• Description: PRENATAL YOGA DVD Quantity: 1 Size: CT Brand: GAIAM

Learn poses for each trimester. Relieve aching back, legs & feet. Look & feel fit, make labor easier.

PREGNANCY IS ONE OF THE MOST REWARDING—AND CHALLENGING—EXPERIENCES A WOMAN FACES

As your baby grows, your body changes, creating different needs throughout your pregnancy. Prenatal Yoga, guided by longtime yoga instructor Shiva Rea, addresses those needs with safe, effective stretches and exercises you can modify for each trimester so you reap the greatest benefits.

Focused on helping you feel comfortable, relaxed and fit during pregnancy, this workout will increase your energy and stamina, and build strength, flexibility and balance. The emphasis on proper technique and deep breathing improves focus and concentration, which can help ease labor and delivery. The gentle stretches help reduce fatigue, tension and tightness, while promoting relaxation and improved circulation.

DVD includes:
• Calming meditation and deep breathing
• Gentle workout with seated poses, standing poses and floor work
• Guided relaxation

The tape is run like a class, so you can just put it in and go. You don't have to wait while someone explains the pose and then forms the pose.

My only criticism is that some poses are not explained that well. So if you are a beginner or have never done a pose, you may need some additional explanation that is not available on the tape.

261 of 274 found the following review helpful:


Great Pregnancy Exercise Video  Jul 29, 2003 By Lisa Manske "natural mamma"
I was new to yoga when I started this tape. A former runner and elliptical-trainer enthusiast, I am used to a workout that makes you sweat buckets and finish feeling spent. This was a very new experience for me.

Yoga was recommended to me by my doula. I was interested because I've never been a flexible person and I wanted desperately to exercise throughout my pregnancy. Yoga is ideal because it can be modified as your progress and it teaches you to relax, breathe, and move deliberately with control. Every morning, when I've finished this workout, I feel so loose and relaxed, like I could "slip down the drain." I also feel more confident as my due date approaches that I will successfully birth my baby without any medication. I am learning how to open up my pelvis, strengthen my pelvic floor, and RELAX AND BREATHE. While pregnant you have 40 weeks (give or take a few) to prepare for the hardest (and most rewarding) work you'll ever do. Make the most of it!

This video was designed with your choice of three people to follow--one for each trimester. Many modifications are suggested and modeled so no matter what your current state of fitness, you will find stretches and poses to do.

You will be plagued by aches and pains and restless nights if you don't take care of your body while you're pregnant. So many of my friends try to comiserate with me, "Oh, you poor thing! I hated being pregnant! It's so uncomfortable!" I just smile and say, "I feel great!" becuase I really do.

120 of 124 found the following review helpful:


Buy Crunch Yoga Mama instead...  Sep 17, 2003 By Laura Hamilton "mslaura"
I am 20 weeks pregnant and have been doing yoga for about 3 years, although I haven't been doing it since about week 9 of my pregnancy. I wanted to find a good video that would help me get back into my practice, stretch me out, and strengthen my muscles.
I bought Shiva Rea's Prenatal Yoga video and was annoyed by it. Although I am very familiar with common yoga postures, I couldn't understand what I was supposed to be doing from listening to her, and I had to keep looking at the screen to figure out what she was talking about. Then, as soon as I got into the pose, she would quickly shift to something else, so I never got to hold any pose for more than a few seconds. Annoying. She also drones on at the beginning of the video for a few minutes, which is minimally boring when you want to get started the first time, but REALLY boring when you are doing the tape on a regular basis and you have to fast forward through it every time. Lastly, I felt like I got no workout whatsoever from Shiva Rea's tape, and barely a stretch. Maybe if I had been able to hold the poses a little longer than the split second she allowed... The woman in her third trimester hardly did anything at all.

Crunch Yoga Mama was MUCH better. I really liked the teacher. She was straightforward, and best of all, she was actually pregnant! She gave a better selection of poses, a bit more challenging, but still very easy, and I hardly had to even look at what she was doing...she was very descriptive when telling us what moves to do next. I liked the variety of pregnant women in her "class". She had women in all different stages, and they were all doing pretty much the same moves, except for one woman who was demonstrating modified moves for women who wanted to take it really slow. My only complaint was that I would have liked to hold the poses a bit longer, especially at the end, when she guided us into a closing relaxation/meditation poses that you normally allow at least 10 minutes for in a typical yoga class...in the video we got about a minute to relax and clear our minds before being told to get back up again.

Between the two, I definitely recommend Crunch Yoga Mama over Shiva Rea.

43 of 44 found the following review helpful:


Great prenatal video  Dec 30, 2002 By Laura "She Caver"
I love this video! I'm a couple weeks from giving birth, and have been using it almost daily from month three. It is relaxing, easy to follow, and helps you feel confident, knowing that the exercises are appropriate to your trimester.

I started using this tape in desperation because of some extreme pregnancy related sciatic nerve pain. After one week the pain had lessened considerably, and after two it was gone. (Note: it isn't supposed to go away until after birth if you have it, so my dr was pretty shocked.) I'm pretty large at this point, but the pain has never returned, and although I'm feeling more awkward as my due date nears, I have had a much easier pregnancy, with fewer aches and pains, and I sleep more easily than any of my pregnant friends.

This video includes every exercise recommended by our lamaze instructor and doctor. The duration is 50 mins, but goes quickly. It is not taxing, but does stretch and tone muscles. I hate to 'work out' and it is at a perfect tempo to exercise without getting sweaty (hey, I get enough of that just because I'm pregnant ;-). Also, it isn't so new-age as to be annoying. -Oh, as you get bigger, I would suggest buying a yoga mat too. It helps keep your feet from sliding during some of the exercises as your weight increases. I would highly recommend this video.

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