| Lithe young women demonstrate these ancient | | | | learn, and collect them into personal groups. And |
| Eastern techniques while mellow-voiced narrators | | | | maybe you've got a really big monitor, and a cordless, |
| speak over somnambulant music, the better to relax | | | | long-distance mouse. |
| you and make you all well. | | | | This is a nice program, well-made and instructive. My |
| Most of us are familiar at least with the concepts of | | | | only complaint is that it does not emphasize clearly |
| yoga, its slow stretching exercises and its often almost | | | | enough that unless you are as slender as the model |
| unattainable physical positions. Wellness Yoga is a | | | | executing the poses, you are not going to be able to |
| nicely designed program that packages 74 asanas, or | | | | do many of them -- the Crow, the Heron and the Frog, |
| positions, into several packages such as the Quick and | | | | for instance -- correctly. On the other hand, we can all |
| Easy Course, the Beauty Course and the Health | | | | do the Corpse. |
| Course. | | | | Shiatsu Relaxation, which teaches a massage |
| The program consists largely of what it calls | | | | technique clearly related to acupuncture, is another |
| procedure screens, in which each position is | | | | kettle of fish. |
| demonstrated in one window while described textually | | | | The theory is that rubbing, kneading or poking specific |
| in another. A narrator reads that same text aloud. In | | | | points on the body, called acupressure points, will make |
| addition to the usual tape-recorder buttons to pause, | | | | other parts of the body feel better. I am not prepared |
| stop and restart the action, there is a graph that | | | | to argue that premise, but the entire procedure seems |
| displays the approximate duration of each segment of | | | | shiatsu yourself is not clear, either; the program initially |
| the routine. | | | | suggests you find some of your own more accessible |
| The practical difficulties of using this CD-ROM are | | | | pressure points, but they are not all available to your |
| fairly obvious. The manual, dragged kicking and | | | | own hands and all the demonstrations show one |
| screaming into English from its Japanese roots, | | | | person ministering to another. |
| advises the user to First practice forming the pose | | | | Perhaps one of yoga's major attractions is that it |
| while watching the screen and try memorizing the | | | | combines physical and mental exercise. It is excellent |
| whole procedure.'' This, unless you have a 24-inch | | | | for posture and flexibility, both key physical elements |
| monitor or keep your monitor on the floor, is likely to be | | | | for most sports-people, and in some respects, there |
| difficult. Clearly the actual learning of the poses could | | | | are strength benefits to be gained. Yoga teachers say |
| be more readily done with a videotape. | | | | that the approach of yoga therapy is one of the most |
| On the other hand, you can hunt around in the | | | | effective ways of achieving the mental edge that |
| CD-ROM, choose from the positions you want to | | | | athletes seek. |