Freedom from Back Pain

Note: A version of this review originally appeared on the website Metapsychology Online Reviews.This video is presented by Iyengar yoga instructor Lillah Schwartz and was produced by her studio, Lighten Up Yoga and Healing Arts. It is designed to provide a self-help approach to relieving back pain through strengthening the muscles and improving alignment. There are two main parts to this 90-minute presentation. Schwartz provides detailed teaching for at total of twelve exercises in the 60-minute instructional segment. She covers not only proper execution of the yoga postures but also common mistakes and how to avoid them in each pose. Then, Schwartz offers a more flowing practice session of just under 30 minutes. Here she guides you through the same poses as in the instructional segment, but she spends less time on setup and moves seamlessly from pose to pose. The Instructional Segment begins with an Introduction which features Kevin McGee, who identifies himself as a friend of Schwartz\'s and who shows some brief interview clips with Schwartz. Schwarz herself then provides a brief (<2 minutes) overview in which she reviews the props that will be used (these include blankets, a towel, a strap, and a chair). The chapters of the instructional segment are as follows (my own notes appear in parentheses):*Traction Twist*Sling Stretch*Strap Stretch 1*Strap Stretch 1 & 2*Front Thigh Stretch*Bound Angle Pose (performed at the wall)*Posture Info*Side Stretch*Lateral Leg Lift*Locust Pose*Kneeling Groin Stretch*Stomach Strengthening (curl-up with calves on chair)*Suspended Relaxation (5-minute rest using several props, including two blankets and a bolster)Schwartz teaches both the tutorial and the practice via voiceover in a relatively bare indoor studio. The Practice Sequence features harp music playing, which was pleasant enough, but there was a constant low hissing noise in the background that the music could not cover; I believe there were some issues with the translation of this video from the original VHS, although this was not a major factor. Overall, this video offers a very gentle approach to treating back pain. Personally, I found the Practice Sequence to be very mild and did not feel particularly stretched by it, but that may well be because 1) I am not someone who suffers from back pain, and 2) I was already quite experienced with the yoga postures which Schwartz presented here. However, prior yoga experience is definitely not needed to perform the exercises on this video. Although there are several other good yoga videos designed to address back pain currently on the market, this one clearly has a place among them, and I would definitely recommend it.