UKC

Does anyone know of a book or DVD that goes through the basics of either Yoga or Tai Chi in a genuinely beginner way?

Thanks

In reply to Indy:

Search for Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube

In reply to Indy:

What I do know is: Most DVDs out there are workouts. Not recommended.

For books: Take a minute to flick through water stones selection and find something that you like the feel and style of.

In reply to Indy:

The New Book of Yoga : The Sivananda Yoga Centre.

I started from scratch with this, found it very helpful; lays out each pose stage by stage and sets out a clear session plan.

In reply to Indy:
my tuppence worth:
Unless there's just no other option, the basics of yoga (and i suspect tai chi to an extent) are really not best learnt in this way. In my experience, beginners are just so unaware of their bodies that they really need to go to a teacher until this changes to some extent.
Not only are most people largely unaware of their bodies, they are unaware that they are unaware....this is actually the bigger problem!

Kimono...a yoga teacher

In reply to Kimono:

Yep, +1

In reply to Kimono:

Likewise with tai chi. The right posture is all important, so it's worth learning the short form through some classes and then you have that to practice by yourself for life, if you keep it up.

In reply to Kimono:

My wife does yoga, and she says exactly the same. That subtle (and not so subtle) differences in body position make such a difference that having an instructor to help correct posture is invaluable, esp. when first starting out. Really hard to accurately tell yourself if your in the correct position or not.

In reply to StuDoig:


keeps me in work

In reply to Kimono:
I used to have a gym membership at around £100/month. Only ever really used the swimming pool and the steam/sauna room so cancelled it.

Did originally look at classes despite the fear it would be full of yummy mummies and their designer yoga mats but was put off by the (yet again) £100+ a month cost coupled with how much I'd actually use it (not to mention how much does it actually cost to provide yoga classes??)

There are beginners courses which say things like "students will receive personal attention from an experienced teacher...." but digging a bit deeper you read not so prominently displayed things like "max students 27". How much "personal attention" are you likely to get?

Guess I'm surprised at how money/profit driven Yoga is considering its roots.

Anyway, how many classes would you say the average person would need to take to become proficient enough to do the basics correctly?

Would consider some one off private tuition.

In reply to Indy:
like everything Indy, yoga can be subject to greed

As for how many classes one needs to become 'proficient' enough, that is impossible to answer I'm afraid. There really is no such thing as the average person in my experience.
But, and I'm sure you don't really want to hear this, we are probably talking more in terms of years than classes.

If you're really interested in yoga, then i suggest finding a good local yoga centre and trying out some classes until you find a teacher you click with...then going to see them at least twice a week and see how it goes.

Gym yoga, in my experience, is generally not the best standard, though of course there may be exceptions.

If you fancy a few months in the sun, then come to the Dominican Republic where i teach....a month of classes for 40 quid!
ps private tuition tends to be super-pricey and largely unnecessary in my opinion