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FitnessProsBooks.com - Mark Blanchard's Progressive Power Yoga - The Sedona Experience (5-DVD Set)
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List Price: $79.95
Our Price: $79.95
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Manufacturer: The Illusion Factory
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: DVD
Brand: Mark Blanchard's Progressive Power Yoga
Feature: -The same Power Yoga workouts used by Mark's professional sports clients and top celebrities.
Label: The Illusion Factory
Manufacturer: The Illusion Factory
Model: PPY-SED5
Number Of Items: 5
Publisher: The Illusion Factory
Region Code: 1
Running Time: 357
Studio: The Illusion Factory
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
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Features
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-The same Power Yoga workouts used by Mark's professional sports clients and top celebrities.
-Increase your metabolism, lose weight, and burn up to 800 calories or more over a 90 minute workout.
-Sculpt long, lean muscles for greater flexibility. Increase your energy so you look and feel younger.
-Decrease stress, improve mental focus and clarity, and get a stronger sense of spirituality.
-Selected as one of the top Yoga DVD's by Shape, Fitness, and Glamour magazines.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: My experience with "The Sedona Experience"
Comment: I worked out to The Trilogy, the DVD series Mark Blanchard made before this one, for 1,5 years. Doing one workout each week. At a certain point I was looking out for something new, so I decided to purchase The Sedona Experience. While the Trilogy consisted of three "all in" yoga workouts, in The Sedona Experience each DVD emphasizes a specific aspect of Power Yoga practice.
Another difference is the length of the workouts. The Sedona Experience DVD's vary in length from 48 minutes (The Core) to 137 (The Culmination). Being able to choose from workouts with different lengths comes in handy if your schedule doesn't allow you the time to workout for a full 1,5 hours. As far as I can see, there is no need to do the DVD's in any particular order.
SETTING
You have to give it to him: filming his workouts in the natural beauty of New Age Mecca Sedona was a great move. Without getting into New Age ramblings about "power places" the prospect of practicing yoga in that setting must have been a powerful experience, though you won't feel much of that at home. While the setting of the Trilogy was not very inspirational, the mysterious red rock formations and crystal clear blue sky of these DVD's is a definitive plus. The good looking nicely shaved ladies in the front of the class might appeal to some as well.
THE WORKOUTS
"The Foundation" is a basic 1,5 hour yoga workout. "The Stretch" is a one hour yoga workout is which the stretching aspect is slightly stressed. "The Core" is the most specific of the workouts in that about half of it is dedicated to (pretty demanding) abdominal exercises. "The Flow" is a one hour Yoga workout that is slightly cardio oriented. "The Culmination" is a long hardcore Power Yoga session with headstands, etc.
EXTRAS
The Extra's consist of the different Power Yoga moves broken down, but without commentary, and different soundscapes like a Sedona Sunrise that might be handy if you want to quiet your mind.
CONCLUSION
Yes, some of Blanchard's corrections of the female students do look like postures from the Kama Sutra (that's a kind of yoga too, I suppose...). But the bottom line is that these are enjoyable workouts. I thought a lot about whether to give this DVD set 3 or 4 stars. But the scenery does it, hence the 4 stars. Namaste.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A little too touchy feely for me
Comment: This is a review of the culmination dvd. It does what it says it will do which is to cook your muscles. Personally, I don't like to work this hard in a yoga class; a dance class yes, yoga class no. Mark is not a good teacher in that he doesn't call out the poses. When you do a Shiva Rea dvd, you don't have to look at the screen, just listen to her voice, a very nice voice at that. I also had a problem with how touchy feely Mark was with the scantily clothed blonde yogini. He rubbed and stroked her and flirted with her throughout the entire dvd. What about the other students. I dislike it when teacher pay attention to the good students when they really should be giving special attention to the students who look like they need help. There were a couple of students on this dvd who could have used Mark's corrections. But no, he stayed close to blondie rubbed her on the back and said, I quote "Gee you must be burning up inside babe." He and Bryan Kest with his crotch candy remarks are in the "Inappropriate things male yoga teachers say" club.
The dvd is filmed on the red rocks of sedona. Nice scenery, but it looked uncomfortable to the students. Will I do this again. Jury's out, as I said I don't like to work this hard at doing yoga. If power yoga is your thing, and you don't mind Mark's inappropriateness, then this is the dvd for you. I'll stick to kundalini yoga and Shiva Rea.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Blanchards Power Yoga: Powerfully Dissapointing.
Comment: (This review for the first of the five Blanchard Power Yoga DVDs)
The Good: A long workout (120mns), really hitting the legs. Background and practitioners are pleasant to look at. (You'll see why this was noted as a plus...)
The Bad: This yoga practice just doesn't flow. At all. Blanchard fails to call out poses by name consistently-making the viewer look at the screen much too often. Some poses are repeated over and over, making the routine seem.... monotonous.
The Verdict: Borrow it from the library. Borrow it from a friend. But don't buy it without going through it once or twice. While the workout is lengthy and intense on the legs, Blanchard fails as a good instructor.
