A.M. Peak Performance Yoga - Focus -VHS-

Amazon.com True to its cover subtitle, A.M. Peak Performance offers "25 minutes to greater focus." In this short, fresh, and scenic yoga video, master yoga instructor Rod Stryker guides us through a series of poses that open the spine and back, focus the breath, and increase flexibility; or, as he states it, poses that "access your vitality." Poses include flowing series of tree, front, chair, cat, and warrior, among others. No pose is too challenging, and Stryker includes modifications in his own demonstrations, aware perhaps that some viewers could be intimidated by displays of intense flexibility. Though he speaks in a somewhat grandiose metaphor, it makes sense for this practice. It's low-key, flowing, and meditative. Pleasant tinkling piano, harp, and violin compositions complement the lapping of the waves on the Maui beach where Stryker practices, creating the appropriate paradisiac mood. When he asks you to "absorb the endless energy of healing and vitality" into your body at the end of the routine, the trance-like state felt by the meditation portion makes this feel possible--you want to "melt into timelessness," but instead, you can settle for just feeling invigorated and ready to start the day with increased mental clarity. --Gilia Angell