Yoga instructor Jacquie Noelle
leads viewers through all three of these DVDs promising Better Sex Through
Yoga. As you would expect, they are
labeled "Beginner," "Intermediate," and
"Advanced." Each DVD has a
workout session: on the first and second DVDs these last about 48 minutes and
45 minutes respectively, while on the third one it is about an hour. Each DVD has the same extras. The "Special Features," include a
short piece on how yoga can improve your sex life, and a collection of out-takes
and bloopers. There's also a trailer
for the DVD and a written biography of Jacquie Noelle. The "Additional Instruction"
section has a short piece by Jacquie again explaining the sexual benefits of
yoga, and a more useful selection of yoga poses which gives hints about how
best to do them, with writing on the screen accompanying the poses.
The yoga workouts feature Jacquie
along with two other people. They are
all youthful, attractive and very fit.
They do the yoga in a gym of some kind with curtains draped around them
and some potted palm trees standing in the corner and lit candles placed around
the space. Jacquie speaks out loud
explaining what to do, and there are occasional instructions in writing on the
screen or added in voice over in post-production. There is some rather cheesy and extremely repetitive electronic
music in the background.
Readers may be relieved or
disappointed to learn that there's nothing particularly sexual about the yoga
workouts. The Jacquie and her
co-presenters are clothed at all times, although occasionally the man takes off
his top to reveal a glistening sweaty chest.
Jacquie wears clinging tops and tight short shorts. Once or twice the camera seemed to linger
unnecessarily long on Jacquie's crotch as she leans back. The background music occasionally has some
sort of groaning sound that is somewhat sexual. The voice-over gives frequent instructions to tighten and relax
your sexual core, which seems to involve a clenching of the pelvic
muscles. But apart from that, the yoga
workout is rather similar to most other DVD yoga workouts. Maybe there is a little more emphasis on hip
movements and pelvic flexibility, but not much more. The sequence of poses, starting with a warm up, then going
through standing poses and abdominals, and ending with relaxation is similar to
most yoga flows.
The production feels rather
home-made: while the yoga instruction seems proficient, the sound quality is
not great, and occasionally it is hard to hear exactly what Jacquie is
saying. The voice-over is wooden and
not particularly helpful, especially since the whole idea of breathing into or
tightening your sexual core is not well explained. There's not enough difference between the three DVDs to really
justify having three of them, and although the third one has some challenging
poses, it is not really advanced compared to other yoga DVDs.
Nevertheless, these DVDs provide a
good yoga workout. I don't see that
they will be any better at improving your sex life than any other yoga DVD, and
some people may prefer a workout made with higher production values and a more
Eastern approach. However, I expect
that some people will welcome a yoga workout with an attractive instructor
using simple language without any foreign language. The promise of better sex may well be fulfilled if the yoga
exercises improve flexibility, strength and bodily self-confidence.
© 2006 Christian Perring. All
rights reserved.
Christian Perring, Ph.D., is
Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College, Long Island, and editor
of Metapsychology Online Review. His main research is on
philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and psychology.
