Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is definitely a high powered workout. I believe it will help you burn calories and increase muscle tone. But if you want to experience the full range of the benefits of yoga (along with the aforementioned), this is not a good pick and is absolutely not the best place to start. I've been doing yoga for over 30 years and I've really come to appreciate the freshness brought to the practice by innovative teachers. I'm very open minded. But, I don't think Jillian has the experience to be an effective yoga teacher--- yet. I don't think yoga has to involve eastern thought; that's not what's missing. What this lacks is the foundations of yoga; proper use of the breath and attention to the energy that we get from it. Sure, Jillian says to move with your breath and the models purse their lips as they exhale so you can see that an effort is being made to synchronize movement with breath. But the energetic flow is just not there, so the energy gain is not there; only a loss of energy. I don't mean to seem vague and point to some imaginary, woozy thing. I'm talking about something thousands of people feel everyday at the end of their yoga practice that I think will be missed at the end of this one. Just imagine burning calories (using energy) yet gaining even more energy to use for the rest of your day. When you do a high energy yoga practice properly, you gain so much energy from the practice that in spite of burning mega calories and using body weight to build muscles you feel energized and balanced when you're done. I didn't feel that way at the end of this one. If you want a fast-paced, effective yoga practice with all of the benefits and very little hype I would recommend Shiva Rea. Shiva Rea: Daily Energy - Vinyasa Flow YogaYoga ShaktiThe newest DVD- Daily Energy- is great and the older Shakti Yoga is the best for both intensity and foundation. Bryan Kest Bryan Kest Power Yoga Complete Collectionand Rodney Yee Power Yoga - Total Body Workoutare excellent also You,ll sweat and feel your strength (muscles) grow while getting all of the benefits touted in the research on yoga. In all fairness, I've only worked with this DVD a few times. But I've worked with a few over the years and there should be something energizing in the practice even in the first few sessions when you're learning the routines. I'll try it a few weeks and then report back.