Yoga for Stress Relief

Description

Product Description Excessive stress in our daily lives is one of the greatest obstacles to achieving happiness, good health & well-being. Over the centuries, yoga practitioners have discovered simple and effective practices to reduce stress and achieve optimal health, vitality and serenity. YOGA for Stress Relief is the most comprehensive Yoga DVD ever created with over 20 routines to address mental, emotional and physical stress. It also includes an UNPRECEDENTED 30 minutes of instruction on meditation from the Dalai Lama! Never before has a DVD revealed how to overcome dozens of common physical, mental and emotional stress related conditions through the ancient science of yoga. The routines are interactive and customized for physical, mental and emotional stress reduction and led by world renowned yoga instructor Barbara Benagh. Over the last 35 years Benagh has developed an insightful style that emphasizes reducing stress and letting go of tension. According to Yoga Journal, Benagh is one of the most intelligent and insightful teachers around. This DVD was shot on location at one of the most beautiful, tranquil beaches in the world, Half-Moon Bay, Antigua adding to the overall experience of tranquility. As a bonus feature, this DVD contains 30 minutes of exclusive discussion of meditation from the Dalai Lama himself. Considered one of the greatest influencers of our time, the Dalai Lama has spent his life teaching people how to be happy. His teachings are world renowned and this special bonus discusses both the benefits and techniques of meditation, which reduces stress and cultivates happiness. This revolutionary, interactive system allows you to choose from 20 routines that range in time from 15-60 minutes and target specific stress related issues including: General Stress Relief Anxiety and worry Neck and shoulder pain; including headaches Lower & upper back pain Stomach and digestive issues Insomnia Depression and more desertcart.com Yoga instructor Barbara Benagh has practiced and taught yoga for nearly 35 years. She discovered yoga while living in England and began teaching there. She moved to Boston and opened The Yoga Studio on Beacon Hill in 1980. In addition to her local classes Barbara teaches yoga seminars throughout the US and internationally. She is a regular contributor of articles to Yoga Journal magazine. She has several audio CDs of live classes available as well as DVDs, the latest being Yoga for Beginners released by Body + Soul magazine, and Yoga for Stress Relief that includes a discussion on meditation from the Dalai Lama. Barbara was kind enough to answer some questions from desertcart.com about this unique line of yoga DVDs. How are these DVDs different from other yoga DVDs? I was drawn to working with Bodywisdommedia because they produce DVDs they are interactive. Rather than a "one size fits all" single routine that is typical of most products, these DVDs offer choice, allowing the user to customize and change their yoga practice to suit their needs. No two persons are the same so the ability to change your practice - easing shoulder tension one day and an invigorating morning wake up the next - come as close as possible to allowing you to address your individual needs at home. Not only do people have different physical needs, but they have different time constraints as well. If you have only 20 minutes, there is a practice for you but there are longer practices as well (some as long as 90 minutes) that address the total body/mind connection. The sheer number of yoga sequences offered on each of these DVDs is a first. They are incredibly comprehensive. How were you able to get the Dalai Lama involved? This project dovetailed perfectly with the Dalai Lama's message that modern stress is one of the greatest obstacles to our mental happiness and physical wellbeing. Because we are long-time sincere practitioners, having a 30-minute lecture of the Dalai Lama teaching how to meditate on the Yoga for Stress Relief DVD was a perfect fit. Bodywisdommedia also has a broader relationship with the Office of Tibet and are releasing historic lectures with "A Path to Happiness" being the first one. How will potential buyers of these DVDs know which one is right for them? The titles are very indicative of what appears on the DVD and therefore a good guide. I really enjoyed making Yoga for Stress Relief because it is incredibly relevant. We strove to make the sequences accessible to as many people as possible, whether they are a beginner or long time practitioner. Yoga for Beginners is a great, non-threatening place to get started and includes lots of sound technique developed over my 30 years as a yoga teacher. Power Yoga for Every Body is a bit more challenging taking you from the beginning level and gradually progressing to much more demanding routines. P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); Review "Once again, Benagh prooves to be one of our most effective teachers...