 "Something special" | 2007-07-20 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3MRVUGU43G3K5 |
Sarina is a fabulous instructor and her motivating words and soothing voice, together with the wonderful music and gorgeous free-flowing movements, make it a joy to exercise. And it's such fun!
I love all three 'Yoga Dance' DVDs, and use them at least twice a week, either as a great warm up before a more intense workout or on days when I'm feeling lazy and don't feel like working too strenuously. However, once I start dancing with Sarina, I find myself wanting to dance and stretch all night long.
The 'Fire' DVD contains three 21 minute workouts (which I think were initially made for television). Each workout is then divided into three segments - warm up (the longest segment and my favourite), the 'workout' section (which for me is only mildly aerobic and does not enter 'fat burning' territory) and cool down. I enjoy combining 2-3 warm up sections and doing all the stretches at the end. The three 'workout' sections are quite similar to each other, so I don't often combine these.
Other reviewers have complained about the lack of yoga, yet this DVD contains lots of lovely stretches and balancing poses, and Sarina encourages you to breathe with the movements.
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 "Easy, fun.. so SILLY" | 2007-05-14 |
| - Reviewed By celeste1521 |
I don't know much about Yoga, but there appears to be little Yoga in this DVD. So, if you're looking for that specifically, you probably would want to look elsewhere. After doing the exercises, I found that Sarina is a fun, kind-hearted person, and the DVD is fun and fast to get through. There isn't real instruction on the dance moves, and you're encouraged to just enjoy yourself . . . which I do! I find myself giggling at Sarina sometimes, because she's so free-spirited and it comes into the exercise. It doesn't feel like you're working out because you're encouraged to have fun and just take care of yourself.
I guess the only thing I can see most people having a problem with is that Sarina's silliness could be easily taken as being cheesy. The majority of Americans who feel the need to be "macho" or serious would be uncomfortable using the DVD (that is, if anyone else knew they were watching it, or if the others that knew were "macho" or "too serious" for this kind of thing). However, if you enjoy actually relaxing through working out instead of feeling like you're exercising the whole time, this is a good one!
As far as impact goes, there are a few moves that require jumping, but as Sarina says in the DVD, you can listen to your body and easily adjust the moves to your body's needs and easily avoid any impact to your knees or feet. That makes the work outs pretty much good for all ages, I think. There are three work outs on the DVD, and I think they are probably 20-minutes each, but I honestly didn't check the time because I was enjoying myself. |
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| "Great quick workout--lots of fun!" | 2006-04-02 |
| - Reviewed By jreid179 |
As a breast cancer survivor I've been looking for a moderate workout to do at home and this is a perfect solution. The music is wonderful, a great mix, and Sarina has a sweet voice and even sweeter enthusiasm. It simply makes you feel good! I've ordered her other two (Water and Earth) and I'm looking forward to using them.
I've had some ballet and yoga training so following along was easy and she encourages you to "make the movements your own."
This is a wonderful quick way to start your day or to squeeze in a short workout at the end of the day. |
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 "Modern dance workout" | 2006-01-06 |
| - Reviewed By insightfultouch |
I agree with the prevoius reviewers for the most part.
It's just her alone in a leotard with a hipscarf & barefoot on a stage with hardwood floors with a sweet voice. The music is great, different styles such as eastern, western, Celtic, etc. all with strong beats & some lyrics.
The workout themselves are not complicated, they are very watered down, very basic version of popular dances, etc., that I barely recognized them. Some of the dances seemed a little silly like just doing an airplane like a little kid does, but she encourages you to dance how you want to, just feel the beat & go free.
I didn't get much of a workout at all, even at the 3rd style workout (I didn't do all 3 at once.) The third one was only a little different from the first one so I was disapointed by that, but not really suprised. I like the idea of combining dances & more of a freedom, but I, unfortunately, really didn't get into it. |
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| "I've been searching for something like this for years!" | 2005-10-09 |
| - Reviewed By yogi285 |
I've done yoga for almost 30 years. I've done tai chi for almost 10. Aerobic dance for just about 20 years, and belly dance for probably 5 years. I have exercise tapes of all kinds, even country line dancing. To keep a variety going, I cycle through them, but have always yearned for one tape that combines my main loves -- yoga, tai chi, aerobics, belly dancing, and exotic dance. This is it! I've finally found it! And, when they talk about global dances, they mean it. On this tape, you learn and practice African, Latino, Brazilian, Indian, Spanish, and even a bit of Irish dance techniques. Sarina blends them beautifully with the yoga, tai chi, aerobics and belly dance while really inspiring you by sharing her childlike joy in the music & body movement. Nicely chosen music that neither drowns out her instructions nor is so quiet in the background that you can barely hear it. It is just right, as is her voice and sweet way of instructing you. There are warm-ups, workouts, and cool downs (3 of each) on the DVD. Really, this is something for those at most levels of fitness and dance ability. Start slow, make your movements not so big....then as you get used to the movements and get practiced, get as enthusiastic as she is. I'm addicted to this one and the Earth one. I have yet to try the Water one, but it is my next purchase. :)
I do agree that it is bothersome that each of the three segments contains a short warm-up, some work-out, and a brief cool down. I usually hit the "Play All" and just go through the whole DVD. I wish there was a way to slap all the work-outs together right in the middle, but I'm waiting for technology to get there so you can custom-create your own set-up. |
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| "Enjoyable light cardio" | 2005-06-02 |
| - Reviewed By extremebooklover |
I usually have trouble with dance steps (I am pretty uncoordinated), but I got most of Yoga Dance: Fire on the first try. I thought it was really fun to do. The instructor is a bit goofy and new age and some of the moves feel goofy also. There is one when you are moving in circles with airplane arms that made me feel a bit self-conscious. What I really like is the instructor encourages you to just get into the music and add your own personal interpretation, which I did, and it seemed to come naturally. Overall the dance made me feel graceful and sexy, unlike most dance videos when I am tripping all over myself trying to get the steps right. There is very little actual "yoga" except for the cool down. The dance is more of a fusion of different types of dance. I absolutely loved the music--some had a Latin flair, other parts sounded more Eastern. It's easy to dance when you have great music.
I only gave the workout four stars because I feel it should have longer, more varied cardio sections. Let me explain: there are three separate sections, each one supposedly more difficult. Each section is 20 minutes, including a warm up and a cool down. So there is very little actual cardio in each section. It got my heart rate up, but I'm a beginning exerciser. An advanced exerciser probably wouldn't be affected. Now you could combine the sections for an hour workout, but they are almost identical to one another. I really don't see much of a difference, and it would seem boring to me to do virtually the same workout three times in a row. So I just do one section at a time for a nice light cardio routine for time-pressed days. Or I combine it with some other kind of exercise--toning, walking, etc. |
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