The Ultimate Yogi

I have been practicing yoga for at least ten years. I have never taken a live class and learned yoga from books and DVDs. Over the past few years I have moved away from Hatha yoga in favor of Ana & Ravi's Kundalini yoga dvds. I wanted to start a work out program to help keep muscle mass that is often lost due to aging while working on the loss in mobility in my joints due to a hereditary condition. I also had gotten away from my personal meditation practice while I was doing the Ana & Ravi's workouts since they have meditation built in along with some pranayama but I wanted a longer practice with less focus on Sikh mantras.Just when I was about to make my hair fall out trying to figure out how to do all of these things while still work for a living in walked (or downward dogged) Travis Eliot into my life with a P90X style Yoga program. I could not purchase the program fast enough once I found it. As soon as I got the dvd's, I downloaded them to my computer and then to my ipod and started my first of the 108 days that evening. I have now finished my first 36 days and I have started the second cycle of 36 days so I have now done all of the dvds. Travis Eliot is an excellent teacher and seems like an all round great guy. His cueing is so good I was able to do all the dvd's by ipod alone and only once or twice did I have to stop what I was doing and pull the ipod out of my armband and look at the video.Travis teaches mainly in Santa Monica and he reminds me of my previously favorite Santa Monica yogi, Bryan Kest. Travis calls his yoga classes in rhymes like Kest in a sing-song voice which is what I think people are picking up on when they mention in reviews about his voice. This speech pattern seems to me a Santa Monica or California thing and you get used to it fast. Also like Kest, Travis TALKS A LOT during his class and if I was going to deduct any points it would be for the fact that they do not have the option to play the class with music and cues only like they on P90X. After having done the majority of the dvds over 5 times some of the chatter is starting to get a little old and I think if they do a second edition or an Ultimate Yogi 2 that they should drop the option to do the workout without music and instead add option to do it with music and cueing because that would add a lot to repeatability of the program. However, I not take a point off because the program earned points in so many other areas that to do so just seemed petty.In closing, if you like Hatha yoga and enjoy the California style Power Yoga classes you will LOVE this series. Although I personally prefer my yoga with all the religion intact, I do enjoy Travis' Unitarian approach and agree with other reviewers that there is NOTHING in these classes that anyone from any religious (or non-religion) background would find offensive. Travis is a little more spiritual or introspective than Bob Harper or Tony Horton but his primary focus is on being in the moment, staying in tune with your body and living life with gratitude which are things I thing 95% of people should not find hokey.Sidebar on each DVD:CROSS TRAINING - easiest of the non yin classes and one of my favorites in the programCARDIO - second hardest with the highest dread factor being the cycle of 10STRENGTH - third hardest with LOTS of arm balances but not as hard on wrists as I fearedFLEXIBILITY - a beast but in a good way - has moves I have never done which makes me love this class but I know it will have a pretty high dread factor for the non gumby typesBALANCE - Travis states in the dvd that he bets we never want to put this dvd back in the player again after doing the class once and he is right - Hardest of all classes but where would be the challenge if there was not at least one dvd that might actually take 15 times to actually be able to do it without stumbling a few times;DETOX - lots of twists which I thought I would not like but it is actually my second favorite and like cross training is one of the lighter days while still being yangVITALITY - my favorite class which surprised me since I am not really big into backbendsHARDCORE - doable but with plenty of with room to grow and not nearly as high a dread factor as I feared and enough variety that I have not gotten bored with it even after doing it over 15 timesGENTLE YOGA - I have only done this once in the program so far and did not like it as much as I hoped but it will probably grow on meYIN YOGA - would have been my favorite if Travis did not talk so much - this is another that will be real hard for non flexible people especially since you hold a couple of the poses for over 5 minutesMOUNTAIN POSE SERIES - closest thing to a misstep to me first time I did it but after the 6th time it is starting to grow on me but do I wish it was little more Qi Gong and in fact I have on occasion substituted a Qi Gong dvd for this onePRANAYAMA MEDITATION - wish he would count a little quieter because it takes me out of the meditation but other than that I am happy with this one.

