Wai Lana Yoga: Toning Workout

1. ( 2 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 19 2005

   In this video, Wai Lana offers a series of dynamic poses focused on stretching and toning various areas of the body. She begins with a basic breathing exercise plus some simple stretches for the neck. Next, you'll wake up the legs by alternating between a squat and a toe raise, then move on a standing knee to chest stretch. Still in a standing position, Wai Lana performs what she calls a "Dancing Forward Bend" (the names for all of her poses appear briefly on screen, which is helpful because she frequently uses names I've never seen before), which is basically a continuous flow between a standing forward bend and a standing backbend. The final standing posture is a variation on triangle pose in which your legs are only shoulder-width apart. Wai Lana then moves to the floor for some back stretches, including a locust variation, a rear leg lift on hands and knees, and a cat/cow series. From a seated position, she performs a forward bend and a simple twist. Moving to lying on your back, you'll finish with a single leg lift, bridge pose, single leg cirlces, and then double leg circles. After setting you up for savasana, Wai Lana invites you to join her in seated chanting, but I just stayed in savasana the entire time (about 5 minutes); the entire practice comes in at just under 38 minutes. Overall, I found this practice to be enjoyable and relaxing, and I felt nicely stretched out afterwards. Because there are brief pauses between every pose segment, you can perform as many or as few postures as you choose, simply picking up where you left off the next time, so this practice is easily customizable to your needs. If you've never tried Wai Lana before, you should be aware that she wears an elaborate new outfit for each asana, uses bright makeup, and has a heavy accent; all of this takes a bit of getting used to. However, she provides very good instruction with frequent form reminders (although her cueing is non-mirrored), is quite encouraging, and practices against an absolutely gorgeous setting in Hawaii with a Pacific Ocean backdrop. The Wai Lana series is definitely worth checking out if you have been practicing yoga for awhile and are looking for a departure from mainstream yoga videos.

2. ( 2 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jan 6 2004

   Wai Lana's Toning Workout has been a huge relief for me. Four months after moving from the countryside to the big city I had begun to experience fatigue due to smog and environmental changes. My body wasn't able to deal with it making me barely able to fully complete my work, which previously had been so easy. Taking supplements helped a little. After seeing the beauty of Wai Lana's Yoga program on Television one day, I decided that doing regular Yoga might help my situation. I ordered toning workout online and have been diligently practicing it every morning. My fatigue has gradually subsided and I feel better than I did before I moved to the city! My morning Yoga practice has become a very pleasant part of my day with Wai Lana's soft calming voice and the beautiful scenery in the background. I've ordered 5 other videos and can't wait until they arrive!

3. ( 2 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jun 19 2003

   Disappointing. Do understand though that what I am looking for is an instructional forum which devotes at least 50-60 solid minutes of actual stretching and asana work. Verbal instruction should occur simultaneously with the movements, poses and stretches. This tape spends about 25 minutes on very few and simple asanas and the remaining 40-45 minutes of the tape is all talk about why yoga is so wonderful and why everyone should be doing it, or, just advertisements of Wai Lana's other products.

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