AM/PM Yoga for Beginners

Rodney Yee and Patricia Walden are great instructors and make you feel very peaceful, but their yoga doesn't make me feel as if I've done anything for my body. But please don't think that I have become a yoga expert by doing Ms. Carter's Unworkout!

I think the problem with both the AM and PM tapes are twofold. First, the tapes move so quickly from position for position, that I don't get a chance to really release into the poses. I feel as if I'm not even "there" when I am being told to move into the next position. Second, I think, as do other reviewers I've read, that on a tape for beginners, there should be a demonstration of how to do an intermediate step for those of us who cannot touch our foreheads to our shins. Sometimes, an alternative posture with blocks or blankets or bands is shown, but not with every pose. And somehow, I always seem able to do the ones that show the alternative postures. The result is that I feel neither stretched nor relaxed and I end up doing my Dixie Carter Yoga tape anyway. =)

To sum up, this would be a much better tape if the poses were slower and alternatives were provided for each. This seems to be a common theme running through all the reviews of the Living Yoga series. So many people think they are too fast. Perhaps Living Yoga should pay attention to this feedback.


These tapes are mostly spam   January 8, 2002
Duke (San Francisco, CA USA)
29 out of 34 found this review helpful

The actual yoga part is very good for the AM tape. The PM yoga is OK, but involves way too much knee pressure. But the tapes have a long series of advertisements before getting to the yoga. This makes it difficult to rewind to the beginning of the yoga part. These tapes made me lose respect for the Yoga Journal/Living Arts people.


A Good Intro for the Novice   December 29, 1999
frisky2000 (smallville)
27 out of 30 found this review helpful

Very watchable, easy to follow, not an intimidating introduction to such a hugely popular art. The scenery is soothing, the music as well. I liked the fact that the instructor was not a typical "barbie doll" in spandex attempting to twist the daylights out of my body at dawn and then again before I retire to bed. The moves are gentle and user-friendly ! :-)


Think of it as levels 1&2 instead of AM/PM   June 24, 2003
Peachbulb (New Jersey)
26 out of 26 found this review helpful

I love this set of videos. It's helped me get in shape, and each video is only 20 min long, so it's easy to fit into the day. However, I think the way they market the set is quite detrimental. The PM tape is MUCH harder than the AM one. I'm young and pretty flexible, and while the AM one only took a few times to get the hang of, it took me a LONG time before I could do the PM one.

Instead of doing AM in the morning and PM at night right away, here's how I would approach it: If you've never done yoga before, start with the AM only. Rodney Yee has a wonderfully relaxing voice, and the poses can be challenging for beginners, but they are certainly doable.

DO NOT ADD PM INTO YOUR ROUTINE UNTIL YOU FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE WITH AM. The PM program requires a lot of flexibility and balance, and those are skills that you build up in the AM. Patricia Walden is very soothing, like Yee, but the video is quite a challenging workout, even for someone in good health.

I did AM exclusively for several months before adding the PM into the routine. Now AM is a bit too simple for me, but PM is still challenging!

You may even consider buying just the AM to begin with, because if you view the PM right away, you might get discouraged from picking up yoga at all.

So, in summary: Think of AM as "level 1" and PM as "level 2" and don't move onto level 2 until you've grown totally comfortable with level 1.