Yoga Journal: Yoga for Morning, Noon & Night with Jason Crandell

I've had chronic back and neck pain for years and kept getting told "do yoga". Not that I didn't believe it but just didn't enjoy it. I did a lot of chiropractics and a lot of ibuprophen which helps but still in pain a lot.TILL I GOT THIS VIDEO!!!I only do the morning section-no guilt cause you didn't do a long session-it only takes about 20 minutes, and it's like taking a handful of ibuprophen! I have 4 or 5 "yoga" videos but something about this one...it's pretty easy, gentle for morning stiffness but seems to loosen up all the joints. I've even had people at work notice how "energetic" I look on days I do this yoga. (don't know why I still don't do it every day...Oh yea-I'm a little lazy). I own it on Amazon so I can play it from my laptop or phone since I don't have a DVD player. Works if you are out of town, etc. I gave my DVD copy to my chiropractor and she is totally addicted as well.

After practicing along with Jason Crandell's short videos on Yogajournal.com, I was very happy to discover this new DVD! I would say Morning, Noon & Night is geared toward beginners or the perpetually unflexible like me, but I think intermediate students looking for a nice routine will not only enjoy this DVD but will look as good doing it as Jason and his two female students. If you're looking for headstands and upside-down pretzel poses, look elsewhere.I've been to many yoga classes with different instructors and have purchased several different DVDs for home practice. Each instructor has a different focus, pace and voice and Jason Crandell is my absolute favorite instructor for home practice. His voice is calm and soothing, and his tone is very non-judgmental. His pacing is slow enough that you can a) strike a pose before he moves on to the next and b) hold the pose long enough to get something out of it.Many instructors forget this. In fact, some of the yoga classes I've taken at my gym felt like Speed Yoga or were unabashedly Pilates/Yoga and I can't tell you how un-yoga-like that felt to me. If I want speed, I'll go to spin class; If I want to do crunches, well, I'd rather not do them during yoga.If you like yoga that is relaxing, restorative, unkinks your kinks, and makes you incrementally stronger, you will love Jason Crandell. If he taught an online live class, I would sign up without hesitation. My only regret is that the nature of a DVD doesn't allow for any new poses or music. There were a few great poses missing from this DVD, like "Sideways Plank" and "Tree Pose". That's a minor complaint, however, and perhaps we have more DVDs and online classes to look forward to...

About ten years ago, Rodney Yee's AM/PM Yoga was one of my favorites. When I went looking to buy a new yoga video, this came up and as it was by Yoga Journal, I thought I'd give it a try.I really really like it. The segments are short--and easy to do. Perfect for me as a busy Mom of four to fit into my day. It's tough to pick a favorite, although I'd probably say it's the evening yoga--with all of the bends and twists. Totally doable for a beginner, yet you feel so relaxed after. If you don't have a yoga strap, you can use a scarf--or any piece of fabric...even a towel or rolled up pillow case will work.I think Jason could have shown more modifications in the poses, however. For example, in the morning session doing traingle pose--no mention is made of the use of a block for those who are less flexible. Similarly, in the morning pose, when one is sitting on one's knees, one can use a folded up towel or blanket if that is too difficult.Right now, I'm combining this with the Biggest Loser Walking DVD. Both contain short 15 minute beginner level workouts that I can intersperse throughout my day. I may not be able to find an hour to exercise, but it's pretty easy to find 3-4 15 minute segments throughout the day. Even though I might procrastinate a bit in getting started, within a few minutes, I'm always so glad that I took the time to do my yoga DVD or the walking DVD. Highly highly recommended.

When I do yoga I am not looking to be entertained or greatly challenged or break a sweat so from that perspective, this dvd fits the bill. It is slow and gentle. But other than that, I can't think of too many good things. First, I am a beginner. I have some yoga experience but not a ton and certainly not a daily practice. This dvd says it is for beginners but I really don't think it is. When I finish the morning or noon practice, my knees and lower back hurt. I am sure I am positioning myself wrong in some subtle way but I don't know how to fix that because there really isn't much instruction on how to position yourself or use your muscles to hold the pose correctly. There are only a few passing mentions of adaptations and the two women in the video are clearly advanced in their practice so there is no beginner to demonstrate modifications and to follow along with. Second, it is overwhelmingly boring. Again, I am not looking for entertainment but really. I had to skip forward because I just couldn't do one more sun salutation. The whole dvd can be summed up like this: do about 5 million sun salutations, 1 million down dogs, throw in a whole lot of twists, a few stretches, and you're done. The noon practice is really not a whole lot more than a combination of the morning and evening sessions so combining them all into an hour long practice is excruciatingly repetitive. And on a side note, the picture shows the women in this dvd as well covered. I'm not sure why because one of them wears pants and a sports bra in every session (which the cameraman seems to like because she gets a disproportionate amount of screen time). That has nothing to do with the quality of the yoga instruction so I didn't mark the dvd down for that but it is annoying to me. I do not like to watch half naked people and I would have passed on this one if I had known.

Crandell's voice drives me crazy. Since I my aim is to be in a relaxed state free from distraction when doing a yoga practice, this DVD does not work for me. I gave it to a friend and she gave it away to someone else for the same reason. The workout itself may have been okay, but the only thing I recall about the entire DVD is that voice. If Crandell's voice doesn't annoy you, then by all means go for it. From now on, I am sticking with my personal favorites Rodney Yee, Patricia Walden and Shiva Rea.

I really enjoy this set of three sequences by Jason Crandell. Each are about 20 minutes. You can do only one if you don't have much time or combine them. I like Jason's instructions and his pace. I discovered him when I participated in the Yoga Journal 21-day challenge earlier this year (2011) Each day we were sent a link for a new routine on the Yoga Journal website. Some of these may still be available so you can check out his style.

I just started yoga recently and have worked through several DVDs. So far this is my favourite! Jason goes at the perfect pace--not to slowly and the perfect length for each practice! Twenty minutes every day is very achievable. There are some challenges for me --I am 58 with a little arthritis in my knees but nothing that isn't do-able in some way. He explains different levels of practice. Some instructors can become somewhat irritating if you listen to them over and over but I haven't found this with Jason. I usually do the morning session--a great way to start the day!

Very good short sessions for practising yoga with very helpful comments I hightly recommend it If you like yoga well

ヨガを週1回習い始めて半年になります。自宅で出来るものを探して、一番しっくり来たのがこれ。何が良いって、20分で終わるからです（笑）。根性がないせいもありますが、自宅で1人で、1時間ヨガに費やすってどうも出来なくて・・・これは、20分一区切りになっているので、やり足りなければさらに出来るのも良いと思います。個人的にはわずかに動きが早いように感じますが、説明はしっくり分かりやすく、教室で出来てなかったポーズを深めることが出来ました。欲を言えばBGMがなく（うっすらリラックス系な音はかかってる）寂しいけど、自分の好きな曲を流せるので考えようによってはそれもいいのかもしれません。追記8/1820分では物足りなく感じる日も増えたので、朝と夜、昼と夜など組み合わせたり他のDVDで準備運動や最後の瞑想をしたりカスタマイズしています。朝と夜+瞑想（シャバアサナ）をやると、頭もスッキリし体もほぐれますので長めに時間が取れる方にはオススメです。シャバアサナは収録されていないので、ご自分でBGMを用意するなり工夫は多少必要かと思います。