Yoga Conditioning for Weight Loss, International edition

Yoga in it's pure form is about breath, focus and meditation, as well as the poses, and Susanne Deason does an excellent job integrating all these aspects. In the west, all the focus is on exercise and doing the poses, but breathing and focusing is an essential part of yoga that makes it much more effective!

And much to my surprise - there are very overweight women doing yoga and doing it well! I weigh 180 lbs and exercise regularly and do a lot of yoga and it's great to see other women the same size who do it too. You don't have to be a skinny toothpick to do yoga! I've known that for 10 years, but you wouldn't know if you look at any other yoga DVD or video.

I love the way the instructor uses voiceover to talk you through the routine while the 4 people do the poses at various levels. She explains so much more than someone who's talking and doing the routine at the same time, and explains it beautifully.

Beats me why they call it weight loss yoga. The routine is slow and soothing, and I haven't lost a pound since I started doing it - but I enjoy it anyways as a great form of relaxation, toning and meditation.

I did not give it 5 stars because of the misleading title only. Otherwise, it's a great workout and would be awesome for anyone who is overweight and intimidated by the super thin, athletic and flexible bodies in all the other yoga DVD's and videos out there. In fact, the second thinnest woman does the most modified & easiest version and two heavier women do the more challenging levels.

Overall - great for overweight yoga enthusiasts and beginners and even someone like me, who likes to do moderate yoga, but is not a beginner.


Should simply be called Yoga conditioning. Soothing.   June 23, 2004
Barb "is this heaven?" (Cedar Falls, IA United States)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I'm sure the marketing gurus felt they had to include "for weight loss" in the title. That really doesn't belong. This DVD is more about the smooth, gentleness of yoga. This isn't power yoga. Please read the other reviews regarding the slowness of this DVD. I like its calmness. The music is soothing too. I'm turned off by quick, fat blasting yoga. Fast yoga is like slow aerobics. I like the poses and the length of time they're held. Deeson gives excellent instruction. She's very thorough, even to the point of telling you when to breathe. I don't think that detracts. Her voice is soothing. My only problem with this DVD is that I can't access Deeson's further studio instruction in the modifications. According to the help section of the DVD, it states press the enter button when you see the icon in the corner, which looks like a solid white. On my screen, it's not solid white and when I push enter, nothing happens. Maybe my DVD player is too new or there's a problem with the DVD.


Ehhhh ok   June 1, 2004
New York Gal (New York, NY United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

I wasn't crazy about this video. It is good for beginners, but for someone who has practiced yoga before, it just didn't hit the spot.

It WAS painfully too slow (like another reviewer said) and also even the most advanced yoga person performed modified yoga positions that I felt watered down the yoga quite a bit--I did not get even the stretch that I wanted.

The idea of using different views is nice, but I wouldn't recommend this video to anyone I know.


maybe for a couple of pounds, not for the very large   May 1, 2004
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

I understand that i may have missed out, but as an absolute beginner, and someone who is very overweight (over 100 pounds, i admit it) I was only able to make it about 15 minutes through the workout. I found that there was little explanation of what was going on, and often, by the time i could see what i was supposed to do, they had already moved on to the next position. also i found that certain body imperfections made it near impossible to do some of the poses correctly, even on the beginner level.