gentle stretches which are designed to provide immediate relief for those suffering from back pain. The floorwork includes moves such as cat/cow stretch (arching the back), butterfly pose, and both seated and reclined twists. After 15 minutes on the floor, Miranda has you get a sturdy chair and do some additional twisted seated in the chair as well as some leg extensions to release the back. The remainder of the back workout uses the chair as a barre for standing hip stretches to loosen the hips and hamstrings and further release the back.
The Stress Release program is just a bit longer at about 26 minutes, although Miranda suggests that you can break this workout down into 5-minute chunks (ie, individual songs) if you are short on time). The first 15 minutes of this program are also performed on the floor and incorporate many of the same stretches as in Back Pain Relief. However, the focus here is more on the mid and upper back and gently stretching and lengthening this area. The final 11 minutes of this program is performed in a standing position. Here Miranda states that she is doing more PNF work, or contracting and then releasing the muscles in order to relax them. I found this segment of the workout to be more similar to the other Classical Stretch DVDs that I have tried.
In general, I found both of these workouts to be more gentle than most of the other Classical Stretch DVDs that I've tried, including the Full Body Workout and the 30 Minute Express Workouts. In fact, Miranda states here that the Back Pain program is designed for those in pain, but once the pain has passed, she recommends that you move on to use her 1-hour workout. Therefore, if you are NOT in pain, you may find these workouts too gentle or too easy, but if you are, they may be ideal for treating your condition. One final note: if you have never tried any of Miranda's workouts before, you should be aware that she has a unique personality which rubs some people the wrong way, as she is extremely chatty. I like her, but not everyone does.
Customer Rating:
Summary: helpful for back pain
Comment: I have had severe facet pain and have arthritis in my lower back. This video really does help with it. It provides a good stretch and does not cause pain. Ms White states on the video that she too is a back pain sufferer. The only problem I have with it is that one of the stretches she does with an extended leg while sitting on a chair is impossible for me to do. She is extremely flexible but I am not!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Instant Relief For The First Time!
Comment: This particular workout by Miranda focuses on pure pain relief for the back. But what you find is that you get a great total body stretch in order to relieve the pain and learn how each muscle group can effect the others. Miranda is very clear that this routine may not cure your problem but help relieve the pain for an extended period of time. It also comes with a Stress Relief segment as well. Each being appx 30 minutes long.
I respect her honesty in stating to seek professional help and know you may need to do these workouts daily in order to get the maximum benefits. Miranda deals with cronic back pain from years of ballet, so she knows about flare up,etc. I found this to be much more effective than making trips to my PT, which took time, gas money just to get there and then another 1 1/2 hours of therapy. I have better results in a 30 minute time period using CS and all in the privacy of my own home. Hats off to Miranda for giving the relief I've been looking for.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good stretching, just a little too much talking
Comment: This is done alone by Miranda in what looks like a very nice backyard w/a pool/very large pond.
I tried the stress relief first, with the music being nice, not annoying, not amazing. Half of it is sitting stretches such as butterly, twisted sage, side stretches, head, neck, etc. What's different about her is she gets all the angles, she's not stiff about it has to be so & so angle, but just get as far as you can in all directions of that stretch.
The second half is standing which has some very modified/simplified tai chi & yoga triangle poses with some rag doll/touching toes. There is also a moderate amount of sweeping arm movements. This part seemed to start boring me. I am very flexible, but I did enjoy the first half & added some other moves that I felt inspired to do when she did some repeatedly.
The back relief's music is very lively kinda European medival style that surprised me. She starts sitting then with child's pose, then cat/cow stretching, then really deep child's pose with arms at diff angles, kneeling shifting stretches, laying down twisted leg for spine, laying down straight leg to head, butterfly & other simple stretches.
The next half she uses a simple chair w/arms for twisting stretches, leg outstretch stretch, standing w/leg on chair for stretching hamstrings, wide legged twisting side stretches, rotation of the waist while stretching upward, & etc.
In the back pain intro, I like how she reminds people tha back pain is from tight muscles pulling at an imbalanced way & stretching & heat or ice is the best remedy, not resting/laying down which makes the muscles even more tight/atrophy. The only thing I don't like about what she says is that back pain is part of aging & life. It's not, it's from incorrect posture or injury which CAN be healed or at least to the point that it shouldn't effect daily activities.
She does talk a bit much, goes on tangent stories for a short time, but it's worth it because she is very aware of how the body moves & the smallest of shifting of joint can make a big difference in which muscles you stretching & how much more you can get out of the stretch. I think she explained how to stretch very well, telling you how not to do it, where you should be feeling it, etc.
She is surprisingly flexible, even though she has back pain. When laying down, she gets her foot very close to her head when the leg is straight. It shows that stretching is key to keep your body young.
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