Full Review: This is a classroom "type" DVD, with some pretty practitioners. Not that I mind that the women are attractive - but it seems like they chose "pretty" people versus real practitioners. Anyhow, I digress. While Blanchard is purely concerned with talking about the poses-a good thing in an of itself, he doesn't call out poses by name enough. He talks about bending limbs this way, and falling that way-but you don't know what pose he's guiding you towards until you break down and look at the screen.
After the first half, I was really frustrated because I like to practice yoga-not continually watch the screen to see what the instructor intended. You know a great yoga practice if you can perform it by listening to the instructor, occasionally glancing at them. Why can't Blanchard just say "Standing forward bend, standing back bend, side plank, crow"? Because he only calls out the poses about half the time-I'm left to decipher his unclear instructions, which is not what I'm in this for. This becomes very apparent, as you can see the entire class having varying difficulty keeping pace with what he's describing-having to look up to see what he's going for.
Blanchard uses a "hands on" approach with some students, something not everyone will appreciate. I find it mildly amusing that he wanders off course and starts to describe the set scenery and how happy your dog is. I know this is "progressive" yoga, but really?
The balancing poses are interesting, some new that I haven't seen before-which were a breath of freshness. He seems strangely partial to three-legged dog and one legged balances. About 50 minutes into the workout, the "view" changes, spreading out the practitioners. At first I thought this would be be nice-but because I had to look at the screen so often, it was even more distracting. As the people were spread out, it was blatantly obvious that they could not follow without looking at Blanchard - a true statement to how well he can coordinate the workout. The last half hour approaches some more balancing, strength, backbends/shoulderstands, and some hip-openers.
The real detriment is the instructor. "Bring this hand to the earth, that hand up to the sky." Hey Blanchard, how about saying half-moon pose? It's also apparent that Blanchard can't even do many of the poses very well. Call me old fashioned, but the teacher needs to be able to demonstrate what they teach.
If it wasn't for the few one-legged balancing poses I hadn't seen before, two stars would have been two-too many.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Refreshing Change and Different! However, A Few Flaws...Read On
Comment: I found this series to be sweat inducing, flexibility improving, and strenghening. Let's face it, some classes are so focussed on form, that a student can approach yoga hesitantly for fear of doing something "wrong" or incorrectly. These sessions really allow you to keep flowing in the vinyasa, which is great, since the benefit in vinyasa lies not in the perfection and form, but the repetition. It's okay if you don't practice perfectly. Your muscles will get so warmed, that you will improve as you go along.
However...the same attributes which make this series great also provide the series with its greatest weak points. There is really very little attention given to form and alignment. In a way, the instrutor doesn't really teach or instruct, but rather directs which movements to do. He doesn't teach you how to do them properly. He just tells you what to do. In addition to that, the viewer may have difficulty following his direction. For example, instead of specifying which leg or specifically where to place something (i.e.,place your right foot next to your right hand), he uses phrases like "this leg...put it right here"
Again, I found these sessions challenging and very motivating. As a yoga instructor, I think it is very positive and important to switch up your routine and challenge your mind and body to a different kind of body, even sometimes forgoing the laser beam emphasis on form and precision for a fun and different kind of practice. Simply remember that form is important and work on it on your own or incorporate it into your sessions while you are watching this series on television.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Inspirational
Comment: Received the set as a gift; had only a vague interest in trying yoga, but finally decided to at least look at these. I was fascinated by what the body can do! At first I just watched (they're really beautifully done), and eventually I started slowly, trying the positions I thought I might be able to do. Over this past year I have worked up to trying many more, and actually, I feel physically different - heartier.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Bask in a sun-washed radiant sky. Breathe, stretch, focus and enjoy the vortex energy in one of the most beautiful spots in the world.
Life is a series of perceptions and evaluations. How we react to them will determine each outcome. And so it is with yoga. In its truest form, yoga will always be a celebration of you and where you are on any specific day. It is about nurturing your mind, body and spirit in a noncompetitive environment. In more than 5000 years, yoga has never had props, nor has it ever had levels. If you can understand and genuinely appreciate this concept, then you will truly benefit from this DVD system. It is total acceptance. It is simultaneously about progressing to a deeper and more fulfilling practice: that is the yin/yang of yoga.
Progressive Power Yoga® - The Sedona ExperienceTM, was produced as a comprehensive collection of power yoga workouts that follow the same invigorating power yoga routines that are used by Mark's professional sports clients; filled with high energy, flowing asanas, balancing poses and deep cool-down stretches. By practicing this yoga system, you'll increase your metabolism and you can expect to lose more weight and burn more calories than any other form of cardio or weight-training exercise.
Progressive Power Yoga® - The Sedona Experience is designed for the athlete in all of us. There is nothing here that you can easily breeze through. It should be challenging for you, but not to the point where you stress out over whether or not you are doing too much or not enough. It takes time and dedication. It takes patience. Regardless of where you are in your yoga practice, the time you spend is always spent in the Now. That's what the power of yoga reminds us to do live and breathe who you are right now.
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