Yoga Fusion Fix: 3 Time Saving, Targeted Practices For Strength, Balance, Flexibility + Stress

Perfect Yoga fusion video for beginner/intermediate, and helpful for anxiety and tension
I love Jessica Smith and this video is one of my favorites! She is so encouraging and always makes me smile. There are three workouts, and all are fairly short at 15, 20, and 30 minutes each. If you are looking for traditional yoga, I don’t know if you would like this (but the title is Yoga Fusion, so that’s a hint there). But each practice is fun and relaxing, and I always feel good afterwards. The 20 minute Balance and Core Strength is my favorite for feeling energized afterwards, and the Strength and Flexibility makes me feel overall good about myself and rejuvenated.These aren’t incredibly fast paced, so if you’re looking to sweat a lot, maybe try one of her cardio walking videos instead. But they are challenging enough and you do get a nice mix of yoga, strength, and stretching. I definitely recommend these if you are stressed, shorter on time, or just like to feel healthier in general. And you’ll feel like you worked out with a friend :-)Just as a side note, they are easily modify-able, and I was able to do these a month and a half after carpal tunnel surgery.

Amazing!
Beautiful scenery, amazing yoga routines. I have all of her dvds, and all of her yoga programs and they all offer something different, although similar.

Harder than I expected
I have another dvd with this instructor that I really appreciate so thought this might be another good option when I can’t make class. I have attended 3 classes a week for 6 years and consider myself a strong beginner (no inversions). I like an hour or longer practice so did all 3 of the practices in a row. I wish there was a way to have them auto play but that’s a minor inconvenience. All of the poses were accessible to me and the pace was moderate adding to the physical challenge. I worked up some heat! Jessica was great as I expected. Good cues and directions. I will definitely come back to this dvd.

Mixed feelings – love Jessica, but not as much the yoga
I have mixed feelings about this DVD. Whether you like it may be influenced by how much you follow yoga versus Jessica. In my case, I have done both and my review is influenced by this. I think sharing a bit of my background might be helpful to better understand my perspective in completing this review.I initially discovered yoga through Shiva Rea’s DVDs, but I really I fell in love with power yoga after completing the Ultimate Yogi program in 2012 (Travis Eliot). At that time I was 49 with some hip issues and considered myself strong, but not very flexible. After completing the program, power yoga stayed in my rotation usually every Sunday, and then adding an easier practice sometime during the week as time allowed. I practiced with Yoga Warrior 365 (Rudy Mettia), Jill Miller, Eoin Finn, Tara Stiles, etc. At the time I did these practices, I was a bit of a purist, preferring to do yoga with a ‘real’ yogi, instead of someone that added yoga as an element mixed in with many other exercise types. In 2016, though, I had both hips replaced, and, while I returned back to all other exercise types, I have not returned back to power yoga since that time. I am currently 55 years old.As for Jessica, I have completed Walk Strong 2, Walk Strong 3, her 4-week Master schedules for Walk On and Walk Strong, and currently working on the 6 week schedules – all while mixing in other DVDs for variety. I typically think of Jessica’s yoga DVDs as more of a fusion rather than pure yoga, with an emphasis on promoting flexibility. I have really enjoyed her previous yoga DVDs and overall think her DVDs are fantastic, with her programs being such a brilliant mix of exercise making them very well rounded.For me, the yoga in this particular DVD falls more into the pure yoga category and so I find myself comparing it to more traditional yoga as I complete the routines.I completed the 30 minute routine today, “Yoga for Strength and Flexibility”. In the first part of the DVD she is in downward dog quite a bit at the start of the practice. She has a flow where you step from plank into low lunge and then into crescent, and then back down again to plank to repeat. I would have personally preferred a few more traditional sun salutations in this section. She has another section where she flows back and forth from crescent pose to a warrior 3 variation with one arm behind the back. I liked this portion, but found it easier to balance with my arms extended forward in a traditional warrior 3. This full 30 minute routine has more of a traditional yoga feeling to it, but I also thought it felt a bit choppy. In the traditional yoga I have followed, the sections of the practice typically flow one into the other in a smooth manner, but I felt that in this routine the different portions were more distinct sections of the practice giving it a more choppy feeling overall.When I completed the 15 minute practice on this DVD, “Yoga for Stress Relief and Relaxation”, there was more strength in the practice than I had expected, with the inclusion of down dog, planks, etc. It was a nice practice, but I think if I was looking for stress relief and relaxation, I might prefer reaching for one of her other yoga DVDsI have not yet completed the 20 minute practice and might come back to add my notes once I do. At this point, while I would certainly complete these practices as part of Jessica’s master schedules, I don’t think I would likely reach for the DVD on its own. Others that haven’t followed yoga much might have a different perspective.