Birthlight: Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond

I wish I could this DVD five stars. I appreciate Françoise Freedman's approach and anthropological study of pregnancy. I like the fact that the sequence is much more fluid and dance-like than most yoga out there. However, the DVD suffers from some substantial flaws. First, the adapted sun salutations are much too fast for later in the pregnancy and very awkward to do. I don't see why it's necessary at all to transition from downward dog directly to lunges with a big belly; there are definitely much better ways of sequencing this. I gave the sun salutations a few tries, but have been skipping that section of the DVD for some time now. The other three sequences are better in this regard, but still have transitions that seem unnecessarily awkward and/or too fast. Some of these transitions seems to exacerbate pelvic girdle/pubis symphysis pain, which I've had only off and on otherwise, and anyway, if one omits entire sequences where this may be an issue, there is hardly any yoga on the DVD left to practice. The lady doing the sequences looks about 5 months on, and it seems like they really should have tried them with somebody further along (or, have a different person for each trimester, as is common in other DVDs). The final issue is that the verbal instruction is not very good. It is difficult to do the sequences without constantly looking at the screen, which distracts from the actual practice, and neither of the narrators is any better in that regard. Some other prenatal yoga DVDs I have been using have the verbal instructions clear enough to where one may need to glance at the screen only very occasionally, if at all, and this really makes a big difference in my opinion.

I am currently in the two week wait.. and I love this DVD. It is SO unique and different from everything else out there. As a doula I will be recommending this video to all pregnant women I come across because it creates so much space in the pelvis and releases all of the deep hip, pelvic, and back muscles so necessary for birth, while also working the shoulders and upper body (a nice surprise!). I didn't know what to expect when I purchased it because at the time there were only 3 reviews and as an American I was unfamiliar with Birthlight. I'm so glad I took the risk! Even if I do not get my BFP this cycle I will be continuing with this video as it is just so different and effective! This DVD is all about movement and flowing and as Francoise says in the Intro (Watch the intro! Seriously! Especially if you are unfamiliar with birth and/or want to learn about the time-honored Amazonian women traditions which inspire the movements)- the movements are deceptively simple. I was not expecting to get a bit dewey, was not expecting to end the video both energized and centered and was certainly not expecting to walk away feeling like my muscles really worked, but WOW. I also really, really love the meditation bonus section (the breathing techniques will be fantastic for labor) and am looking forward to watching the other bonuses, particularly the postnatal part. This is definitely a video I will be able to enjoy in every trimester! It does move a tad quickly, so be patient with yourself the first few times you watch it as you find your rhythm and become accustomed to the very unique moves and poses. Let the body open slowly and enjoy!I LOVE this DVD!

I wish I had more energy to do this every day but I have used it occasionally for a month. It moves a little fast for me in the video (not too fast to follow along, I just don't feel I can move that fast physically). I feel much more relaxed afterwards and clear-headed, yet still feel like I've had a workout. It seems to put the baby to sleep too. I think the yoga positions help to keep the baby head down as well. He is head down now but before it felt like he was turning transverse which was uncomfortable. After the yoga, he would be back head-down. .

A gift for someone else

Breathing techniques, simple and unique yoga movements particularly effective.This DVD is very well detailed, nice to look at, the exercises are easy to practice safely at home everyday.I highly recommend this beautiful DVD. I am delighted with my purchase.

I was looking forward to this DVD and while waiting I started yoga excersice via YouTube. I am pretty much beginner had only a few classes of yoga before. As far as I understand yoga is all about relax, breathing and stretching postures and therefore I was very disappointed with this DVD. If you are new to yoga you would need to watch each excersice at least 3 x in order to try it by yourself as lady who does the postures is changing moves so fast it is impossible to catch up with it while making sure you do each posture in correct way and keep breathing accordingly too. Other classes I attended are nowhere close to speed in this DVD especially if you are further with your pregnancy you can't certainly move postures so fast as you might be light headed... Sending back sorry not worth the money

I cant rate this DVD highly enough! I couldn't really afford the Birthlight classes so invested in this DVD instead. Not only did it both relax and energise me throughout my pregnancy but I believe it also had a hand, along with keeping active with walking and other gentle exercise in helping me to achieve a natural birth after two c-sections. It contains exercises that I had already read would strengthen the section scar, and the pelvic floor exercises would no doubt have helped during labour and afterwards too.

I found this DVD a little hard to follow. At several points the voice over seems to be describing the move or sequence of moves that has just been completed. This is fine when you can see the TV but it makes it difficult when you are doing certain stretches. Once I got used to the routines and the order of the sequences this became less of a problem, but it did make my first few uses of the DVD a little frustrating.

Before using this dvd, I was starting to get regular backache and generally felt tight round my hips. Now I do this 3 times a week, it has really helped me to relax and feel more flexible. Great value for money and better than going to a class on an evening if you would rather be home.

This is the best Pregnancy Yoga DVD on the market: Excellent sequencing and inspiring micro-movements that are very beneficial for creating ease in pregnancy and birth. Enjoy these delicious and nurturing practices!