A 23-minute "Yoga for weight loss" routine, plus a 20-minute "Balancing" Yoga routine. Suzanne Deason instructs.

Those who are fairly new to Yoga and to exercise — these two routines are nicely taught, but basic, with many modifications. You will need two blocks and a sticky mat. For the Balancing routine you will also need a chair and two blankets.

I've always considered combining Yoga and weight loss a cheap marketing ploy. Yoga isn't aerobic so it doesn't burn calories and it's not strength training either (strength training builds muscle mass, which burns more calories than fat mass). Yes, Power Yoga and Astanga are more vigorous and do build strength, but you never see DVDs of these Yoga styles with the term "weight loss" slapped on the cover. It's always the easy Yoga routines that brag weight loss, perhaps hoping to attract couch potatoes who want an easier, softer way to drop pounds. When I looked at the title of this DVD, I said to myself, "The only way Yoga aids in weight loss is by promoting body awareness. The more aware you are of your body, the more conscious you are of what you are doing to it, and what you are putting in it." So I was pleasantly surprised to find that Suzanne Deason's introduction to the weight loss segment said just that.

 

I wasn't so pleased, however, to discover that the workout was lifted from the A.M./ P.M. Yoga for Weight Loss workout. That said, if you don't have this particular Yoga DVD and you're fairly new to Yoga, it is a nice routine. Deason's instruction is very clear and careful and geared specifically to give you that better body awareness. The moves are gentle, and often modified with the blocks. If you're more experienced at Yoga, this will undoubtedly be too easy for you (although I do have to admit I still enjoyed Deason's instruction). The "Balancing" segment is supposedly geared towards women who want a calmer routine, perhaps during their menstrual periods. At least that's what Deason says at the beginning of the workout. It's too bad she alienated men with this intro because what it really is, is a beginner's restorative routine, and quite relaxing. People don't get into restorative Yoga often enough because they don't understand its benefits, which deepen stretching and relaxation into a cellular level. An instructor should take the opportunity to let everyone try it out and not exclude anyone of a different gender.