Beginners’ Yoga Video

Looking for well-produced fitness videos that are really suitable for beginners can be a huge challenge.

Most tapes these days aimed at the intermediate exerciser, the person who knows that a grapevine from a box step and a lateral raise a biceps curl. These tapes may offer a few easier moves here and there, but the instruction is clearly geared to people who already know what they should do.

The few links that are marketed for beginners often are unspeakably repetitive, as if flabby muscles always mean a flabby brains. And all too often, they provide no way to add extra challenge or difficulty with the routine, as the beginning exerciser will continue to always easy.

It is nice, then, to discover Yoga Zone: Flexibility and Tone, a beginners' tape that offers the depth of instruction and easy pace that the real beginners need.

The instructor is Alan Finger, a genial-looking middle aged man who wears a polo shirt, rolled-up cotton trousers and a chin-length bob. His physique is not the standard chiseled form of exercise videos, it seems that he might be a few extra pounds around the middle.

But he has a beautiful voice (with a hint of a brogue) and a calm way, two essential points for a yoga tape, where relaxation is the key.

And he has a genuine gift for instruction, combining the nuts-and-bolts details of positioning with what it feels to stretch and balance.

When he describes how the muscles of the feet should turn to the small toe, you know - and feel - just what he is talking about.

But any movement contains so many of these instructions are that it may be a bit overwhelming to try to get the hang of them all at once.

If you've tried yoga before, you recognize some of them - the down-at-all-fours stretch called the cat, the inverted V, which represents the determination of the dog, and the corpse, which is little more than lying flat on one of the back, completely relaxed.

In another nod to beginners, Finger also applies changes and tips for those who might not be as flexible as they want.

Finger shows how a folded blanket can be placed under the knees or for a better support for the pursuit of a seated position. A folded towel also be used for various forms, although Finger do not communicate that in advance.

The 50-minute session ends with stretching and relaxation, set to soft New Age music that you can sleep in cots.