Shiva Rea

Prenatal Yoga With Shiva Rea

Pregnancy is a most important time for a woman to maintain her physical strength and stamina and PRENATAL YOGA is a perfect way to keep in shape. These gentle exercises are clearly detailed by instructor Shiva Rea according to Yoga Journal's Prenatal Yoga guidelines. Maintain the energy and stamina which will be needed in the delivery room along with the concentration that comes with the practice of yoga. Different techniques are applicable to each trimester of pregnancy and this fifty minute video is geared for every level of yoga practitioner.System Requirements:Running Time 60 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HEALTH/FITNESS Rating: NR UPC: 029956088825 Manufacturer No: 120-1269

The best thing about this prenatal yoga program is that there is a model for each trimester. Instructor Shiva Rea demonstrates each of the stretches and exercises for the first trimester, and two pregnant women show modifications for the second and third trimesters (they're even dressed in different colors for easy reference). This removes the self-doubt home-exercisers often have about the safety of certain moves--especially in that cumbersome final stage of pregnancy. Using gentle voice-over instruction, Rea and her assistants take viewers through a half hour of meditational stretches using blocks and chairs for support. She follows that up with 16 minutes of floor work: lunge pose, bridge pose, child's pose, plank pose--all with the necessary adjustments. She winds things up with a four-minute guided relaxation on her back--the traditional position--with the second-trimester woman on her side and the third on her side with one leg up on a chair. By including the different adaptations, Rea has made a program with the flexibility to carry an expectant mom through her entire pregnancy--and beyond, if she wishes. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Shiva Rea - Creative Core Abs

It's hard to say how Shiva Rea would react to being called "the Madonna of yoga," a phrase that appears on the cover of Creative Core Abs. But one thing is certain: the popular, California-based yogi's several DVD programs are uniformly first-rate, and this one is no exception. Roughly defined as the area between the upper thighs and lower ribcage, with particular focus on the abdominals and lower back, the core is "more than our physical center," says Rea; it is "our inner fire," the seat of our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual selves (not to mention the center of a great many yoga poses). Mindful that core exercises are for many of us "a duty, not a pleasure," Rea has designed three different programs (ranging from seven to seventeen minutes) that aim to offer a more creative, innovative approach to the work. The "Water Core" segment includes various seated movements, many involving the arms as well; there are also sequences done on the back, somewhat akin to the bridge pose, as well as the "water wheel," which combines lifting the hips while alternately extending the legs. The "Spontaneous Core" section incorporates some of the previous movements with several new ones, while the "Fire Core," the longest of the three, blends very challenging poses such as chaturanga and the forearm plank with familiar standing asanas like the Warrior II. As usual, the musical accompaniment is effective but not intrusive, while the setting (New Mexico's White Sands National Park) and the HD cinematography by Sion Michel (a camera operator for Memoirs of a Geisha) are stunning. None of that may matter much while you're flat on your back, struggling to understand what it means to treat a pose as if you're "skateboarding on the empty bowl of your pelvis," but Creative Core Abs is likely to yield satisfying results for those who stick with it. --Sam Graham

"The Madonna of yoga, exuding creativity and inspiration" —Yogi Times

Good things flow from a strong core: a long lean torso, a healthy back, a positive flow of energy that benefits every aspect of your life. Now, one of the yoga world's top female teachers shows you an enlightened way to a powerful core. Unlike repetitive conventional abs work, Shiva's fluid yoga-based approach awakens your creativity and inner fire, building strength and grace in the same way that surfing, rock climbing, or dancing does—while you're enjoying yourself, not counting the minutes until it's over. The program includes three flowing segments, which can be done all at once or individually.

Filmed at White Sands National Park, the program was directed by James Wvinner and shot in HD by Hollywood's Sion Michel (Memoirs of a Geisha). Beautiful, effective, inspiring. It's an abs workout you'll look forward to doing again and again.

