Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36089 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-07-12
• Rating: Exempt
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 85 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Actress Nicole Kidman's sister lends some second-hand star power to Antonia Kidman Yoga: The Power and Style of Ashtanga, a modified, nicely presented version of the practice that has become popular among Westerners seeking a vigorous yoga workout. The series shown here is less than an hour long, about half the length of the traditional ashtanga practice (serious users are encouraged to check out the DVDs and videos by Richard Freeman, perhaps the foremost ashtanga yogi in America), but it touches on the major areas: flowing sun salutations, standing poses, seated poses, backbends, and an inversion or two; many of these asanas demand a combination of strength, balance, and flexibility that may be too much for beginners, although easier variations are demonstrated. The instruction (by Kate Agnew; Kidman herself is the host) is adequate but incomplete, as is so often the case with yoga video products; there's no warm-up, and curiously, the few minutes devoted to yoga breathing, far and away the most vital component of any practice, come after the ashtanga series is over. More advanced users will have no problems with The Power and Style of Ashtanga, but the less experienced should watch the program once before actually doing it. Even better, if possible, take a few classes in person and then use it as a supplement to a regular practice. --Sam Graham

Special Features
English
Region 2
Breathing Exercises
Abdominals
Sun Salute
Interview With Antonia Kidman
Interview With Kate Agnew
Behind The Scenes At The Rehearsal

Synopsis
Antonia Kidman, the younger sister of Hollywood superstar Nicole Kidman and herself a television celebrity in Australia, presents her own yoga workout on this DVD following the ashtanga style.

Customer Reviews

Some difficult poses, strictly for advanced yoga students
The session starts with a particularly vigorous sequence of the Sun Salutation, setting the tone for twenty minutes of standing postures. Fifteen minutes of sitting poses lead into a finishing sequence lasting some 10 minutes. The asanas are well demonstrated, with the instructor and three students at different levels.

Unfortunately, many of the poses assume some quite advanced levels of flexibility. At one point, the students move between cross-legged position and a kneeling backward bend by swinging between their arms. No advice was given for the less advanced students such as myself, who would benefit from guidance on how to develop this ability. This is the case later in the tape, when Antonia demonstrates a full lotus while in an inverted posture. We do not get to see what the beginner student is up to.

The style of the tape is that of a regular yoga class, with instructor Kate Agnew advising each of the students on technique and the camera panning between them. The choreography/editing is poor. Kate starts to move and you begin to follow her, only to find that she is getting up to advise her students. The view of Sydney harbour through the windows is interesting, but it is always poorly defined and spasmodic, behind glass. Why was the tape not made on the waterfront ?

The final, relaxation section is very disappointing. I was relaxing nicely into a peaceful cross-legged posture and was ready for a couple of minutes on my back, when the students, still cross-legged or in lotus position were instructed to lift themselves up with their hands. We were finally lying down and preparing to wind down when the tape is suddenly over. Antonia pops up to tell us that the key to yoga is to practise often, thanks Antonia. She is outside now and in the view that should have been used for the whole tape.

Kate Agnew and Antonia Kidman are clearly advanced yoga practitioners but have most to offer to those who are already able to practise these advanced postures.

Excellent work out video
This is definitely the best yoga video that I have tried as it is most like a yoga class that you would attend at a school. It is quite strenuous and if you think that it will be easier once you get to the seated poses you are wrong because you have to do a upward dog, plank and downward dog between each seated posture! The video is a very comprehensive work out and toning session and it feels as though you have worked and stretched every muscle and your spine, in particular feels fantastic. The biggest plus about all the poses is that they are held for at least five full breaths unlike many other videos where they are held for a very short amount of time so you don't have to use the pause button at all (except at the very end, see below).

There are four people to watch perform the postures, Kate Agnew, the instructor, Antonia Kidman (Nicole's little sister) who both do level three and then two other presenters who do level one and level two. There are only two things which stop me from giving this five stars and that is that often when you are being told to look at the lower level demonstration the camera is focused in on Antonia or Kate so you can't see the modified pose. This, plus the fact that at the end just as you are being told how important it is to do the final lying down relaxation Antonia Kidman pops up chirpily telling you it is the end of the video so have the pause button handy at the end if you want to relax for longer than 5 seconds and after this work out you will.

While it is really Kate Agnew's video Antonia clearly is a very good at yoga and does a nice little advert for Sydney, the setting in a warehouse with view looking over the beautiful Sydney Harbour towards the Opera House make for a lovely backdrop. It says on the cover that it is for beginners but I would only recommend it for people who have experience of yoga or are looking for a good video to use in addition to classes, if you are a beginner I would recommend Solomon Yogalates which is also from Australia but more suited all levels.

A very rewarding work out.
I had only been to a couple of yoga and pilates classes before because I live out in the stix, so I decided to buy a beginners yoga DVD. This was great for about six months and introduced me to the basics. I then decided to buy the Antonia Kidman Ashtanga Yoga DVD, obviously wanting a body like Madonna's! At first found it really, really hard and like a previous reviewer, could barely get through the sun salutation section! However, I perservered and little by little found myself getting better. Now I am completely addicted to doing sun salutation, standing postures and sitting postures almost every morning. Physically my arms, legs and stomach have really toned up and mentally it's great for zoning out and concentrating on nothing else except your breathing. My advice to beginners would be to probably get an easier DVD to start with but with practice, this is a great DVD to use. You do get better bit by bit, but it's hard work.

The extras are pretty good too, especially the stomach exercises.