Thread: meditative yoga recommendations, please

Hola, chicas! I have a few power yoga DVDs I enjoy but I'm looking for something more about holding the poses for a longer period (is this vinyasa? Yeesh, not even sure what I'm asking for...). Anyway~ any suggestions?
Thank you in advance for your guidance.

Vinyasa is moving yoga. Usually slower than Power Yoga, but still moving. If you find an old fashioned Hatha teacher, you will get someone who slows down and holds the poses. At least that has been my experience.

Now that having been said, there are Hatha practitioners who don't spend a lot of time on their poses. I have always gotten the feeling that they are more interested in showing off their vocabulary of asanas then in reaching release.

{{{HUGS}}}

I second the recommendation for Hatha yoga. I love it.

If you are looking for DVDs for home practice, check out Gaiam's collection of Yoga DVDs.

Yoga DVD & Video - Award-Winning Yoga DVDs - Gaiam

They are very well-produced and feature some really beautiful scenery. I particularly love their "All Day Yoga For Beginners" DVD because it has three 20-minute workouts: AM Yoga, Stress Relief Yoga, and PM Yoga. The latter two are fantastic for relieving stress. Rodney Yee is a particularly well-recommended instructor.

This is a wonderful client of mine who is putting out an amazing and innovative yoga dvd next spring.

But anyhoo, her YIN YOGA DVD is fantastic!

Jennifer Kries Yin Yoga.

You can view a trailer there, too...

You are looking for Iyengar yoga, poses are held for 30 seconds to a minute or so.
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Iyengar-Yoga-Beginners-B-K-S/dp/1405317388/ref=pd_sim_d_2]Amazon.com: Iyengar Yoga for Beginners (9781405317382): B.K.S. Iyengar: Books[/ame]

Originally Posted by _Tanya_

You are looking for Iyengar yoga, poses are held for 30 seconds to a minute or so.

Also excellent!

{{{HUGS}}}

Awesome, thank you everyone for the recs!! I'm going to check out all the links.

Tanya, I believe you are spot on- I am going to try Iyengar.

I do have AM/PM yoga (and one of my power dvds is Rodney Yee as well); I like the calmness of the AM/PM but I would like to hold the poses longer. I'd like to avoid "cardio yoga" and sink into each pose, really 'get' the pose before I have to move into another.

Vinyasa is actually a word for sequence, usually referencing the sun salutation. But most yoga labeled vinyasa is a more fluid moving power like yoga.

I would also look into meditation dvd's to get the feel of what meditation is supposed to be. Even self hypnosis tapes help.

Vinyasa is the linking of body movements with the breath. People often use it to refer to a specific sequence in the sun salutation but it can be something as simple as inhaling the arms above the head or cat/cow etc.,

Any recommendations for Iyengar-type yoga DVDs? Gaiam didn't seem to have the slower type and my search efforts thus far have turned up Iyengar books, but no video instruction. (Maybe that's the point?)

I don't have a recommendation for a specific video but my favorite Iyengar-style video instructor is Patricia Walden. She is simply brilliant.