Shiva Rea - Fluid Power - Vinyasa Flow Yoga

It's more of the same from Shiva Rea with Fluid Power: Vinyasa Flow Yoga, and considering the quality of her previous DVD releases, that's a very good thing. With six pre-set practices (three intermediate "long flows" and three "short flows"), ranging from less than 30 minutes to nearly two hours, Fluid Power--described by Rea as a means to explore "the wave movement that is the reality of our fluid, quantum body" in order to "enhance circulation, longevity, and creativity and to satisfy amphibious longings," whatever that means--this is Rea's longest and most detailed presentation to date. Those familiar with her Yoga Shakti and Yoga Trance Dance will recognize certain elements from those programs here; Fluid Power generally combines Shakti's somewhat more traditional approach (e.g., poses that are held for several breaths) with the kind of creative expression fostered by Trance Dance, which favors constant, flowing movements (in the familiar downward facing dog, for instance, Rea encourages steady undulations of the spine, referred to as "circular wave patterns," as opposed to keeping the back long and straight). While there are many asanas that will certainly be recognizable to most anyone who practices hatha yoga (the cobra, bow, upward dog, chaturanga, handstand, and pigeon are just a few of them), Rea also brings her distinctive style to the practice; her "Dancing Warrior 1008," featured in the longest and most challenging pre-set sequence ("Backbend Flow"), uniquely combines backbends, twists, lunges, and more. All of this will take some getting used to. Rea notes that these practices are designed for "experienced beginners and intermediate practitioners," and everyone is advised to view the sequences before attempting them. Meanwhile, the "Yoga Matrix," with which users can customize their practice by combining elements from all six pre-set sequences in any order they choose, is one of the most appealing features of this and all Shiva Rea DVDs. Also as before, the cinematography is gorgeous (filming again took place at New Mexico's White Sands National Park), and the music is evocative but relatively unobtrusive. A second disc includes alignment tips for some poses, information about fluid vinyasa techniques, and comments by various experts about yoga and, yes, even quantum physics. --Sam Graham

Shiva Rea's Blessing for Amazon Customers

Dear Amazon Adventurers!

The turning of the New Year - another journey around the Sun - is a time of great opportunity, reflection and renewal of what ignites us in the core of our heart. As Rumi says, "When you do things from your Soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy." Every DVD program that we offer you is a labor of love to empower your home practice and living of yoga. Fluid Power is my offering to that river of your life force that awakens, transforms and renews. As we activate a fluid strength in our body and in our lives, we become more open to all the possibility of this great journey of life! Have a rockin' and blessed New Year!

We are naturally fluid. More than half our total body weight is water. And yet this fluid power—in our awareness and way of moving—is often an untapped reservoir of energy and joy.

Explore the power of your fluid nature with Shiva Rea, one of the yoga world's most inspiring teachers. Her innovative sequences move with natural flow for a completely original style of yoga that enhances vitality, agility, and creativity. Through rhythmic, circular, and spiraling movements, you will learn to liberate poses that are often rigidly held, allowing you to grow stronger and more flexible with grace.

The unique Yoga Matrix menu allows you to customize your practice, choosing from over 3 hours of yoga (20 segments) to suit your time and energy level on any given day. Or, choose one of 6 pre-set practices, from foundation to advanced, from short to long, from solely meditative to energetic. Sequences include four innovative sun salutations, water "core," standing pose mandala, fluid backbends, handstand, forward bends, pranayama, meditations, and deep relaxation. For experienced beginners to intermediate practitioners.

Special Features Include:
• Program options: Create a custom practice with segments from the Yoga Matrix menu with (20 segments, 213 min.) or choose from 6 different pre-set practices (26-108 min. each)
• Audio options: Instruction and music or music only
• Fluid vinyasa techniques
• Alignment details for 10 fluid asanas
• 24-page program guide
• "Y yoga" mini documentary with Shiva Rea
• Comments by experts Sally Kempton, Daniel Odier, Stuart Svotsky, and Fred Alan Wolf
• Filmed in HD at White Sands National Park and directed by James Wvinner with cinematography by Hollywood's Sion Michel (Memoirs of a Geisha)
  List Price: $19.99
  complete product information...

Shiva Rea - Flow Yoga for Beginners (Amazon Exclusive)

A superb introduction to one of the most beneficial and rewarding forms of yoga

Flow yoga, also called vinyasa yoga, combines flowing movement with rhythmic breathing for a dynamic mind-body workout. Like a moving meditation, flow yoga unites mind, body, and breath. Your mind clears, your body calms, even as your pulse quickens.

Renowned and innovative flow yoga teacher Shiva Rea leads this introductory practice, filmed amid breathtaking scenery on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. She begins with a seated mediation that teaches you how to link breath with movement. Three more segments introduce her flowing approach to classic poses. Transitions from pose to pose are graceful and easy. You may not have Shiva's flexibility (yet), but you can follow her lead in ways that work for you. Feel yourself becoming stronger and more supple. Sense your new energy and find the fluidity that has always been yours.

Shiva Rea: Creative Core & Lower Body

"A breath of fresh air and insanely challenging" - FitSugar.com

Stills from Shiva Rea: Creative Core & Lower Body (click for larger image)

Beyond Shiva Rea: Creative Core & Lower Body

Shiva Rea - Flow Yoga for Beginners

Shiva Rea - Yoga Shakti

More from Acacia

A follow up to Shiva's hit workout Creative Core Abs

"Transformative . . . fun, with nary a crunch in sight" -- body + soul

The fun way to fire up your core!

A strong core means more than flat abs. Flexibility, endurance, a toned body, even a healthy heart depend on your core. World-renowned yoga teacher Shiva Rea shows you a creative way to strengthen your core without the usual tedious ab exercises. In this program, she focuses on both the core and the lower body, using graceful yoga-based movements that ignite your inner fire.