[with] her clear and easy to follow instructions" --Yoga Journal See more Review: Very mellow yoga and great for relieving tension. - I love this DVD. It is by far the best overall relaxing yoga sessions you can find. The segments are pieced together and are repeated in different sequences depending on your need. They are very Yin Yoga like / very gentle yoga sessions. Barbara Benagh leads you through the sessions and has a calm, soothing voice. She reminds you to breath, slow and steady. You get a total of 20sessions on the DVD. It is beautifully filmed at Half Moon Bay Resort in Antigua (much better than a boring yoga studio!). My only critic is that I would have liked to have a matrix where I could create my own sequencing from all the individual segments (like Shiva Rea's DVDs). Also, they should have published a booklet describing each session with the DVD, so here's my version ;o) Print this out and keep with your DVD. I highly recommend this DVD, it is well worth the money. ***BEGINNING & ENDING YOUR DAY*** Beginning Your Day Slowly (25 min.) On your back in reclining cobbler's pose. Lying back , wave breathing. Modified downward dog. Standing at the head of your mat, standing forward bend, sun salute movement. Sitting, Shoulder stretch series (great!). Sitting in cobbler's pose, forward bending. Sitting cross legged, breathing. Wake Up (60 min) Lying back, wave breathing. Sit on heals, then wide leg child pose. Standing at the head of your mat, full sun salutation. Standing, tree pose. Standing, wide legs, triangle pose. Standing, wide legs, side angle pose. Standing, wide leg, twists Sit in cobbler's pose, forward bending. Seated wide angle pose. One leg, revolved head to knee pose. ¼ dog pose (kneeling on all fours & on forearms). Sitting cross legged, breathing. Evening Revival (40 min.) Sitting on heals, then wide leg child pose. Standing, wide legs, twists with arms outstretching Standing, wide legs, triangle pose. Standing, wide legs, side angle pose. Standing, wide legs, hinge over twits, then hang down. Sitting, Shoulder stretch series (great!). Lie face down, cobra series, 4 times (great!) Revolving head to knee pose. Sit cross legged, breathing. Letting Go of the Day (40 min) Lying on floor with feet on floor, knees bent, tune-in, breating. Reclining cobbler's pose. Sit on heals, wide leg child pose. Cobbler's pose, then 1 leg forward bend (head to knee pose). Cross legged, seated twist. Knees bend, seated twist. Savasana Insomnia Issues (35 min) Standing, wide legs, inversion Modified downward dog Cobbler's pose, then 1 leg forward bend (head to knee pose). Supported resting cobbler's pose. Supported child pose. Legs up the wall pose. Complete yoga rest. ***EASING NECK AND SHOULDER TENSION*** Easing Neck & Shoulder Tension, Passive (20 min.) Bolster across neck & shoulders, prayer on forehead. Lay on back, knees bend, 1 arm under back stretch. Arm across chest twist, lying on back (on your side) Easing Neck & Shoulder Tension, Active, Extended (30 min.) Sit or stand, side neck stretching. Sitting, Shoulder stretch series (great!). Lie face down, cobra series, 4 times (great!) Standing, wide legs, twists with arms outstretching. Standing, wide legs, hinge over twits, then hand down. Legs up the wall pose. Lower Back Tension (35 min.) Reclining cobbler's pose. Wave breathing. Reclining leg stretch. Lying face down, crocodile & locus. Upper back bolster. Quarter dog pose. Savasana Hip Pain, SI Joint (35 min.) Reclining cobbler's pose. Wave breathing. Reclining leg stretch. Sit cross legged, open ½ lotus pose (aka square pose). Lying face down, crocodile & locus. Sit on heals, wide leg child pose. Modified downward dog. Savasana. Tension Headaches (45 min.) Lying on floor with feet on floor, knees bent, tune-in, breating. Bolster across neck & shoulders, prayer on forehead. Lay on back, knees bend, 1 arm under back stretch. Arm across chest twist, lying on back (on your side). Supported child pose. Legs up the wall pose. Complete yoga rest. ***EASING YOUR MIND*** Breathing Exercises to Calm the Mind (15 min) Lying on back< knees bent, breathing. Lying on back, knees bend, tune into breathing. Lying on back, twisting with breath. Wave breathing. Restorative Poses for Relaxation (15 min.) Supportive resting cobbler's pose. Supported heart opener. Legs up the wall pose. Deep Rest (20 min.) Lying on back, knees bend, breathing. Complete yoga rest. Mood Uplift (30 min) Wave breathing Standing at the head of your mat, standing forward bend, sun salute movement. Standing, wide leg, twists Standing, side leg, warrior 1 Standing, hanging forward bend. Supported bridge shoulder stand (with block). Supported heart opener. Complete yoga breath. Serentify in Stillness Fold blandket in 3rd and half roll at the end. Lie face down with roll in abdominal. Massage belly. Reclining cobbler's