Review 14-Year-Old Virgin: A Family-Friendly Thread

[laurajhawk]

I took up yoga in 2004, and with the help of VF and a workplace Power Yoga class, I quickly came to think of myself as a power yoga person. In 2007 I bought the Mark Blanchard Sedona set and loved it. (I didn't DO it very often - the ones I actually did were Bryan and Baron and Eoin - but I did it at least once and loved it.) So, when DeepDiscountDvd (remember them?) put Blanchard's Progressive Power Yoga trilogy on, well, deep discount, naturally I bought them.

But they're 90 minutes each. And I had a job, and a life, and anyway VF said they're terribly hard.

The next 13 years are not terribly relevant to our story. Let's resume in late 2021. I was still practicing yoga, mostly in studio classes. On Nov. 1, I retired, and started taking MORE classes. I had intentions of practicing more at home, and I did the VF sadhana, but it was mostly classes and short home practices, plus occasionally a Blissology practice. I had foot problems and couldn't work out; I got a cortisone injection and felt better. I lifted weights. I trained a puppy for cardio.

A couple weeks ago, I realized I'm not practicing yoga like I wanted to. When I practice on my own (hey, I'm a certified teacher, though I don't teach), it's short and gentle. I have great DVDs - let's get back to those. I did Kest, and Total Yoga, and Ravi & Ana. I eyeballed those Blanchards. I read some old VF threads. One of them had a post by me, noting I'd bought them in 2008. Most of them featured words like "deadly" and also "pervy" - apparently Blanchard handles his yogis in a rather personal manner. I considered. I dived in.

Well, first off, nobody said he's married to the one he handles the most; he is. Also, he hardly ever gave me a chance to look at the screen. Who knows what he was doing to whom?

Secondly, sometime in these last 14 years, I learned to accept and to modify. He does do a CRAZY LOT of chaturangas, two per vinyasa times so many vinyasas. I ... didn't. I tried that a few times, mostly did one per vinyasa, and also kinda' ran out of chaturanga power for a while in the middle and did cobra vinyasa.

He did things I can't do. I enjoyed the prep poses for handstand and forearm stand, and I worked on headstand by the wall (yes, I heard him say "don't use the wall". It's my practice and my wall. Are you even still alive anymore, Mark? I'm using my wall). I still felt that I'd fully earned the final 30 minutes on the floor. And it was a really lovely practice.

[alisoncooks]

Awesome thread! I enjoyed reading about your journey.

You use that wall all you want!

[SpiritYogi]

Loved your post.

Glad you've healed from your injury and now have time to get back into a dedicated practice, whatever that may be.

See you on the mat...

[bubbles76]

This is a very timely and entertaining thread (and full of smileys, which I love!) ::. I have been eyeballing the Mark Blanchard Sedona Experience 5 dvd set for awhile. I enjoy power yoga, but I've been away from a dedicated yoga practice for quite some time. Like you, I also heard the set is crazy hard. Would you recommend it though?

[laurajhawk]

Bubbles, yes, I recommend it! Sedona is a bit less unreasonable, because 3 of the 5 practices are an hour or less. (Core is the short one, but, well, it's core. :P ) And it's beautiful! Just bring your modification skills and your vidiot mind, the one that says "you can't see me, Mr. Instructor, neener neener neener" so that you can skip things, pause, etc.

[cataddict]

Laura,

Just popping in to say that I enjoyed reading your story! It touched a chord with me since I'm revisiting some older workouts, and yeah, I am more likely now to modify and do what I want when I don't want to follow the instructor (LOL at "neener, neener, you can't see me" ). It's interesting reading the old reviews and comments about them now when my perspective has changed along my fitness journey.

[Melissa Baker]

Loved your story, Laura! Even though I’m certified to teach, I’ve always preferred following a yoga class for my home practice (via dvd or streaming) vs making up my own practice, making modifications along the way.

[sophiesmom]

Bravo Laura!

I agree! You use that wall, husband, large dog etc. all you want!

[sherry7899]

Originally Posted by bubbles76

This is a very timely and entertaining thread (and full of smileys, which I love!) ::. I have been eyeballing the Mark Blanchard Sedona Experience 5 dvd set for awhile. I enjoy power yoga, but I've been away from a dedicated yoga practice for quite some time. Like you, I also heard the set is crazy hard. Would you recommend it though?

Years ago I found two of those sets sealed for $10 each at the Princeton Record Exchange. I sold one on Amazon and gifted the other to a member of VF.

[bubbles76]

Originally Posted by sherry7899

Years ago I found two of those sets sealed for $10 each at the Princeton Record Exchange. I sold one on Amazon and gifted the other to a member of VF.

I just missed this set on eBay. Oh well, if it's meant to be it will come to me....hopefully for $10