Oh yeah, a little lower, yeah, right there! That feels so good!
Written: Feb 03 '05 (Updated Feb 04 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: Relaxing, very simple postures for people of all levels of fitness
Cons: May be too simplistic for people familiar with yoga postures
The Bottom Line: If you want to relax and soothe minor aches & pains, this DVD can help. It isn't a cureall but can help to stretch and release tension from achey muscles.
PattyTherre's Full Review: Healing Yoga: Aches & Pains
I have begun working out in earnest (as opposed to whenever I felt like it, which wasn’t often) and, as a result, have found that aches and pains are now part of my daily life. I also suffered a severe neck injury a while back and often have neck pain. I picked up a copy of Healing Yoga: Aches and Pains to see if there was any validity to the claim that yoga can truly help with those nagging little aches I was experiencing as well as the stiffness in my neck and shoulders.
What I found was that, yes, yoga can help with aches and pains. While this DVD certainly is not a remedy for any medical problem and doesn’t magically take away pain, it definitely soothes the body and mind and helps to loosen those tight muscles and relax you.
The Technical Stuff
This is from several websites that are selling the DVD:
Product Description
A simple, gentle yoga program for people of all ages.
Features: DVD
The Healing Yoga series brings into your home Lisa and Charles Matkin's extensive hands on experience and work with leading physicians in using yoga to help people with chronic injuries and illnesses. Regular practice of this yoga program can be beneficial for a range of specific conditions while helping you bring flexible, fluid movement in your whole body. Charles and Lisa Matkin are experts in therapeutic yoga and have over 16 years combined experience as yoga professionals. They design custom yoga programs to help their clients address chronic injuries and illnesses. The Matkins founded and direct the Mind Body Therapies department at a complementary health care center in New York City and have taught yoga programs at Beth Israel Hospital and New York Presbyterian Medical Center.
Editor's Note
Presented by Charles and Lisa Matkin, experts in the field of therapeutic yoga, HEALING YOGA is a program that uses yoga to address and correct chronic injuries and illness. Designed for people of all fitness levels, ACHES & PAINS teaches moves that focus on relieving the symptoms of arthritis, back pain, neck pain, and pain from injuries. Mr. and Mrs. Matkin keep the moves simple as they seek to help the viewer increase the range of motion to one's spine and joints while promoting flexibility and fluid body movement.
Features
Aches And Pain Program
Instructor Cueing Audio Option (For Working Out To Your Own Music)
Interactive Menus
Scene Selection
My Experience
The Instructors
As it says above, husband and wife Lisa and Charles Matkin present this DVD, which is separated into three 10-minute segments. Lisa is pretty and shapely, Charles looks like a typical yoga practitioner (how stereotypical of me!) and both are obviously in great shape. Their voices are extremely soothing and they are a pleasure to listen to while you go through the postures.
The Set
This workout takes place outside next to a beautiful in-ground pool on a bright, sunny day. It sure is a pleasant sight to this New Yorker in the midst of a very cold winter!
The Workout
The DVD cover says that this workout is helpful to those suffering from back pain, neck pain, arthritis, and injuries. I can’t stress enough though that if you have an injury, a visit to the doctor is merited before trying this DVD. While most of the postures are simple and don’t stress you, you never know until you are diagnosed, what stretches or exercises can actually cause more damage so get the all clear before trying this DVD, please.
Segment One: This is a chair based one. Be sure to have a chair nearby as you will absolutely need it for the postures. In this segment, Lisa demonstrates while Charles voices over exactly what to do and adds soothing words for your mind as you relax and stretch your body. I really enjoyed his extra comments about letting go of the pain and letting the stiffness flow out of my fingertips, etc. I strongly believe there is a mind/body connection and pain can be eased in some cases by visualization and other relaxation techniques. There is heavy emphasis on breathing slowly and purposefully at the start of this segment which is very calming.
While seated, you will be led through a series of simple, relaxing stretches and poses. One pose, though, isn’t all that simple for someone with neck and shoulder problems. You have your arms up and intertwined almost in a pretzel-like fashion which actually felt a little painful at first. But then I realized that was because I was so stiff in the shoulder and neck area. I worried that I might experience more pain the next day from challenging those areas but I actually felt better to my surprise.
