This is a nicely produced DVD with two shortish workouts, but the description on the cover is rather misleading.  There is no focus on the tummy at all: it is all downward dogs, twists, upward dogs, warriors 1 and 2, and triangle poses. 

The first workout is with Rodney Yee and Mariel Hemmingway (who is not mentioned on the packaging at all).  It is a basic yoga workout with the two instructors chatting with each other, leading a few other people through the sequence.  It is upbeat with pleasant electronic music in the background, shot in a red-brick room with wooden floorboards.  The whole thing takes about 19 minutes, including a short relaxation.

The second workout is with Cameron Shayne leading six yoga practitioners through a similar sequence.  It looks like it is shot in the same room, although the picture quality is different, maybe due to different lighting or different cameras.  Shayne has a pleasant attitude but with his tattoos and his muscle-bound arms, there’s a distinctly different feel to the workout.  It lasts 26 minutes, with no relaxation at the end. 

So this DVD feels like it was cobbled together quickly: the workouts are not the same length of time, don’t focus on the abs, and Yee and Shane at no point even mention each other, let alone collaborate.  It would be fine for someone looking for a couple of quick yoga workouts, but is not going to do much for someone looking for tummy toning.

Link: Gaiam.com

© 2010 Christian Perring        

Christian Perring, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Dowling College, New York