Sara Ivanhoe is a great Yoga teacher. She teaches you the very basic and crucial way to practice. You may benefit from her teaching for your whole life in doing Yoga.

I have no background in Yoga but found this CD very easy to follow. I'm sure if one has more experience he/she would find it elementary but for a real newbie like me it's great. The moves are explained in detail, demonstrated and then done with you for long enough to get the hang of it. It's not too long or hard to discourage a beginner and I'd recommend it to others.

Basic Yoga Workout For Dummies is a fine instructional DVD with a yoga expert, Sara Ivanhoe, who patiently and respectfully teaches basic yoga and even some intermediate yoga exercises to help people get fit. Sara Ivanhoe presents the material in a non-threatening way to entice you to do the workouts; and the exercises move along at a good pace without ever being boring. Of course if you miss a point or two here and there you can always just re-watch that video clip as many more times as you like. The quality of the sound is excellent.

Sara Ivanhoe starts the workout by giving you basic advice about getting set-up for the basic yoga workout: wear comfortable clothes; don't eat before exercising; drink water; exercise in your bare feet if at all possible; use a chair if you need one and much more. Excellent.

The bulk of the DVD video is the basic yoga workout. Sara breaks this down into twelve smaller exercises which she calls "postures," "poses" or "the daily dozen." The video makes it so easy for you to follow along; you simply just watch how she uses a floor mat or a chair to do these twelve exercises. Watch and follow along and you'll learn the "cat pose;" the "mountain pose;" the "standing forward pose" (which helps to stretch); the "lunge pose" and other exercises including the "seated forward bend." The exercises become somewhat more demanding as you go along; this is very well organized. Moreover, Sara Ivanhoe gives excellent instructions that are extremely detailed. Great!

One thing that seems to turn some people off is the use of the "icons" that come popping up on the screen; I think that this is a hallmark of the "...For Dummies" series. Personally, I think that sometimes they matter and sometimes they don't. The icons didn't bother me much but I can see and understand why some people would definitely find them annoying. There are four types of icons along the way: the "tip" icon; the "jargon alert" icon; the "remember" icon and the "myth buster" icon. If you find them distracting, rest assured that you can always watch the exercise again as many times as you want to get it down pat.

In addition, there's another roughly 30 minute segment of intermediary yoga exercises. Sara Ivanhoe runs through these exercises faster because at this point she assumes you've mastered basic yoga; so don't start with these! The exercise Sara teaches is "the sun salute;" and she breaks this down into several steps to make the exercise manageable and easier to master. The sun salute uses a combination of breathing and movement together, just like basic yoga.

Overall, I highly recommend this DVD for anyone who wants a relatively tame approach to exercise. According to Sara Ivanhoe, yoga can be done by just about anyone regardless of their situation. Naturally, if you have any concerns speak to your doctor first before trying these exercises.

Its a great video to learn some of the posses of Yoga. I would recommend getting another video as well or schedule a class as this video doesn't do much beyond teach you the poses. I find it hard to continually do yoga to it but I do go back to the video to make sure I am doing things right. It is a relaxing and informative video. I highly recommend it to anyone starting yoga or thinking of doing it.

I was hunting for yoga DVDs for persons with various disabilities, for older, fatter people, for people with knee problems, that sort of thing. This DVD is not advertised to be that DVD but I was able to do most of the poses. In it the instruction goes through 12 yoga poses. She emphasizes you can do all or one or a few, your choice. Her explanations are excellent and she offers occasional suggestions if you find them difficult. It wasn't exactly what I needed but I can see working it into my regular routine as one option, adjusting as needed.