ZenMama with Rainbeau Mars Prenatal Yoga Workout
Your pregnancy, one of the most profound and transformational experiences of your life, is the time to take very special care of your baby and yourself. Practicing yoga during pregnancy can help you to become more sensitive to your body’s and your baby’s ever changing needs. In this program yoga instructor Rainbeau Mars provides a safe and effective pre-natal yoga practice that will help you to maintain a strong and centered body and mind. You will work through a sequence of postures that are not only designed to keep you happy in the moment, but also to prepare you for the experience of giving birth. Since your yoga practice during this special time will need to be adjusted depending on which trimester you are in, Rainbeau works with two assistants. Together, the three of them demonstrate how each posture should be practiced according to where you are in your pregnancy. Benefits of pre-natal yoga practice: • Increases endurance and stamina • Builds strength and flexibility • Improves concentration and breath awareness
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Good for beginners
This video is perfect for someone, like myself, who is not into working out. It would also be great for those of you who work out a lot and would like to have a dvd on hand for relaxation. I alternate this tape with walking daily, and I feel great. I am brand new to yoga, and really enjoyed this video. There is a lot of focus on correct breathing techniques, which makes you feel wonderful. I love the relaxation technique at the end. Having no experience with yoga, I did have a hard time following Rainbeau’s instruction. I recommend watching the video first. I strained my neck trying to look up from one of the poses; three days later I still haven’t gotten the kink out!
4 Stars Challenging, Approachable, Restoring
ZenMama with Rainbeau Mars has grown on me among my small collection of pre-natal yoga videos. I wasn’t convinced at first, and found some of the asanas more challenging than I had hoped for - however, those little challenges have worked themselves out, and it wasn’t enough for me to shelve this video. Now, it’s risen to the top of my list.
Rainbeau Mars uses a variety of asanas, talks them through in a very human, compassionate way, and encourages you to welcome the challenges and breathe through them. At first, I felt she talked too much through the video, but after awhile, I realized that it helped me build a connection to my practice. Also, her talking through shavasana at the end really tuned me into 1) how to relax my body 2) why this is considered such a hard pose, even when it would seem so easy!
I believe this video will be a challenge for those who are not already practicing yoga, or who are new to fitness. Her third trimester accommodations might be useful for those who are in even their first trimester, but need a bit more support through some of the asanas. It might not be as challenging for people who are super-familiar with yoga, but I think that it hits a good happy medium, and wherever you’re at, is a good video to supplement studio practice, or use twice a week (or more) at home.
4 Stars Very pleased
I really enjoy this workout. I am a little familiar with yoga, but have never practiced it before and I found it fairly easy to follow. There are a few parts that I think could have been explained a little better, but after trying it out a couple of times I found them easy to get the hang of. I really liked that Rainbeau had 2 other women with her, and that each of them was in a different spot in their pregnancy so there are different variations shown for each trimester. It wasn’t like some cheesy yoga videos I’ve seen before, but very calming and relaxing. I would definitely recommend this video to a friend.
5 Stars great
This is the only prenatal yoga video I’ve found that I like. Let it be said, I am not the hugest yoga fan to begin with, so I am quite picky about it. I just force myself to do it bc I know it is good for me. Anyways, I don’t mind doing ZenMama because it’s not as corny as a lot of other vids and bc find Rainbeau Mars voice very soothing.
3 Stars Good workout but not very technical
I must admit I like the actual routine in this video. But I am not sure I feel comfortable saying this is a good beginner video because the routine is easy and basic, but the instructions Rainbeau gives are not really that great and really lack technique. She doesn’t name most of the poses which means you need to be watching to see what she is doing, which is a bit annoying and a problem in many poses. Her technique is a little poor, and her verbage while instructing the routine is a little off and sometimes annoying because it doesn’t really flow.
If you want to be technical about how you move throughout the routine watch the girl in back with the red hair and blue leotard.
There are also parts of the workout that if you have a bad back, as I do, and have never been to a formal yoga class, you are likely to hurt your back as she does not tell you to gently roll up or give you any of the gentle instruction that allows you to save yourself the back pain when doing yoga. Just be aware.
Other than the lack of technique and formal titles for poses I think this is a good video, but not necessarily a good one if you are a true blue beginner as it does not explain enough IMO.