Product Description

Calming, energizing, life-transforming yoga

In yoga, the heart center has its own wisdom, intelligence, and energy. In this unique and inspiring practice, one of yoga's top teachers shows you how to connect to the power of your heart-most potently, your capacity for love and healing.

Shiva offers three ways to experience yoga's rejuvenating heart-centered focus. Her Prayer Wheel practice generates love and compassion. Hridaya Namaskar (Heart Salutation) leads to deep relaxation and inner peace. The Energizing Heart Movement Meditation releases stagnant energy and creates natural joy and vitality.

Starting or ending your day more centered within your heart will have a profound effect on your body and your life. Choose your practice - or combine all three - and celebrate the mystery of being human, fully alive with a radiant heart.

INCLUDES TWO BONUS SEGMENTS: Sample Shiva's other DVDs with Twisting Kriya (7 min.) from Yoga Trance Dance and Jala Namaskar (8 min.) from Fluid Power Yoga.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20900 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-11-13
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 35 minutes

Amazon.com
The flow (pun intended) of excellent yoga DVDs from Shiva Rea continues with Radiant Heart. With a total running time of about 30 minutes, this is the shortest of the California-based yogini's offerings; and with just a single section devoted to asana, there's no need for the "yoga matrix," a programmable feature that highlights Rea's other videos (including Yoga Shakti, inarguably one of the finest yoga DVDs on the market). Still, that one section, a 20-minute sequence called "Hridaya Namaskar" or "Heart Salutation," is, as Shiva Rea fans have come to expect, innovative and skillfully put together. Focusing less on the strengthening aspects of yoga than on relaxing, stretching, and invigorating, it combines a variety of lunges, backbends (ranging from the relatively elementary sphinx pose to more challenging positions like cobra, camel, and bow), twists, and more, all presented with the kind of flowing, undulating movements typical of Rea's style. The Heart Salutation is bookended by two meditation sections (the eight-minute "Prayer Wheel" and the three-minute "Energizing Heart Movement Meditation"), both of which, as their names imply, involve considerably more activity than is found in more traditional meditation sequences. Whether the combination of these elements will in fact promote the development of "an intelligent heart center which communicates, alerts, balances, and harmonizes" the body will end up being a personal matter for each user, but there's no doubting the quality of both the content and presentation of this inspiring teacher's work. Bonus features include sample bits from two other Rea DVDs, Yoga Trance Dance and Fluid Power Yoga. --Sam Graham

Los Angeles Times
Yoga innovator takes concepts to heart.

H20 Magazine, November/December 2007
A calming, energizing, life-transforming workout offers a great introduction to yoga superstar Shiva Rea for all experience levels.

Customer Reviews

I am a Shiva Rea Fan ..
I have 3 other Shiva Rea DVD's and this one is a bit different. The others have many, many options (time, focus, ets). This DVD is one complete workout. Her voice is so soothing, her instructions are impeccable (you don't have to look at the screen constantly) and the music is wonderful. The warm-up (Prayer Wheel Meditation) is a continuous 8 minute heart opening flow. You will be doing a sort of rock with one leg forward and your arm moving together away from you and then towards your heart.
The longest flow (Heart Salutions)is 20 minutes long. There are traditional poses in this section, but with a twist. Your arms are always flowing and some the standing poses are done on your knees. For those of you with knee problems, you may want to keep a pillow handy or skip this one. A good 10 minutes or more of the 20 are spent on your knees, one at a time or both. There is a very short relaxation and meditaion at the end of this section if you want to end here.
At the end there is a 3 minute engergizing flow. I wish that it were less energizing and more relaxing. The DVD ends with this flow so there's no relaxation at the end.
There are also two bonus sections taken from Shiva's previous DVD's (Trance Dance and Fluid Power) making the total yoga time over 40 minutes.
Please don't let these few items I mentioned sway you from buying this DVD. It is worth every penny and I just relax on my own at the end.

Love Shiva Rea
I purchased this DVD after attending Shiva Rea's yoga instructor training at Kripalu. It includes backbends to open up the heart center (anahata chakra) through the practice of a heart salutation (Hridya Namaskar). Although short (only 35 minutes) in length, I love this DVD. Its not quite like having Shiva teach the Hridya Namaskar in person, but pleasant in its effects. After the practice, I feel that on a physical level, my chest and intercostal muscles have opened up; mentally I feel open to the idea that I can remain open in the face of adversity; and emotionally I feel open to the gentle, graceful and compassionate nature of my heart. I would not recommend this DVD for beginning yogi's as proper understanding of alignment is assumed. Without this awareness, one may do more harm than good. So, if you are an intermediate or advanced yogi looking to open up your heart - by all means enjoy this DVD.

Good to do before meditation or as a wake up kriya
I own just about every Shiva Rea dvd. This one is only 35 minutes long plus 2 sets from Yoga Trance dance (twisting kriya) and Fluid Power. The dvd has 3 sections:
1. Breathing vinyasa in which you move your arms and legs like you are doing tai chi in unison with your breath. Your arm go in and out with your breath and over and around your head and chest- to open your heart and bring joy. It is slow motion meditation.

2. Heart salutation: cat/cow, moving half split (on one knee and one leg straight); side angle on knee, triangle on knee, lunge hip opener,lunge back bend, camel holding onto heels and releasing one arm and swinging it back, cobra with om on exhale, bow pose with om-done 3 times, lying twist, happy baby. It ends with a seated meditation with hands in lotus mudra. (20 minutes)You'll need a pillow or blanket for tender knees.

3. twisting kriya with chanting Ha. (3 minutes)

parts 1 & 3 did nothing for me. I liked 2 a lot as it prepares you for seated meditation and I use it at night before my nightly meditation. It opens up your shoulders and hips making it easier to sit and puts you in a meditative mood to recieve blessings.

If you hit play all, you get the energetic kriya last which may not be what you want after the relaxing heart salutation. There is not a matrix on this dvd so it makes it harder to program a customized set. Shiva spoiled us with her unique matrix.

My only complaint is that the cinematography was a little too artsy and that you really couldn't see what she was doing as it was either in shadows or shot from far away. Also when she asks you to say om with a pose, she doesn't say it with you and if you are face down and not looking at the screen, it is hard to know when to chant and when not to chant. Minor quibbles.

I felt very calm after doing the heart salutation and I can see using set 2 every night as I love camel, the hardest pose on this dvd.

I can also see doing set 3 plus the Yoga trance dance twisting kriya to wake up in the morning before a hatha or kundalini yoga set.