YOGA SHORT FORMS The Practice Ashtanga Yoga David Swenson

I bought this DVD after reviewing other people recommendations. It is true, that this DVD is great for those who has busy schedule and that what "Yoga Short Forms" stands for. I thought it could be good for me too. However, when I have time to do a whole one hour session, the 45 min practice seems too jammed to me. After its completion, I didn't feel as stretched as I normally do after the yoga class. I think the reason behind it is that he was trying to put all the postures into the 45 minutes program, and didn't hold them long enough to really make your muscles work. Same program but with postures held longer would make good 1 hr practice. But still it is my favorite among other yoga practice DVDs I've tried. Right level of difficulcy.

And many thanks also to those who had already reviewed Short Forms...I based my purchase on your opinions.I've flirted with yoga in an irregular manner for the past few years, knowing that it is right for me, but never finding the correct focus until now. Ashtanga yoga as presented by David Swenson in a calm (not boring), caring and genuinely enthusiatic manner has truly caught me. The movement and breathing, unifying body, mind and environment seemed to have been the magic key.I would rank myself an intermediate beginner in things yoga and find the 30 minute workout approachable, yet challenging enough to take me down the road awhile. I also have Rodney Yee's Power Yoga DVD which although beautifully filmed, I found the pace too quick and poses too difficult. The lack of guidance was also disturbing.In contrast, David Swenson provides significant guidance for each pose, including breathing, physical warnings, attitude orientation and genuine encouragement without being "icky", as well as providing alternatives for beginner to advanced practitioners. The instruction is very clear which is especially important to those who have never had formal yoga instruction. Short Forms is beautifully filmed (although I actually swatted my tv a couple of times only to find it was one of many bees on David's side of the video) including superior tonal quality.I am very happy with my purchase and expect to use this video for a very long time. With enough practice and self-discipline I can finally move out of the beginner's ranks and perhaps even approach the full primary series. And hey, I just found out there's an Ashtanga class in English right here in Tokyo that I'm going to look into.

Bought this because I really wanted to begin a practice of Ashtanga Yoga for strength training. This DVD isn't at all for beginners. Just be aware of that. The 30 minute short form still wears me out - but it is helping my upper body strength. Like anything else, the more you try, the better you will become. I am incredibly impressed by this man's ability, but it is a little discouraging to be instructed to do quite a number of vinyasa when you can't even do one. Just saying. If you already know what you are doing, then I highly recommend this. Especially for an opportunity to watch this guy in action. If you are beginning, purchase something centered toward beginners - and then work your way up to this after you've got it down.

This is a good way to fit a bit of yoga into your daily routine. Swenson goes through the poses at good rate and doesn't shy away from the hard stuff, although he also gives alternatives if you find a pose too challenging. I regularly go to vinyasa yoga classes, and I was looking for a DVD to use when I travel -- something shorter than the full Ashtanga series, but not something aimed at beginners. I really like the flexibility of being able to choose a 15-, 30- or 45-minute workout, and the deep relaxation and the end is very pleasant.I'm not very good with the Sanscrit names, so here is a summary in English (from memory, probably incomplete) of the poses in the 45-minute workout. He does them in the right order, so if you practice Ashtanga and want to do a pose that he leaves out, you can just pause the DVD at the right place and do it.sun salutations A and B, 3 eachforward bendtrianglewide-stance trianglewide-legged forward bendbalancing on one leg with the other one in fronthalf-lotus and fold, or tree posewarriors, A and Bseated postures (vinyasas between many of these):staff poseforward bendforward bend in half lotusforward bend with one foot on the inner thigh of the other legmarichiasana A and B (spine twists)boat pose (3 reps)backbend (1 prep, with your shoulders on the floor, then the option to do one full backbend)forward bend as counter-poseshoulder-stand, then plow (fish as counter-pose)head-stand (child's pose as counter-pose)lotus with forward benddeep breathing in lotuslift off floor while in lotuscorpse pose

This set of short yoga classes is a compromise. It could be more or less useful if you have been practising yoga for a considerable period of time, but for beginners it is not that great.I found that the 45 minute program does not provide enough warm-up and, naturally, skips some postures, so I was not prepared for some asanas, my muscles were still somewhat tight and not warm enough to do the asanas comfortably. I still was able to do all the postures, it just did not feel quite right.You can use this DVD when there is no time and a short form would be better than no form at all, but, in my opinion, yoga likes long forms.

I once reviewed David Swenson's primary astanga series DVD and suggested that it was "the only astanga DVD you'd ever need". I lied! You may need two! His original one and this one too.I'm not sure if yoga aficionado's would like this approach of taking the primary series and breaking it into a 15 minute, 30 minute and 45 minute practice sessions. However, I find it brilliant.Sometimes finding the +90 minutes to do the full primary series can be a challenge. So rather than not do a practice at all - you can now do a short form instead. Each of the short forms begins with sun salutations then includes a neatly arranged variety of standing and seated asanas, Each ends correctly with the closing sequence.The DVD is suitable for beginners and more advanced practitioners alike. However, absolute beginners may find the flow challenging at first. David's calm voice-over offers support and advice throughout. Each is a pleasure to practice and will contribute well to success of the full primary series.Overall I have no complaints - highly recommended.

Excellent DVD that has everything to help maintain a regular home practice, if you cannot attend yoga classes or to supplement instructor led tuition. Although there is a 30 minute session 'For the Beginner', several of the postures are definitely not for someone new to yoga. Saying that, the 30 minute session is the one I turn to most often.The pace of the sessions enable you to fully enter the postures and hold for 5 breaths, obtaining the required benefits in the process. David Swenson offers alternatives where appropriate for the more advanced asana. He has a very soothing voice and the 10 minute deep relaxation is a great way to finish each session.A must have for anyone who is new to ashtanga or has previously done some type of vinyasa flow practice.

Excellent - David Swenson uses the same script as he uses for his Short Forms in CD version. The benefit of the DVD is that you can see David performing the asanas which is very helpful if you're unable to get to ashtanga yoga classes. The short forms programs are also fantastic if you are pushed for time but want to work on your flexibility in between other forms of exercise.

it"s a fantastic DVD. The instructions that David Swenson gives through out are much needed and I simply love it. Now I know and can see why he's so sort-after and famous. David you rightly deserve all the fan following that you have. I only wish that there was more cardio/faster paced option as well, for the people who want to be fit too. But other than that I've no complaint.Having said that the delivery wasn't on time, intact being a prime member on amazon I was suppose to get it the next day and we even got a message saying that its been delivered at the reception. We were frantically searching for our package but to no avail. Finally we got it on monday. I'm just disgusted at the misleading messages and frankly the "prime customer" getting their deliveries on time is just crap.

I've been practising ashtanga yoga for almost 3 years and so this DVD is great to fit in quick practices around the classes I do.It helps you when on you're own doing yoga to have the voice to follow to know how long to stay in each posture etcDavid's voice is easy to listen to and it is clear he is very experienced bad knowledgeable.My only warning would be that complete novices might struggle at first to keep up with the pace of the practice but combined with going to classes the DVD is a great supplement to learning and development of ashtanga yoga