Product Description

""To be in her presence, and to feel her spirit, her energy, and her teaching is an extraordinary experience"" Deepak Chopra. Musician and yoga teacher Maya Fiennes combines her talents to create a stunningly beautiful Kundalini practice focused on fortifying the bodys stress defenses. Maya uses movement, breath, mantra, and chantsall set to her own exhilarating musicto awaken the spirit, energize the body, and relax the mind. These movement sequences are designed to detoxify and strengthen kidneys and adrenals, the bodys first line of defense against stress-induced illness. Among the easiest styles of yoga to learn, Kundalini can produce dramatic results quickly. Youll feel more awake and aware, healthier, and better able to face everyday challenges. Amazon.com description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11556 in DVD
• Brand: FIENNES,MAYA
• Released on: 2007-06-26
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 60 minutes

Amazon.com
You may have years of yoga experience, but if it's limited primarily to the hatha style that's practiced most commonly in the West, musician-instructor Maya Fiennes' Kundalini Yoga to Detox and Destress may prove very surprising--and in very a good way. The London-based Fiennes describes kundalini as both "the mother of all yoga" and "among the easiest styles of yoga to learn" (not to mention a good way to "prepare for the Aquarian Age" that's coming in 2012, for those watching their calendars), a combination of movement, breath, and chanting designed to awaken, energize, and relax. That may all be true, but the contrast to the more familiar hatha style is striking. Where the latter usually concentrates on holding poses, gradually but subtly deepening them over the course of several long breaths, kundalini features almost constant movement; rapid side arm extensions and seated lifts and drops (a bit like jumping up and down on a trampoline from a seated position) are but two examples of the intense but highly enjoyable routines demonstrated here, and although the entire 60-minute program is done seated, on the back, or an all fours--there are no standing poses whatsoever--it's plenty strenuous enough to provide a good workout. Indeed, even pranayama work like the "breath of fire," featuring short, sharp, powerful inhalations and exhalations, is brisk and intense. Fiennes, who also supplied the rhythmic, pulsing music, offers explicit instructions and encouragement without being either frivolous or overly serious--a good balance, just like the practice itself. --Sam Graham

Shape Magazine, September, 2007
DVD of the month - 30 MINUTES TO A FIRMER, CALMER YOU.

Yoga Magazine, September 2007
Kundalini Yoga makes you feel more awake and aware, healthier, and better able to face everyday challenges.

Customer Reviews

Great Practice, New Agey Though
Initial Warning: New Age Cheese Factor is present in this DVD. My boyfriend walked in on me right as Maya was encouraging me to "become the New Aquarian Person!" and he burst out laughing. I don't mind it, being something of a low-key hippy person who talks to her plants and worries about her chakras, but although Boyfriend was interested in joining me for this work out (it does a lot of back stretching and flexing, which since he has a very tense, stiff back, looked appealing to him) he didn't think he could make it through and keep a straight face.

His loss. Still, if being told to become "the new Aquarian Person!" or "We will now chant to strengthen the kidneys" will utterly ruin your enjoyment of a practice, you might, ah, wanna rent this one first. Just in case.

Now, on to the review proper:

This routine can be fairly intense if you're not in shape. It's fun, I like it very much, but it can be quite the work out considering you don't actually *stand up* at any time. That being said, I'm not in the most phenomenal shape of my life at the moment and I can finish this practice. And I enjoy it very much indeed! It is currently part of my regular yoga rotation and I often do the warm up portion of the DVD even on days when I am not doing the full practice. It's very dynamic: you will not hold anything but corpse pose and easy pose. And it's all done sitting or kneeling. Props are not necessary even for We the Inflexible Yogis and Yoginis of the World, which I think would make it great for travel, although I do tend to sit on my yoga mat when I do this practice.

Kundalini yoga is very different from the other hatha yoga styles I've been exposed to. But it's fun, it made my back feel FANTASTIC, the music is great, and I felt reinvigorated and centered after it was done.

Great for beginners,
I have been doing Kundalini yoga for about 5 years now and I am always on the lookout for new dvd's. I own everything by Ravi Singh. I already have this yoga set on another dvd which is more complete than Maya Fiennes' The only thing I do like about her dvd is the music. The other reviewer said that the chants were African. No they are gurmukhi mantra chants. The music is tribal. That said here is what you can expect.

Setting: Totally white. Teacher is dressed in white on a sheepskin rug.
Music: tribal with vocals. I really liked the music
Instruction: In voice over. She tells you a lot about kundalini yoga during the poses.
Kriya: This is the set for the adrenals. It consists of hands in lotus and moving them out to the side; wrist press; body drops, active cat/cow; pelvis lifts holding ankles and a couple of other poses.
The class ends with deep relaxation.
What I didn't like: No meditation at the end of the class. I think teachers do a dis-service to students when they only teach the physical part of kundalini yoga. I'm a traditionalist in that respect; to me kundalini yoga is much much more than stretching. Without the meditation, you might as well do pilates! There are 1000's of meditations to choose from and she couldn't include one of them on this dvd. That is what I love about Ravi Singh's dvds, he includes meditations on EVERY SINGLE DVD he puts out.

If you are interested in this set on dvd. Get the dvd by Sat Jivan Singh Khalsa at the spiritvoyage website. It includes 4 meditations and a delightful GONG relaxation. You haven't lived until you've relaxed to the sound of the GONG.
I rented this dvd from netflix and after previewing it I sent it right back.

Overall: If you are new to kundalini yoga, you may like this. Old timers may be a bit bored. But she has good energy and is nice to watch.

A little deceptive
You may think all you're going to get are some slow movements and deep breathing exercises. Think again! Along with wonderful African sounding beats and chants are some very lively movements. This is just under an hour (you can skip the introduction the second time) and I look forward to the two days a week I've worked it into my schedule. Truly gives me a good feeling for the day.