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25 of 25 found the following review helpful:
 Two segments from the TV series-Nov 08, 2000
By drariadne
This is not as well thought out as the other YZ videos that I own. I did not find the first section at all relaxing. It included many fairly strenuous standing postures. The only "stress release" in this part was the instructor's mentioning that you learn to release stress through your breath. That is fine in the morning, but not before bed. There was a 2-3 min relaxation at the end, then the second half started. The second half is much more relaxing than the first, but still not up to their usual standards. If you want a nice relaxing video, there are many possibilities- The Kripalu Gentle is very nice, and has 2 30 min sections. You can buy YZ Conditioning and Stress Release, and only do 20 min of it. Or try a short Living Arts tape(PM Yoga comes to mind).
18 of 18 found the following review helpful:
 Two great programs for releasing stress and muscle tensionJun 11, 2004
By Beth Cholette
"doctor_beth"
Yoga Zone's Evening Stress Release consists of two short (less than 20 minutes each) beginning level yoga practices. The first program begins with seated stretches and a flowing breathing sequence. It then moves into more active standing poses, including lunges, warrior 1 and 2, downward facing dog, and wide-legged standing forward bend. The practice returns to the floor for a modified boat pose, and it finishes with some leg stretches and a short relaxation. Program 2 also starts from a seated position for simple stretches and twists and then moves to kneeling for a cat stretch. Again, there are a variety of standing poses very similar to the first practice. Additional seated postures include a version of cow pose and wide-legged forward bend, and again, there is a short relaxation to finish.
I find that while performing these practices raises my heart rate a bit, at the end, my body feels pleasantly stretched and thoroughly relaxed. These programs work well not only for evening relaxation, but also for waking the body in the morning and rejuvinating at any time of day. At only 18 and 19 minutes respectively, the time of each program flies by, and they are easy to fit into my schedule. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to reduce the amount of physical tension in their body in order to feel both more relaxed and less fatigued.
16 of 16 found the following review helpful:
friendly, real instructor, relaxing workoutJun 07, 2004
I checked out the video version from the library and love it so much that I am buying the DVD. I have tried other yoga zone tapes and DVD's and found the female instructor to be imperious and her voice was like a school teacher whining at me. I also have used Kathy Smith yoga videos, but found she moves from pose to pose a little too quickly for my taste. This instructor is funny, relaxed, and I love his advice to, "relax into the stress." He uses other phrases to get across the true point of yoga, which is to help me relax during real life stressful situations and not just during my yoga sessions. I like the poses, they are not too difficult, and it is overall very relaxing. There are two approximately 25(?)minute sessions, so there is variety and I don't have to spend a lot of time. The setting is nice, the instructor pleasant, and I just highly recommend this video.
14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
 Not for evenings, but OKNov 27, 2000
I agree with the other review, that the first workout isn't good for evenings. It had chair pose & warrier, and I was expecting more to stretch out my back, neck, & shoulders with the name "Evening Stress Release" so I was dissapointed. If it had a different title, I wouldn't have had expectations. I liked the second workout, and found it relaxing. That one started out on the floor and included some good side stretches, too. Overall that this tape could have been a lot better if it was geared towards stretching out tight areas, but instead they picked a couple TV shows that really didn't fit with the title of the video. If you are looking for two short yoga workouts, it isn't a bad tape.
13 of 13 found the following review helpful:
Short and sweet yoga sessions to stretch and relax....Aug 08, 2005
By Teedums
I really like this DVD, it is one of my favorite Yoga Zones. There are 2-20 minute sessions that are to be used in the evenings to wind down the day. They stretch you out nicely and leave you feeling relaxed.
Charles Matkin leads the first session, he is joined by Lisa Bennett, who is he married to which is an interesting tidbit. They are practicing yoga at the Grand Lidos San Souci resort in Jamaica. Charles begins by saying how life is stressful and that it's important that we learn to manage our stress, and doing yoga is one way that we can do that. The poses that you will see in this session include seated spinal twists and side leans, a few different variations of the lunge position, downward facing dog, warrior 2, fan pose, chair pose and scale pose. There is also a brief vinyasa using complete breaths standing in mountain pose while lifting the arms up and down which feels nice. Charles is a friendly instructor who has plenty of pointers to offer, he reminds you a lot to relax into the poses and not be aggressive. He even jokes around a little bit, even flexing his muscles during the warrior pose. It lightens things up a little bit.
The second session is led by Beverly Murphy, joining her is Lisa Bennett. Lisa is an instructor but appears as the assistant quite a bit too, she is quite flexible and demonstrates the postures nicely. They are practicing in Jamaica again, this time on a beach. You start again in seated position, with seated spinal twists and more side leans before moving into potted palm pose, one of my personal favorie poses. Then you will move into cat pose, then cobra pose into upward facing dog, before moving into downward facing dog and holding for a few breaths. After that you will move into the lunge position, with the option of staying on your knee or going up on your toes, a twist while the hands are in prayer position is added to make it a little more challenging. Then you will move into fan pose before repeating the lunge sequence on the other side. Then you move back to the floor for the rest of the session, starting out in bull seat (cow pose) which is quite an intense stretch, then you will go into sitting angular which is the same as seated straddle position. This pose is held for a few breaths to stretch you out nicely before moving into the final relaxation pose. Beverly is a pleasant instructor with helpful tips, while I haven't seen all of the Yoga Zone videos, this is the only one I have seen her in. She does a good job and is among my favorite Yoga Zone instructors. While both sessiona are good I find myself doing the second one more frequently than the first, I find it very relaxing and the beach setting is very nice.
This video is geared toward beginners, but I feel that intermediates or anyone looking for a nice basic yoga video would enjoy this. I reach for it quite a bit myself as it's a favorite of mine. Highly recommended.
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