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Abby Lentz Of Heartfelt Yoga

For the last eleven years or so, I have had an on-again-off-again affair with yoga.  I truly love yoga, I’ve taken a variety of classes, I have books on it, I think it’s great for so many things, etc. etc. etc.  But I’ve also had numerous struggles with it that go beyond being the fattest person in every class I’ve ever taken.  I have joint issues (diagnosed with fibromyalgia and arthritis which I’ve healed from pretty well with a few residual issues) which make a mat on a hardwood floor a really uncomfortable place to be.  I also have that really short torso/long legged body type that makes forward bends and sustained leg-in-the-air stuff kind of uncomfortable.

So when Abby Lentz of Heartfelt Yoga asked me to review her DVD’s, HeavyWeight Yoga: Yoga For The Body You Have Today (” HWY 1″) and HeavyWeight Yoga 2: Change The Image of Yoga (“HWY 2”) I was happy to do it but certainly took my sweet time.  (Sorry, Abby!)

Over the last two days, I finally took the time to try them out.  They are both truly wonderful.  After doing the first customized workout on HWY 1 and the main workout on HWY 2, my bodied felt stretched out and more relaxed.  The warm ups and main classes are made up of mainly traditional Hatha poses and breathwork (with a sprinkling of pilates-like moves during the warmup) with a savasana (relaxation) at the end.  This is really the kind of yoga I like — slow-moving and relaxing, with no really challenging moves like shoulderstands. There’s also no chanting (which I really dig but I know not everyone does).

Although HWY 1 is more customizable in terms of creating a variety of routines, I really enjoyed HWY 2 the most.  HWY 2  is set in a class and features a variety of folks of various (fat) shapes and sizes, and I really enjoyed seeing how each person modified the poses based on their body shapes.  HWY 2 also includes some additional features, like the choice of listening to it in Spanish or English and interviews with the class participants.

Since this a review, I will note just a few things I didn’t like, but certainly got over very easily.  One is that Lentz uses the terms “overweight and obese” in the introduction to each DVD, which are two words I don’t really love, for a variety of reasons.  However, that’s only in the introductions, which are easily skipped.  On a more technical, yoga-related note, during the very beginning of the warm-up part of each workout (but more during HWY 1 than 2), her tone felt sort of rushed, which had a rather non-relaxing effect.

Anyway, I hope you’ll try the DVD’s and let me know what you think.  And if you’re in Austin, Texas, I’d definitely check out a live class!