Rea Shiva: Daily Energy Vinyasa Flow Yoga

Shiva Rea is an evolution of yoga. She continues on her journey with this DVD. Whereas Flow yoga was an exploration of the water element, this disc hits all 4 elements. It has a slower pace than her former discs, and the movements are focused and deep. If not for the fire routine, I would find myself dissatisfied from the aspect of not having worked myself up into a sweat, so it's not a surprise that the fire routine is included in most of the pre-set practices. I still find this disc a bit too easy, especially for Shiva Rea fans like myself who have been doing Yoga Shakti for years. Also, the segments are independent units, which means that there has been no particular workout designed. Thus, you may find yourself repeating poses you just did in the previous segment. I must say that I think that the half split pose is done too frequently!There is a lot of depth in the commentary. If you are a fire person like I am, you will have to let yourself slow down to tap into what she is doing. There are seven 20 minute routines plus 6 minute core and 6 minutes of forward bends (plus shavasnana and solar and lunar meditation segments). For Shiva Rea fans, I would say that this is going in the direction of her latest discs--much of the same evolution, with some new elements. The fire segment includes prostration pushups (this time only 6 rounds), which I like this better that either Surf Soul or Creative Core and Upper Body. I like doing the Heart-Air followed by Fire, core, forward bends and then Shanti. On days when I don't want to so the push-ups, I can substitute the fire-water and then use the 4 element combined segment instead of Shanti (which is relaxing). I find the Earth sequence to be a bit too slow and not challenging enough for me, and to a lesser extent the water sequence.The music is nice - very earthy with somewhat of a primitive theme. At one point it sounds like we are hearing rustling branches! The apparently found a nice stage designer though, because the color combinations are just super, and they even carry into Shiva's clothing and mat.Overall, Daily Energy is not as physically challenging as many of her other discs. It appears to be designed to accommodate beginners. I do find some of the slower segments to have a deep wisdom that I might not have had patience for had I not slowed myself down and tapped into the slightly new direction that Shiva is taking us.I am a bit bothered by the fact that this seems to have been filmed in what looks like a temple surrounded by idols, some of which even have fruit placed in front of them. Frankly, I find this offensive. But even so, I wouldn't give up what the disc has to offer--I just try not to look at the idols too much!

I have several yoga dvd's, my favorites being Brian Kest, Alan Finger (Yoga Zone), Ali McGraw with Erich Schiffman. I also enjoy working out to the old "Inhale" yoga program with Steve Ross that ran on Oxygen Network. I have one other dvd by Shiva Rea, the Beginner's Flow Yoga. I really liked that one, the moves were different, but made me feel great and I enjoyed the beautiful scenery in her dvd. I then tried her Fluid Power, Vinyasa Flow. I liked a lot of the moves, and the idea of being able to put many combinations together was what drew me, but she was a little, um, well....a little too "outside the box" for my taste, lots of free form dancing around when I really just want to do my poses. So, instead of purchasing this item I tried it from the library first. I loved it and came back to purchase it after I had worked through the preset routines and doing my own customized routines from the yoga matrix function. Again, beautifully filmed, great flow sequences with enough poses that were familiar and that I have gotten proficient at, and a few that I still work toward to make me feel challenged. None of the strange mystical dancing around, just good yoga. I would say this dvd is more intermediate than beginner.I have tried the yoga matrix, which is a breakdown of all the different elements that you can choose from, from morning to evening meditations, and several different workouts from those that deal more with balance, stretching, backbends, forward bends, etc. You add what you like, including a nice stretch called Shanti and then you can end with Shavasana. I really enjoyed this because it allows me to fit yoga into my day. I can choose a stretch, core workout (7 minutes of great core exercises) or forward bends at the end of the day that will help me sleep. I can choose items that fit into my early morning work-out without having to do an hour's worth of yoga if I don't have the time.I have also used the work-outs that are already set and I liked those as well, when I don't really want to decide on a custom workout, I just pick one and go.My husband, who enjoys yoga for the stretching it gives him really loved her daily energy flow and felt it really relaxed his back and his hamstrings and he felt that the flow yoga was much more his style, so we are both very happy with this one.If you have tried Shiva Rea before and found her too "dance-like", you will not find that on this dvd, or on her Vinyasa Flow for Beginners. Both are excellent. The one area that I did feel I should draw attention to is that I did seem to need to look up a bit more often to make sure I understood what she was saying/doing. Other than that though, a very good practice, beautifully shot and a great way to fit yoga into your day, whether it is during the day or evening.