As you flow from one pose to another, you'll strengthen your belly, hips, thighs, and lower back. You'll feel grounded and filled with vital energy. Quick, fun, effective—filmed in gorgeous Limahuli Garden on the island of Kauai—this core program will become one of your favorite ways to work out.

Creative Roots 13 min.
Creative Core 9 min.
Shavasana 2 min.

BONUS SEGMENT: Foundation Vinyasa (13 min.) from Shiva's flow yoga program Fluid Power.

Shiva Rea - Yoga Trance Dance

Released some two years after 2004's Yoga Shakti, one of the finest yoga programs on the market, Shiva Rea's Yoga Trance Dance is substantially different in content but every bit the former's equal in terms of style and presentation. Combining what she calls "two of the oldest ways (to get) back home," Rea has mixed dance and yoga to create "a contemporary exploration of conscious movement meditation," with an eye toward healing the split between body and mind that has, she says, led many of us to live primarily "from the neck up." As was the case with Yoga Shakti, several pre-set practices are offered (six in this case, ranging from 29 to 41 minutes in length); and the DVD again features the innovative "Yoga Matrix," which allows users to customize their practice by choosing and organizing various segments to suit their own needs and moods. Yet because of the dance element, most comparisons to a traditional yoga program don't apply. Whereas vinyasa yoga is essentially a series of flowing, connected poses, incorporating breath and movement and cultivating heat, strength, flexibility, and balance, here the movement is within the poses themselves, not just within the overall sequence. Thus familiar asanas such as the cobra and downward facing dog take on a new aspect, with users encouraged to constantly roll their shoulders from side to side in cobra or make undulating, wave-like spinal movements in down dog (both can be found in the terrific jala namaskar, the so-called "water salutation"); it's a style that may be somewhat more familiar to practitioners of kundalini yoga than those used to the more widespread, Iyengar-based hatha tradition. Meanwhile, the trance dance sections encourage spontaneous, free-form movement that may well lead to the kind of creative self-expression and loosening of inhibitions that Rea prescribes. Visually stunning (it was shot in high definition at New Mexico's White Sands National Monument) and augmented by a fine world music soundtrack (a music-only option is available) and Rea's soothing, authoritative presence, the DVD also includes a mini-documentary about the instructor, bonus comments by a couple of experts, and more. --Sam Graham

Shiva Rea has been teaching Yoga Trance Dance for more than 10 years. Now, for the first time, her most popular workshop is available to anyone who wants to experience celebration, rejuvenation, and creative joy through movement.

Appropriate for all ages and experience levels, Yoga Trance Dance begins with prana-initiating yogasanas, flowing into an exploration of free-form, breath-driven movement to free your creative life force and cultivate embodied freedom. It features the Yoga Matrix format, which allows you to customize your practice by choosing and organizing portions of the program to suit your needs every time you use the DVD.

Filmed at White Sands National Park, the program was shot in HD by Hollywood's Sion Michel (Memoirs of a Geisha) and directed by yoga teacher and fashion photographer James Wvinner for an inspiring look and feel unlike any other yoga or fitness video.

Shiva Rea: Postnatal Yoga

Postnatal Yoga strengthens muscles taxed in delivery relaxes stiffness from carrying baby and helps ease the stress of sleep deprivation and other postnatal life changes.System Requirements:Running Time: 60 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HEALTH/FITNESS UPC: 029956274709 Manufacturer No: 120-2169

Shiva Rea - Radiant Heart

The flow (pun intended) of excellent yoga DVDs from Shiva Rea continues with Radiant Heart. With a total running time of about 30 minutes, this is the shortest of the California-based yogini's offerings; and with just a single section devoted to asana, there's no need for the "yoga matrix," a programmable feature that highlights Rea's other videos (including Yoga Shakti, inarguably one of the finest yoga DVDs on the market). Still, that one section, a 20-minute sequence called "Hridaya Namaskar" or "Heart Salutation," is, as Shiva Rea fans have come to expect, innovative and skillfully put together. Focusing less on the strengthening aspects of yoga than on relaxing, stretching, and invigorating, it combines a variety of lunges, backbends (ranging from the relatively elementary sphinx pose to more challenging positions like cobra, camel, and bow), twists, and more, all presented with the kind of flowing, undulating movements typical of Rea's style. The Heart Salutation is bookended by two meditation sections (the eight-minute "Prayer Wheel" and the three-minute "Energizing Heart Movement Meditation"), both of which, as their names imply, involve considerably more activity than is found in more traditional meditation sequences. Whether the combination of these elements will in fact promote the development of "an intelligent heart center which communicates, alerts, balances, and harmonizes" the body will end up being a personal matter for each user, but there's no doubting the quality of both the content and presentation of this inspiring teacher's work. Bonus features include sample bits from two other Rea DVDs, Yoga Trance Dance and Fluid Power Yoga. --Sam Graham

Calming, energizing, life-transforming yoga

In yoga, the heart center has its own wisdom, intelligence, and energy. In this unique and inspiring practice, one of yoga's top teachers shows you how to connect to the power of your heart-most potently, your capacity for love and healing.

