Guest Author - Martha McKinnon

Yoga Journal’s Yoga for Stress with Dr. Baxter Bell – DVD Review

Are you interested in yoga for stress management? Yoga Journal’s Yoga for Stress with Dr. Baxter Bell is a DVD worth taking a look at. The DVD includes two 35 minute practices - one for immediate stress relief and another to help you build the "stress hardiness" required to counter the pressures of modern life. Baxter Bell, M.D., is a physician, yoga teacher, and medical acupuncturist with more than 15 years of family medical practice and a thorough understanding of the power of yoga to neutralize the effects of stress on the body and mind.

In both practices Dr. Bell leads two students through the poses, thoroughly demonstrating, explaining the poses, and providing expert instruction, including the use of props and various pose modifications, making this DVD accessible to a wide range of yoga students, including beginners.

PRACTICE 1: Yoga for Stress Prevention (35 minutes)

The first practice, Yoga for Stress Prevention, is an energizing series of poses designed to increase strength and flexibility, teach you to regulate your heart rate, and condition your immune system. The practice begins with sun salutes, and then moves to basic standing poses (warrior, tree, twisting wide leg forward bend), sitting poses (cobbler, boat, seated twists), lying poses (bridge) and and ends with relaxation (savasana). You move through the practice in a slow and controlled, not fast-paced manner.

PRACTICE 2: Yoga for Stress Relief (35. minutes)

The second practice, Yoga for Stress Relief, is a series of restorative yoga poses to quiet your mind, calm your nervous system and open and release your body in places where stress is commonly held - shoulders, neck, low back, hips and legs. Props are used for this practice so you will want to watch the DVD and gather your props (straps, blocks, blankets, pillows) before beginning.


The Yoga for Stress Relief DVD also includes three short bonus practices on breathing, relaxation, and guided meditation and a bonus DVD-ROM with informative Yoga Journal articles and an in-depth discussion about the physiology of stress with Dr. Bell. It also has a feature that allows you to chose a practice mode with less verbal instruction that is particularly useful once you are familiar with the routines. And a built in timer allows you to pause the DVD and practice at your own pace - a particularly nice feature during the restorative yoga poses.

If you are looking for a way to counter the effects of stress with yoga, Yoga Journal's Yoga for Stress with Dr. Baxter Bell is ready to help.

Highly Recommended

To purchase Yoga Journal's Yoga for Stress With Dr. Baxter Bell DVD from Amazon.