Stott Pilates Simple Stretches-Pilates-Infused Yoga DVD

Wonderful stretching!
I love this routine and use it a couple time a week in the morning to get by body ready for the day. You start with a very nice warm up for breathing, neck stretch, eagle arm stretching, hip rotations and cat stretches. Then, you move on to downward dog, high lunge series, pigeon, and forward stretching. Then brief children pose rest, and on to more yoga poses including forward bends, thunderbolt, knee to chest, side twists, bridge, then ending in savasana. The pace is very good and you hold the positions for the perfect amount of time. My whole body feels fully stretched after this routine. Also, you get clips of all of Stott's other DVDs which is very helpful. The only downfall to this DVD is the chaptering as the other person mentioned (too much chaptering). Also, I wish the savasana was a bit longer and I wish they didn't come on afterwards and starting talking when I would have like the quiet time. I look forward to trying the other 2 DVDs for this series.

very thorough
I'll admit I had to try this DVD out a couple of times to give it a fair test because it's very detailed and requires active listening and concentration on modifying and perfecting form. It's really not a relaxation DVD while you are in the midst of performing the poses- but it certainly accomplishes that mood once you're finished. Though it's level 1, some of these stretches are challenging partly because they affect multiple muscle groups simultaneously and deeply. You will FEEL these stretches in new areas you're not normally used to working out if you're new to pilates and yoga.

I own several level 1 pilates and yoga DVDs by the most popular practitioners, but I particularly like this one for it's differences. The style is quiet and there were a vast amount of new stretches or poses I had not been introduced to already. The constant verbal guidance I found very helpful for learning proper technique and the purpose. For example, "Downward Dog is a working pose, not a...

Poor Modifications and Not Relaxing.
As a huge Stott fan and a faithful Yogi, I thought I would be really happy with this DVD, but I was very disappointed. Having done Yoga for several years now, I consider myself an intermediate level exerciser, but I found some of these exercises bordered advance and had no place in this DVD, and PJ O'Clair should have offered modifications where she did not. For example, the opening sitting position was extremely uncomfortable for me and demanded a superior amount of flexibility in the hips. As open as I am in the hip area, I couldn't manage it and had to modify by sitting in the more traditional Yoga position (cross legged with one heel in front of the other), and this wasn't even given as an option in the DVD. Also, the "modified" Pigeon was not quite so modified at all, again demanding superior elasticity in the hips. How many level 1 exercises can execute such a demanding exercise with or without a Yoga strap? Other difficult "beginner" exercises included The Hydrant and the...

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