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In this article I went in depth on my thoughts about Gravity Yoga. This podcast episode it meant to accompany that article and provides a fair, honest review of my experience with the program.
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In fairness to Lucas Rockwood and all parties involved in the Yogabody company, I’d like to state that this was my own personal experience with the program. This is how I felt due to my own limitations, injuries, stamina and physical traits. The experience may be different for you, the only way you’ll ever know is to try it out. This review is solely for your consideration in determining whether or not this may or may work for you.
Yogabody responded to me on social media and they say that they 100% stand by their 1 year satisfaction guarantee. We’ll see how true that is when I request my refund from them. But why? Let’s explore that then.
(Update: Prior to even requesting a refund, Lucas contacted me to tell me that my cost was refunded. So these guys definitely honor that request. I see absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t give it a try. There is no financial risk to you.)
To be completely honest with you, I found myself quite frustrated while trying to do many of the poses that Lucas has us going into. Perhaps he doesn’t expect anyone who is as tight as I am to take the program. Obviously, he wouldn’t know about my shoulder labral tear, the fact that my feet flare out like a duck making it impossible to put them in certain angles, how inflexible my toes are, and surely he wouldn’t know that I’m far too tight to ever do the most basic back bend on a chair.
That’s why I stated very early on that this is my personal experience and this may not be the case for you. The program costs under $40, so its quite affordable and worth a try if you want to improve your flexibility. The videos are stored on what appears to be vimeo to me, probably sitting there in an “unlisted” view or something.
In any case, you access the videos by logging into the website link that they provide you. There you will find “Day 1 Hamstrings,” “Day Two Hips” and so on. The format is built on the Yoga style known as Yin Yoga. You will enter and hold a pose for up to 5 minutes if you can hack it. According to the Yin philosophy, this targets the fascia. Look it up if you’d like to know more, I’m not gonna go into that here.
Lucas guides you to several different poses for each target group. He states that these are the key to improving flexibility. I can’t speak to it because I’ve only been doing it for two weeks. Also, because of my issues I could not do them exactly as illustrated and did have to modify. The problem is that I don’t know if my modifications change the properties of the move. Therefore I do not know if I am getting the full purported benefits. Therein lies my problem. Also, the fact that I was frustrated and angry much of the time certainly doesn’t help. If something makes you mad, you are not likely to stick with it.
So sadly, I have to report that this program did not work for me. I recently tried this other program by a man named Travis Elliot. His Yin Yoga, (at least the one session I did) felt much more accessible to me. I felt relaxed and even ended up sobbing towards the end of it. That feels like its more my thing. I felt it gave me a nice stretch, but I wasn’t struggling the whole time, I wasn’t angry, and I didn’t feel like I could hurt myself.
I need to reiterate, that this was my personal experience. I am not attempting to hurt or otherwise damage Lucas Rockwood’s business. I still believe in his program and I think its definitely worth a try. I’ll still keep trying as I wish to gain these benefits. But as it stands, its very likely that I’ll just request a refund.
I’ll add as further anecdotal evidence that my son and wife also did the program with me, and despite her vast experience with Yoga, my wife also had a bit of difficulty. It goes without saying that my son also struggled as well.
Just a life long New Yorker sharing the journey through my lens. Please take note of a post’s date. The views I express here are subject to change and evolving as I grow and learn.
Well, it is strange I am the first to comment here, considering the number of positive reviews on other websites. Anyway putting aside the content, it is the buyer’s experience that is quite disappointing. I bought the Gravity Yoga flexibility kit on the 4th of July 2021. The kit includes, according the yogabody website, “Gravity Yoga Video Series (digital access)” which can be used with “Online streaming or fast download available for playback on any device”.
dThere is no online streaming and you have to download the videos. I did not finish downloading the videos and the Gravity kit disappeared from my membership area. So I did not get what I paid for and anyway, the service is poor: what if I am traveling? I would like to have access to the videos, not to have to use a USB key for example where I store the videos or store them on my phone. I bought and subscribe to several physical programs and this is the first time that I experienced something like that.
Did you ever sort out the issues with these folks?
Hi, Angel! I came across your podcast when I searched Gravity Yoga on the internet. I’ve been practicing yoga for a number of years, but wanted more flexibility, so I recently began the Gravity Yoga series. It has helped me better do some of the more challenging Bikram Yoga poses (which I’ve been doing for three years), and I look forward to becoming more flexible in the weeks and months to come. That said, even with my experience, I’ve sometimes needed to use the modifications Lucas provides (especially in the shoulder exercises).
There is a yoga series I’ve found that is really user friendly and accessible for most people. I initially picked it up for my wife, and wound up using it a lot myself. Developed by J. Brown, it is made up of practices that build upon each other – 7 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 75 minutes. The 7 minute practice (with extra teaching) is available on-line for anyone to try:
https://youtu.be/a6Tdm_0PAGc
If you like the 7 minute practice, you can read more about his video series here: https://jbrownyogavideo.com/practice
The new second edition is particularly accessible and features people with a variety of body types in the 60 minute practice (which includes a longer than usual savasana).
I hope this helps. My brothers, parents were all born in the Bronx – we lived on Walton Ave. and went to the Lutheran church on Crotona Ave. Da Bronx -the best and most colorful borough of them all!
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll definitely check it out.