Shiva offers three ways to experience yoga's rejuvenating heart-centered focus. Her Prayer Wheel practice generates love and compassion. Hridaya Namaskar (Heart Salutation) leads to deep relaxation and inner peace. The Energizing Heart Movement Meditation releases stagnant energy and creates natural joy and vitality.

Starting or ending your day more centered within your heart will have a profound effect on your body and your life. Choose your practice - or combine all three - and celebrate the mystery of being human, fully alive with a radiant heart.

INCLUDES TWO BONUS SEGMENTS: Sample Shiva's other DVDs with Twisting Kriya (7 min.) from Yoga Trance Dance and Jala Namaskar (8 min.) from Fluid Power Yoga.

Yoga Journal: Great Instructors

Yoga Journal's Great Instructors 3 Pack

A 3-pack from Yoga Journal - Each 90-minute DVD helps you develop physical strength and flexibility as well as emotional balance. Disc 1 - Baron Baptiste: Foundations of Power Vinyasa Yoga - Create a positive--and permanent--shift in your life. Filmed live at the fifth annual Yoga Journal San Francisco Conference, this unrehearsed 90-minute program captures the magnetism and wisdom of one of America's great instructors and will help you establish a strong foundation for your yoga practice. In this basic, flowing workout, you will discover how proper yoga technique and mindfulness can power your practice and empower your life. One of the leading yoga innovators in America, Baron Baptiste popularized the style of yoga known as Power Vinyasa Yoga, which is designed to create heat in the body and stimulate energy flow. He is the owner and director of two Baptiste Power Yoga Institutes in Massachusetts and is the author of three books. The DVD includes: 36 poses, including Sun Salutations A & B, standing poses, backbends, forward bends, twists, and seated poses - fundamentals of effective alignment - stand-alone chapters, allowing you to start the class at any point - in depth interview with Baron Baptiste - and valuable resource materials for teachers. Disc 2 - Seane Corn: Yoga from the Heart - Heal yourself-and the world-through yoga. Filmed live at the Annual Yoga Journal San Francisco Conference, this unrehearsed 90-minute class captures the charisma and soul of one of yoga's great instructors. In this heart-pumping vinyasa flow practice, you'll journey through your body to awaken to your own intuition and life purpose and gain insight into how your yoga practice can empower you to help heal the world. One of the most gifted yoga instructors in America, Seane Corn's dynamic and inspirational style of yoga incorporates both the physical and spiritual aspects of yoga. She is the National Yoga Ambassador for YouthAIDS and the recipient of the 2005 Conscious Humanitarian Award. Seane teaches at Sacred Movement in Santa Monica, California and travels extensively. Learn 32 poses in all, including: Sun Salutations; standing poses; hip openers, and shoulder and spine stretches - Stand-alone chapters allow you to start the class at any point - In-depth interview with Seane Corn - Great resource for teachers. Unleash your creative spirit in this improvisational, open practice. Disc 3 - Shiva Rea's Free Flow Yoga will tune and tone you while showing you how to navigate life's challenges with grace, power, and confidence. Filmed live at the Annual Yoga Journal San Francisco Conference, this unrehearsed 90-minute program captures the dynamism and creativity of one of the great instructors of Yoga in America today. A leading teacher of vinyasa flow yoga, Shiva Rea is best known for her creation of Yoga Trance Dance. Her approach to yoga integrates her knowledge of Krishnamacharya lineage, tantra, ayurveda, bhakti, kalaripayattu, world dance, yogic art and somatic movement. She has lead over 70 retreats nationally and internationally, and actions for the environment, yoga and the arts. DVD features include a bonus chanting & meditation session as well as an in-depth interview with Shiva.

Shiva Rea: Lunar Flow Yoga

RELAX and REJUVANATE with Shiva Rea's Lunar Flow Yoga. For centuries, yogis have learned to draw from the invigorating ernergy of the sun. But there is another approach that invites the rejuvenating energy of the moon, through a spectrum of practices to enjoy the lunar approach to yoga - calming, fluid and connected. Now, international yoga teacher Shiva Rea offers Luna Flow Yoga - an instructional DVD with an easy-to use menu for designing your own practice, from hip openers to backbends, all offered in a meditative, slower-paced rhythm that is appropriate for any time of day. Filmed on stunning Cocoa Island and in Keral, India, Shiva guides both beginning and intermediate students through a flow of vinyasas to experience a dynamic transformation that is both balancing and rejuvanating.