Product Description

Nearly 70 postures to ignite your inner fire and awaken your nervous system to its natural, vital state.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8883 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-12-01
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 120 minutes

Customer Reviews

The real thing
Wow! I'll never bother with a yoga instructor after this gem. Richard's words perfectly instruct your progress - as if he were there in the room - to assure that you learn the primary series correctly. He must be a very experienced teacher as his analogies and what he says keep you focused on the breathing and exploring all parts of the posture(s) together. I really learned a lot from what he said, discovering more and more each time (which is good because you don't look at the screen much while you're doing it!).

One especially high-quality feature of this DVD is the variety of starting points. You can start with 1. a poetic opening chant, 2. an informative introduction, 3. a discussion of breathing, 4. Sun Salutation instruction, 5. The complete 90 minute primary series, 6. Standing postures, 7. Seated postures, 8. Finishing postures and 9. contact information.


This DVD will last me several years, as I can only follow him for the first half hour so far. But if you want to see the absolute limits of the human body, watch through to the end of the 90 minutes. He's not a circus freak - it's way beyond that, stuff that will really take a good sense of humor to even approach. But he makes it look effortless.

I also tried Baron Baptist and while Baron is sincere, Richard is the real thing. My body has changed internally, with the proper form from practicing this regularly. I can't express the relief I feel now with a liberated lower spine, neck, legs, abdomen, breath, etc - except to say that everyone should do the work it takes to feel this way. It takes time but then it lasts.

Being an Indian and a yoga practitioner....
I must say that Freeman touches the stars with his knowledge and practice of Yoga. He does it like a Yogi should. His props are simple (there appear to be some snow peaks on the sky blue prop which tells me that he believes himself a yogi seeking to be in tune with the greatest yogi who permeates the pulse of the universe, Shiva, and whose abode is the Himalayas :-) ). Is this a DVD for beginners, certainly not but I cannot see why a beginner would not aspire to learn and practice yoga as he does. Watching it certainly propels you to inspiration. He has three DVD's and one of them is for beginners. But they are all EXCELLENT

There are a lot of yoga DVD's (not to mention programs) out there that profess to sweat your "fat" and "power" your system...sweating was not an intention of the Yoga asanas...as yoga is union of the mind and body and only should be practiced as such, and not as a power tool for egotistical ends. It is a powerful tool no doubt but it should be practiced in accordance to the philosophy it seeks to convey, namely understand who you are relative to your environment, how best to live in it and how to lead a life where action leads to positive reaction (Karma Yoga)

There may at best two or three people that have put out DVD's of value for the money. This is definitely one of them to learn from.

Look No Further Than Richard Freeman
For the best Ashtanga teacher in the US, look no further than Richard Freeman. This DVD is a little slow at first, but if you watch carefully, will give you many slight adjustments that will help you in the long run as you advance in this vigorous and rewarding yoga practice. The instruction is clear and direct. There isn't a laugh track, so it's hard to tell at times, because his delivery is DRY, but Richard is also very funny. Highly recommended.