I'm a beginner (but not an ultimate beginner) in yoga, so I do know some basic poses. That's where I'm coming from.I'm 52 and pretty much in abysmal physical conditioning. I started Yin Yoga with Paul Grilley a bit over a year ago to try to resolve an old yoga injury (please listen to whatever instructor is in front of you and respect your body! Injuries are life-changing and miserable!). It worked wonderfully and my hip issue, which was so bad I couldn't even sleep some nights, was completely resolved.But I was neglecting other important aspects of conditioning so my sister loaned me her set of the Ultimate Yogi. Seriously, I am in really poor shape especially in strength. But I've been doing it for three weeks now and already see a big increase in strength and balance. I have a long ways to go, true. The rest of my life, I suppose.I purchased my own copy because after only three weeks I realized I wanted this set in my arsenal. Even though I had decided I wanted my own copy, I still read the reviews.I'm here because I wanted to comment on a few of the more common complaints:1-- Endless blathering. Yes, the guy talks. A lot. Over the course of my life I've gone through a lot of various types of exercise DVDs and, yeah, they talk. A lot. It can be annoying but I have learned that it's kind of easy to tune them out if you're actually focusing on your pose (or whatever exercise DVD you're doing).In fact, if you're 'doing it right' it's kind of hard to pay attention to the endless blather because you're focused on yourself. The only time I really wish he would stop talking sooner is at the end pose, 'corpse pose,' because it is very difficult to do a corpse pose with any kind of external distractions. For me, anyway. In fact, this is the only time it makes me feel agitated, so I generally stop the DVD and do the pose in silence.But as far as yakking instructors go, this guy in particular is not annoying. His volume is even and low, his cadence is smooth and calming and easily tuned out once you know the routine (because let's face it, no one wants to hear *anyone* repeat the same thing for 108 days). But that's the nature of recorded classes. You simply have to listen to the same words over and over. The only way around that is to go to a live class.2-- A big complaint I see a lot is that he doesn't give enough instruction or cuing. My goodness, I couldn't disagree more! He takes like five instructive steps just to get into a wide-legged stance! And the cuing is perfect and I can tell you how I know this: I can't do yoga with my glasses on and I can't see without them. Yet I manage to follow along just fine. I suppose it's possible for someone who is in a plank position to not know what 'lift your hips up into a downward dog' means, but frankly if you are that unfamiliar with yoga you should consider reviewing some basic yoga poses before you begin.3-- There are MANY tips for modifications and use of blocks. Also, much encouragement to pay attention to your own limitations and adjust the pose or go into child's pose and regroup. This is truly for all levels if you're willing to listen to the instructor and modify, come out of a pose, or rest when needed. Or, good for you if you need to listen to him tell you how to make it harder because he does that as well!If I had any complaints about this set, there would be only two and both are resolving as I progress. One, in some classes one side of the body is worked a long time, then the other side. At the beginning I really wanted to quit early in some routines because, well... it was hard! By the time I finished with one side, I was too pooped to do the other! But I didn't quit because you can't do just one side, right? So, perhaps a method to the madness after all... The other 'complaint' is the order of the classes. Being so weak, Cross Training, Cardio, and Strength are too much in a row. I just can't recover by Strength day. I'm sure there probably is some reason I should do it in the order given, but I'm putting one of the other classes in between Cardio and Strength until I improve.That's all. It's a great set of western yoga classes that covers all aspects of physical fitness: strength, cardio, flexibility, balance, breathing, and a calm mind. If you can do this set well you shouldn't have any complaints about your all-around level of physical fitness and it will enhance your enjoyment of any other physical activities you participate in.EDITED TO ADD:Rough length of claases in minutes--Cross Training: 65Cardio: 62Strength: 65Flexibility: 72Balance: 61Detox: 72Vitality: 70Hardcore (abs): 18Yin yoga: 65Gentle yoga: 56Mountain pose (rest day): 35Sun salutations: 16, 32, 98