This DVD from accomplished yoga teacher Barbara Benagh is just the thing to get you going with your yoga practice. I started using Barbara's series of yoga sessions awhile ago now and have enjoyed them tremendously. She seems to set just the right pace, taking time to explore the positions, and also pushing you to new awarenesses. There is so much variety on this DVD that you never seem to be repeating the same sequence over and over as you do on tapes that have only one or two classes. I recommend this DVD for athletes as well as yoga students for a new appreciation of asana from this encouraging teacher.

In Yoga for Athletes, instructor Barbara Benagh has created a huge variety of practice options for athletes and others. The DVD addresses 16 different sports (baseball, basketball, cycling, football, golf, hiking, kayaking, martial arts, rock climbing, running, skiing, soccer, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and weightlifting), and for each sport, 12 practices of varying lengths and with various areas of body/postural focus (eg, hips, legs, shouders, backbends, balance, twists, etc.). I think this is a great concept--although I don't play any particular sport, I love the idea of choosing a specific practice based on whatever type of focus I might want to have that day.

Unfortunately, I didn't think this DVD worked as well in actual practice. First of all, how the DVD works is that each and every pose is its own individual chapter (with a male model demonstrating and Barbara providing voiceover instruction). This means that the practices themselves are simply a series of the individual postures strung together with no transitions inbetween. To me, this made the practices feel very disjointed and without any flow to them. Secondly, Barbara's instruction is meticulously detailed, which is sometimes a good thing, sometimes not. For example, when I was lying in a relaxing, restorative posture (such as reclined eagle--this was very nice), I didn't mind and in fact appreciated Barbara's comprehensive cues on form. However, for some of the standing postures, I felt that my enjoyment of the full posture was delayed as I waited on Barbara's overly detailed setup.

Finally, I think that I have been spoiled by Barbara's more recent DVD release, Yoga for Stress Relief. This DVD follows a somewhat similar format, but all of the practices are restorative, and thus I really enjoy Barbara's detailed instruction here. However, Yoga for Athletes might be a better choice for those who are newer to yoga, prefer their yoga to be very straightforward and no-nonsense, and/or are looking for practices designed to their particular sport. Overall, Yoga for Athletes is a well-done DVD that I would recommend, but it's not for everyone--3 1/2 stars.

This is my first venture into yoga. While all the movements look simple to the untrained beginner, I am amazed how vigerously trained my body feels afterward.

The model moves with grace and effortless that is encouraging and inspiring. The voice-over intstructions are clear and helpful.

While I will never be skilled at yoga, this CD makes every Saturday morning (my yoga time) a wonderful and postive experience.

This was recommended to me by my marathon training coach. I have been using it for the past year and I recommend it to all my friends. i swear by it.

I bought this DVD for a family member who has been an athlete all his life and now wanted to try a new workout. He loves the fact that it offers workouts for different types of athletes and that there is a lot of choices for his sport, basketball. He continues to use it and recommended it to all his teammates!