HeavyWeight Yoga 2

Abby Lentz is very passionate about offering yoga workouts for people of any size and fitness level, something that becomes clear the moment you start this video. The straightforward workout offers a simple, effective yoga practice that includes floor and standing poses with a focus on flexibility, balance and core strength. Abby's quiet confidence in her viewers and background exercisers, all of varying sizes and shapes, proves that anyone can get the benefits of yoga. The workout can be as challenging or as relaxing as you want it to be and the variety of choices allows you to create a workout that works for you.

Abby Lentz is passionate about her mission to change the image of yoga and make it more accessible to overweight or obese people, something she shows with obvious emotion as she says in her welcome, "My hope is that...you will come to know that you too can do yoga. That you will believe that the benefits can be yours." She reaches that goal with this video, a simple, effective yoga workout specifically designed for overweight or obese people.

The class includes Abby as well as 8 background exercisers of varying size, age, gender and fitness level. While the camera remains on Abby for much of the workout, there are glimpses of the other exercisers, each using different props, positions and modifying techniques. What's great here is that seeing real people doing these exercises gives viewers at home a chance to learn modifications they can try on their own.

The Workout

The workout is set up in a traditional format that includes breathing exercises, warm up poses, floor and standing poses and a relaxation. The workout is broken up into segments that can be played together or separately, depending on how much time you have.

After a brief warm up with breathing and light stretching for the neck, arms and shoulders, you warm up with core exercises, including a modified boat pose and roll backs. Abby moves on to floor poses that include:

• Bow pose for the lower back
• Cat and cow
• Downward dog
• Child's pose

The standing poses include:

• Mountain pose
• Side stretches
• Eagle pose
• Warrior I
• Exalted warrior
• Child's pose

She goes through each pose one time, holding them for several seconds and offering cues for properly aligning your body to get the most out of each pose. The focus is on both flexibility and core strength and she often mixes exercises together, for example hamstring stretches using a strap followed by a strengthening move, such as a shoulder lift for the core. She offers modifications for each exercise and the background exercisers show a variety of modifications as well. The workout ends with a long, soothing relaxation.

The DVD has a number of bonuses, such as a commentary track you can listen to during the workout for details of the poses. The DVD also includes interviews with the background exercisers in which they share stories about their weight issues, histories and how yoga has helped them become stronger and healthier.

Overall, the workout includes a nice mix of balance, strength and flexibility while providing a routine that blends both relaxation and challenge. The modifications allow you to make each pose work for you and to choose how far you want to push yourself. The music is soothing and relaxing and Abby is encouraging without babying her exercisers. Her quiet confidence in herself and her exercisers offers a feeling of acceptance for whatever you can do that day. This is an excellent choice for exercisers looking for a solid yoga workout for all sizes and fitness levels.