The intention in this segment is to minimize stress in the back and legs without straining any of your muscles.
Segment Two: This segment is demonstrated by Charles with Lisa voicing over. This is a series of standing postures using the chair for balance. Those who have tight calf muscles or hamstrings will want to be sure only to do to the lunges and other leg stretches until you feel a slight stretch. Don’t overstretch or else you will defeat the purpose of relaxing the muscles. Again, you will get more encouragement to let your mind empty itself of negativity and to note where the pain and stiffness is and to focus your energies to those areas. Some people might think this is a bit corny but if you allow yourself to relax and just listen, you may find it is a very helpful way to wind down after the stresses of a tough day, week, or, in my case, lifetime.
Segment Three: This is demonstrated by Lisa, voiced over my Charles. A mat is needed as there are some standing postures as well as postures where you are on your back. This segment is composed of elongating stretches and spine work which feels really great. I tend to tighten up when I am stressed or when I am in pain and the postures here, which are easy and not at all intimidating or challenging, released a lot of tension particularly from my lower back.
Chapter Selections
You can choose to do these routines by segment or by chapter. Here is a full list of the chapter selections as taken from the DVD insert:
1: Introduction
2 Breathing Exercises
3 Shoulders and Back
4 Seated Twist
5 Lunges
6 Downward Dog
7 Low Lunge
8 Pelvic Tilts
9 Restorative Twist
10 Final Relaxation
11 End Credits
Results
I enjoyed this DVD far more than I expected to. I am a go, go, go person and I hate to waste time doing anything slow. However, as soon as I started doing the workout, I felt a sense of relaxation wash over me and I really got into it.
The postures are very simple beginners yoga ones that didn’t require me to think a whole lot about what I am doing. The only one I was a little stumped on was the one for the shoulders and back with the pretzel arms but after I got it, it was fine. Anyone with even minimal yoga experience will be able to do all of these postures with no cuing. People who never did yoga in their life will be able to pick it up in one viewing.
There is an instructor cuing audio option on this DVD which is essentially just the postures without the talk so you can use your own music or nothing at all but I actually enjoy the soothing voices of Lisa and Charles and the positive relaxation messages they infuse so I probably won’t use that feature any time soon.
I can’t say that this video miraculously cleared up my aches and pains. However, when I am done, I feel less stiff and less achey. The next day, I feel less pain and stiffness in my shoulders and neck. I used the DVD four or five times and I have never experienced any pain from it and always felt relaxed and refreshed when I was done.
Does it really help aches, pains, injuries, and arthritis? Well, I think the stretching and gentle releasing of tension in the areas that are painful, which are usually stiff, is helpful. I don’t think this DVD alone will make a chronic pain sufferer pain free.
This is a soothing DVD for anyone of any fitness level to relax, stretch, and take some time to let go of the stresses of the day. It also helps to reduce the stiffness that pain causes as we tend to be rigid when in pain and that, in turn, causes more pain. By relaxing the painful areas, the achiness is reduced.
I would recommend this to anyone looking for a gentle, soothing intro to yoga and who does have stiffness and aches that they want to address. I would not recommend this DVD in place of medical attention or traditional physical therapy if needed, however. This is more for the common, everyday tweaks and twinges we all experience from time to time
Contact Info
The DVD insert lists www.livinginyoga.com as the official website for Lisa and Charles Matkins but, when I tried to go there, I got an error message and it appears that website is no longer in existence. They list a phone number of 1-877-B-IN-YOGA (246-9642) to contact the couple for info on their teaching workshops.
You can purchase this DVD at a number of online websites and in department stores like Wal-Mart. I got mine at www.buy.com for about $15.00 but have seen it for as low as $11.00 on other sites. There is a VHS version as well which sells for a few bucks less than the DVD but doesn't have the DVD features of chapter selections and the like.
Here is a list of some of the workouts, and the reviews I wrote about them, that I have been doing that have caused me those little aches and pains I talked about above:
Even if you've never done yoga before,you can benefit from this gentle program. If you suffer from arthritis, back pain, neck pain or pain from an inj...More at HotMovieSale.com
Health DVD - The Healing Yoga video series from Anchor Bay was created by Lisa and Charles Matkin to help people get through their illnesses or injuri...More at Barnes and Noble
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