Ageless Yoga - continuing

I have chosen to take the Ageless Yoga, Chair and Standing DVD one routine at a time. The DVD promises two hours of routines, which actually translates to five separate smaller workouts. Additional routines are created by combining elements from these five routines. So one can choose a routine from about five minutes long to about 80-90 minutes long.

My second Ageless Yoga routine, the second one I chose, was "Loosen Up", a 17-minute routine that gently loosens the body. Some of the moves are the same as for the joint routine, and the entire routine is run the same way, very gently and simply. No absolutes. Simple moves to loosen up. If you can imagine some things you might do to loosen your body those things are likely in this routine.

Third: Balance and Breath. 18 minutes. Same format as the others: the instructor sits in the middle, the two students behind and to the sides. No music. Another gentle routine, featuring movements related to balance and breathing. Nice simple balance exercises that I can see using when standing in line, for example, and breathing, of course, you can use anywhere. The series, so far, is like "pre-yoga" - using movements that may be precursors to standard poses, ways to get benefits without having to strain.

Fourth: I chose Strength. 19 minutes. The two "models" were different this time. All four I have seen so far look like ordinary people, not yoga experts, which I find encouraging. The strength moves include some we've done before - it's good to repeat, I'll remember them better - plus some new stuff. We worked feet, legs, inner and outer thighs, shoulders, arms, possibly more. But we didn't do anything for long, just little bits. I enjoyed it. There is one exercise I had a bit of trouble with, and I will want to see if I can improve. It involves lifting both legs from the floor (while sitting on a chair) and holding them in front of me. I couldn't life them fully in front of me. As usual, the instructor is very giving and forgiving, and emphasizes that we "make it yours". Find the comfort place.

At this point I am wondering if I should do more per day? Follow some kind of increasing routine? Or just keep on going through one at a time as I have been. I therefore went back to the website (agelessyoga.org) to look it over. There are so specific recommendations but there are a lot of testimonials and some of those gave me an idea that I'm doing just fine as I am. I'll keep up with it every day (when I have a DVD player - I do go on trips) and see how much I improve.

Fifth: Stretch Out. 18 minutes. As advertised, we do gentle stretching moves, most in a chair. I recognize some of the moves as some I might be able to substitute for more challenging moves in other videos. For example, when I can't do a cat stretch on the floor I can do an equivalent stretch in a chair. Some of the chair moves actually appear to do a better job on the focused area because I am not having to strain a part of my body that is in pain.

One woman who reviewed this DVD said her pain had reduced by half in two days. I would love to make such a claim. I can't, but it made me think. Concentrating on breathing and relaxation is going to help with pain, and the simple, almost comic way these are demonstrated always makes me smile.

The DVD is divided into two parts. There is a regular menu with six routines on it. And second menu labeled "Other options". These other options include "Gentle", "Chair only", "Challenges", and a few more. I am not sure if these are separate routines from the first set. I will soon be finding out, because there is just one more routine in the first group for me to try.

My sixth day I went for "Sitting only", a 30-minute routine. This routine combines the sitting portions of the other routines, primarily the stretching and loosening up routines. Even the relaxation portions from both are included, which gives us about seven minutes of relaxation. I don't know if I have ever relaxed quite as much, and it felt very good.