Shiva Rea: Radiant Heart

I own just about every Shiva Rea dvd. This one is only 35 minutes long plus 2 sets from Yoga Trance dance (twisting kriya) and Fluid Power. The dvd has 3 sections:1. Breathing vinyasa in which you move your arms and legs like you are doing tai chi in unison with your breath. Your arm go in and out with your breath and over and around your head and chest- to open your heart and bring joy. It is slow motion meditation.2. Heart salutation: cat/cow, moving half split (on one knee and one leg straight); side angle on knee, triangle on knee, lunge hip opener,lunge back bend, camel holding onto heels and releasing one arm and swinging it back, cobra with om on exhale, bow pose with om-done 3 times, lying twist, happy baby. It ends with a seated meditation with hands in lotus mudra. (20 minutes)You'll need a pillow or blanket for tender knees.3. twisting kriya with chanting Ha. (3 minutes)parts 1 & 3 did nothing for me. I liked 2 a lot as it prepares you for seated meditation and I use it at night before my nightly meditation. It opens up your shoulders and hips making it easier to sit and puts you in a meditative mood to recieve blessings.If you hit play all, you get the energetic kriya last which may not be what you want after the relaxing heart salutation. There is not a matrix on this dvd so it makes it harder to program a customized set. Shiva spoiled us with her unique matrix.My only complaint is that the cinematography was a little too artsy and that you really couldn't see what she was doing as it was either in shadows or shot from far away. Also when she asks you to say om with a pose, she doesn't say it with you and if you are face down and not looking at the screen, it is hard to know when to chant and when not to chant. Minor quibbles.I felt very calm after doing the heart salutation and I can see using set 2 every night as I love camel, the hardest pose on this dvd.I can also see doing set 3 plus the Yoga trance dance twisting kriya to wake up in the morning before a hatha or kundalini yoga set.

My only mistake was holding off buying this DVD until 2008 and missing out on an exquisite little gem. It's a perfect early morning practice, with gentle music and a Prayer Wheel warmup as the sun rises behind clouds ... a brief period of arm circles and Ohm chants, a heart chakra "massage," then the Prayer Wheel which consists of gently rocking forward and back in a staggered stance, while circling the arms to stimulate the chi. This section alone is better than the strongest morning coffee!The next segment, Hridaya Namaskar (heart salutation) is complete in 20 minutes, perfect to set the tone for your day. It features gentle kneeling stretches to warm and open the spine and graduates to gentle/moderate backbends as the sun continues to rise, the most vigorous being Ustrasana (camel). Backbends are appropriately countered with forward bends and side stretches. You are bathed in nurturing! Rather than lying Savasana, the practice ends with a seated meditation followed by prana mudra arm/breathing movements, which you might enjoy better than lying still again after sleeping.The closing Energizing Heart Movement Meditation will launch you into your day with a vibrant attitude, in three closing minutes. The music picks up apace as Shiva leads through a standing "ha" kriya with arm movements to open the ribcage and release any last stagnant air, and prepare your spine to uphold the stresses of the day. If you wish to stimulate your morning further, the Twisting Kriya from Yoga Trance Dance and Jala Namaskar from Fluid Power are both included in the bonus chapters.Though my review is geared toward a morning practice, this would also make an uplifting refresher after your day, before moving into nightly chores. I only ask - Shiva, can we have more chakra centered practices? How delightful would a similar brief compilation be for the head centers, root chakra, throat ...

I started yoga when I had a heart attack scare, I started with this dvd. Since then I have gathered many others. It's hard to explain? But this is the best thing that could have happened to me. Yoga, I feel, saved my life in more ways than one. I love this DVD I start out the week with it, then I move onto upper body plus core, lower body plus core and abs. Not only do I feel amazing but my body is shaping up nicely as well. I would unequivocably recommend this to everyone! It is easy, simple, but does so much!

I have 3 other Shiva Rea DVD's and this one is a bit different. The others have many, many options (time, focus, ets). This DVD is one complete workout. Her voice is so soothing, her instructions are impeccable (you don't have to look at the screen constantly) and the music is wonderful. The warm-up (Prayer Wheel Meditation) is a continuous 8 minute heart opening flow. You will be doing a sort of rock with one leg forward and your arm moving together away from you and then towards your heart.The longest flow (Heart Salutions)is 20 minutes long. There are traditional poses in this section, but with a twist. Your arms are always flowing and some the standing poses are done on your knees. For those of you with knee problems, you may want to keep a pillow handy or skip this one. A good 10 minutes or more of the 20 are spent on your knees, one at a time or both. There is a very short relaxation and meditaion at the end of this section if you want to end here.At the end there is a 3 minute engergizing flow. I wish that it were less energizing and more relaxing. The DVD ends with this flow so there's no relaxation at the end.There are also two bonus sections taken from Shiva's previous DVD's (Trance Dance and Fluid Power) making the total yoga time over 40 minutes.Please don't let these few items I mentioned sway you from buying this DVD. It is worth every penny and I just relax on my own at the end.

Great DVD. I had it and lost it so I bought it again!