pose. Reclining leg stretch. Open ½ lotus pose (reclining). Sit on heals, then wide leg child pose. Arm across chest twist. Supported bridge shoulder stand (with block). Sit cross legged, breathing. Anxiety Relief (50 min) Lying back, wave breathwork. Lying back, 1st lift breathwork. Lying back, segmented exhalation breathwork. Lying back, extended pause breathwork. Lying face down, crocodile pose, breathwork. Arm across chest twist. Supported child pose. Sit in cobbler's pose, then 1 leg forward bend (head to knee pose). Sit cross legged, breathing. ***STOMACH & DIGESTIVE ISSUES*** Constipation (25 min) Fold blandket in 3rd and half roll at the end. Lie face down with roll in abdominal. Massage belly. Child pose exploration. Inversion, standing wide angle pose. Modifed downward dog. Sit upright, cross-legged, seated twists. Lying on back, Savasana rest. Improved Digestion (30 min) Stand at head of mat, standing, sun salute movement. Standing feet wide, twists Sit upright, cross-legged, seated twists. Half shoulder stand. IBS (30 min) Irritated Bowel Syndrome Lay on back, knees bent, breathwork. Lay on back, reclining cobbler's pose, unraveling. Sit upright, cobbler's pose, forward bending. Seated wide angle pose. Half shoulder stand. Legs up the wall pose. Diarrhea & Indigestion Laying on back, reclining cobbler's pose, unraveling. Supported heart opener. Upper back bolster opener. Supported bridge shoulder stand. Legs up the wall pose. Review: Good yoga RX for mental and physical ailments - A few days ago I got my DVD order for Barbara Benagh: Yoga for Stress Relief. The DVD shows the same lovely beach in Half Moon Bay as in her Beginners Yoga DVD, but in this one, there is also very soft, gentle guitar in the background. You can barely hear it and it does not drown out the sound of the waves. So that is nicely done. Barbara also has a rather longish interview where she talks about modern life being overloaded, and how yoga will help slow things down. And about how hard it is to slow down at first. Tell me about it! :) The interview on meditation by the Dalai Lama contains great information and HH's soft, gentle humor. It is hard at times to understand what he is saying and one requires a slight bit of patience to understand some of this section. This DVD has such a wealth of options in it, and all for helping with mental and physical conditions: headaches, shoulder/neck tension, opening your heart, digestive ailments, lower back pain, hip pain, anxiety, some AM and PM routines, an insomnia set, mood uplift, serenity work... So far I tried these sections: Easing Neck Tension, passive variation (20 mins) - Soft Spanish guitar music, everything lying down, mainly body twisting. Very sweet and restful. Restorative Poses for Relaxation (15 mins) - soft new Agey music, three supportive poses: cobblers, heart opener and legs up the wall. Pretty much the same set as on Barbara's Yoga for Beginners DVD (the rejuvenate one) but without the centering/breathing part. Also, this one suggests more uses of the blankets and having an eye bag. As I got an eye bag as a gift, I was prepared. But you only really need three blankets/pillows for this section. Lower Back Tension (35 min): This was the best one yet. With my period cramps it was incredibly soothing to my lower back/stomach area. We used a blanket, strap and eye pillow for this set. A bit more active than the two I tried above, this has locus pose and a great let stretch with the strap. Hip Pain section(35 min): Essentially the same routine as the Lower Back Tension, but with two changes. One was the reclined half lotus and the other was something where you sit on your knees, then spread the hips wide, and lean your head forward to the floor. These were very nice poses for my menstrual cramping and this session took away the lingering pain I had. Other than that, the footage is just sliced from the back pain one, with the same modified down dog, locust, hamstring stretch with strap. We used a strap, and eye bag in this one, but no blanket was needed. New Agey music, very gentle, as in the back pain one. You can still hear the ocean and even some birds. Serenity in Stillness (35 min) - lovely section that really opens the sacrum and relaxes the entire body. There was quite a bit of repeats from the back pain and hip pain segments, including the reclining half lotus, but it all came together well. The supported backbend at the end requires a yoga brick. I really enjoyed this pose. New Agey music with a vaguely Hawaiian theme. So many choices in this great DVD - it will be hard to get to them all! It's all all presented in a lovely beach setting and accompanied by Barbara's soothing, healing voice. Highly recommended for yoga practitioners to use (as needed) for various physical/mental ailments. There are also a few AM/PM type routines in this disc, as a bonus for anyone wishing to add this DVD to their regular yoga rotation.