Product Description

Viniyoga Therapy for the Upper Back, Neck and Shoulders features short, simple therapeutic yoga practices carefully designed to alleviate pain and promote health in the upper back, neck and shoulders. For the first time ever on DVD, benefit from the expert guidance of Gary Kraftsow, one of the world's leading yoga therapists. Founder of the American Viniyoga Institute, Gary is the designer of the only yoga practices demonstrated to be effective for back pain in a National Institutes of Health-sponsored clinical study. If you are one of the 8 out of 10 Americans who have or will experience back pain, make the powerful therapeutic practices on this DVD a part of your everyday regimen for health and well-being!
Highlights from this DVD include:
Presentation on Understanding Back Pain and the application of yoga therapy.
Technique Workshop on how to safely perform postures and movements.
Focused practice for Upper Back and Neck Therapy.
Focused practice for Neck and Shoulder Therapy.
Integrated practice for sustained upper back Strength and Stability.
Bonus MP3s of all practices for audio-only classes at home or on the go.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2500 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-02-03
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .50" h x 5.10" w x 7.50" l, .20 pounds
• Running time: 170 minutes

Features

• Presentation on Understanding Back Pain and the application of yoga therapy
• Technique Workshop on how to safely perform postures and movements
• Focused practice for Upper Back and Neck Therapy (22 minutes)
• Focused practice for Neck and Shoulder Therapy (32 minutes)
• Integrated practice for sustained upper back Strength and Stability (40 minutes)

Review
Gary Kraftsow, founder, director and senior teacher of the American Viniyoga Institute, elevates the genre of yoga DVDs to a whole new level...Whether you endure back pain or not, these are some of the best yoga DVDs on the market. --Fit Yoga, December 2007

Review
Viniyoga master Gary Kraftsow developed protocols for a recent National Institutes of Health-sponsored study of treatment for back pain. This excellent two-DVD series is based on this work and on his 30 years of experience as a yoga therapist. The detailed instruction, gentle repetitive movements, and focus on moving with awareness and the breath make these ideal practices for a wide range of people, including those who may not have pain but can benefit from strengthening and stabilizing their backs. --Yoga + Joyful Living, Nov/Dec 2007

About the Actor
Gary Kraftsow, MA has been a pioneer in the transmission of yoga for health, healing and personal transformation for 30 years. He began his study of yoga in India with T.K.V. Desikachar in 1974 and received a Viniyoga Special Diploma from Viniyoga International in Paris, France in the mid-80s. Gary graduated with a BA, Magna Cum Laude, from Colgate University in 1976, and received his Masters Degree in Psychology and Religion from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1983. He spent many years in private yoga therapy practice, teaching workshops and training teachers. Since then, he has become a renowned speaker and teacher of the Viniyoga methodology at many conferences and schools nationally and internationally. In 1999 he founded American Viniyoga Institute. Gary has successfully developed protocol for two National Institute of Health studies: Evaluating Yoga for Chronic Low Back Pain and Yoga Therapy for Generalized Anxiety. He is the Founder, Director and Senior Teacher of American ViniyogaTM Institute's Teacher and Therapist Trainings, and the author of two books published by Penguin: Yoga for Wellness and Yoga for Transformation.

Customer Reviews

Effective Neck/Shoulder Therapy On DVD -- Highly Recommended
Because I sit at a computer all day, I struggle with neck and shoulder issues. Now that I've picked up my weight training routine again, those issues are only being amplified. Happily, I have this DVD in my therapy stockpile. It's the only DVD I've tried which addresses neck and shoulder issues exclusively.

I like the fact that this DVD offers slow-moving yoga postures rather than sun salutations ad nauseum. While this is definitely a yoga dvd, the routines are more along the line of gentle stretching than a fast-moving "flow" practice. However, don't equate "gentle" with "ineffective." Hardly!!! This is the * most * effective neck and shoulder DVD I've done so far. I tried another, far more strenuous neck and shoulder yoga "workout" DVD which did not address the neck and shoulder area nearly as well as this gentle Viniyoga Therapy DVD. This DVD relaxes, loosens and strengthens the neck and shoulder area like no other yoga/stretch DVD I own. The fact that there are three 20 to 38-minute routines to choose from, that it is very effective, and that it has absolutely no "dread" factor for me, gives me the feeling that this DVD is going to be one of my most-used, "valuable player" workout DVDs of the year.... This DVD is appropriate for all levels: beginners, intermediates, advanced. However, understand that this is strictly a "therapeutic" yoga DVD addressing neck and shoulder issues. If you are looking for a traditional yoga workout with downward facing dog, etc., you are going to be disappointed.

Voiceover instruction with someone demonstrating the postures, so there's nothing sexy here, but the production values were very good. The best thing I've found so far for my neck and shoulder issues outside of Jeff Primack's qigong DVD.

wonderful, wonderful
I bought this and the "Lower Back" DVD because I spend way too many hours at the computer, and I was having back pain and foot pain from a pinched nerve. The DVDs are great. I love the anatomy overview, and the way you can progress at your own pace. I lent my copy of this upper back video to my chiropractor, and he thought it was fantastic and said he plans to buy both lower and upper back to show his other patients.

Excellent yoga video for increasing mobility in the upper back, neck, and shoulders
This DVD focuses on issues of the upper body, specifically the upper back, neck, and shoulders (the other DVD in this series focuses on the lower body). It differs from other yoga DVDs in that it contains a strong educational component in addition to the practice element. Also, the practices on the DVD are designed for rehabilitation and strengthening, and thus they are more similar in feel to a physical therapy session than to a yoga class.

The main menu of this DVD consists of four separate segments: 1) Understanding Back Pain, 2) Technique Workshop, 3) Therapeutic Practices, and 4) Special Features. The Technique Workshop provides the opportunity to study individual postures in greater depth. The Viniyoga Therapeutic Practices offer three complete practice segments tailored to meet different needs as described below. (Note: the DVD also provides bonus MP3 audio versions of each practice.)

1. Upper Back and Neck Therapy (22 minutes). This is the most gentle of the three practices, and it is designed to address misalignment or instability by strengthening and mobilizing the upper back and neck. In consists mainly of movements which serve to lengthen the upper spine.
2. Neck and Shoulder Therapy (32 minutes). This practice is more specifically geared to releasing pain or restricted movement in the neck and shoulders via stretching, aligning, and balancing work. Many of the postures here involve moving one arm as you twist your neck to the opposite side.
3. Strength and Stability (41 minutes). This longer practice is intend to build sustained, long-term health in the upper back, neck, and shoulders. It is a bit more intense than the previous two, containing many of the same posture sequences but adding some stronger work as well.

The practices feature a single student working on a mat against a rather sparse white set, with Gary providing instruction via voiceover. Most people are likely to find the practices rather dry--Gary's voice is a big monotone and repetitive, and there's little "fun factor" here. However, these are therapeutic in nature, and as such, they are quite effective. I found the twisting motions from the Neck and Shoulder Therapy practice in particular to be extremely beneficial for my nagging neck soreness and frequently tight upper back and shoulders. This DVD would be useful for virtually anyone who is at risk for upper back issues, from those who work at a desk daily to those with more chronic conditions. I definitely recommend Viniyoga Therapy for Upper Back, Neck, and Shoulders as an excellent tool for alleviating pain and promoting health in the upper back, neck, and shoulders.