Here are some great DVDs to enjoy whether you are looking for a high intensity workout, or relaxing, meditative breath work. I’d have to say the Belly Dancing ones are my favorite.

Francesco and Daisy-Lee Garipoli, Qigong for Cleansing

This is a very nice DVD that will leave you feeling renewed and energized. It will help restore peek performance to key organs, and assist in the gentle removal of toxins. It really helps you pay attention to your breath, and once you get the routine down, you can just keep repeating it, enjoying a very harmonious moving meditation. Your body will be left tingling and you most likely will feel very grounded and present. Once you get to know all of the precise movements, however, you won’t need to start at the beginning. Towards the end of the DVD, they go through the whole sequence without stopping, so you can just begin from there. Pretty soon you won’t need the tape at all, it can just become a really great sequence to add to your everyday routine. The presentation is quite nice especially for those new to this kind of practice.

Sera, Belly Dance: East Coast Tribal – Basics, Combinations & Strength Workout

I love the way this woman presents her material. It is broken down beautifully, and she isolates the sometimes very intricate movements, slowly and precisely. The 20 minute warm up alone feels fabulous, and is a great thing to wake up to – helps loosen you up for the day. I also loved the routine. When you watch her performing it is absolutely mesmerizing. I liked the fact that the the women she has dancing with here are not your typical exercise video dancers. They move very beautifully and are all very much in sync. It would be terrific, though, if they smiled occasionally and didn’t seem so emotionless. It is a stark contrast to Sera, who is very warm, friendly and obviously feeling the music and the motions. This is not an easy video, especially for those of us not used to moving in these ways, but it is well worth the effort as it leaves you feeling very positive, happy and alive.

Dolphina, The Goddess Workout

Dolphina is not only a magnificent dancer, but she is a very good teacher as well. The settings for this DVD seem to take place in a luxurious home near the sea, with gorgeous Moroccan style furnishings – very beautiful and romantic. Whoever filmed and edited did an excellent job. Dolphina does well warming up each body part and showing basic belly dancing movements. The routine at the end I found to be very rushed and difficult to follow, and certainly not as beautiful as the non-teaching dance routine she does in the beginning of the DVD. I usually just skip it and enjoy everything prior to that for a nice, relaxing, wake up stretch. Dolphina has the ability to make you feel really wonderful about yourself while your doing this, and I don’t know – she cracks me up and makes me happy. I like that in a video.

Dolphina, The Warrior Goddess-Bellydance Beyond Basics

Another wonderful and challenging video from Dolphina. She makes everything look so easy, and does a great job explaining undulations and other more difficult moves. As far as breakdown goes, I think Sera (from 2 reviews above) is a bit more easy to follow and repeats movements more to make sure you at least kind of get it before moving on, but I love Dolphina’s warm personality, and she is a very funny girl to me, so this is worth getting and working with, most definitely – even if you do have to keep rewinding to get the moves down correctly.

Sean T and Beachbody’s Hip Hop Abs Series

Well Sean T is very easy on the eyes, knows how to work the camera, and of course – has amazing abs. He is quite a charmer to say the least. I like this series, it feels really good as you’re doing it (be careful not to hyper extend your back when tilting, tucking and tightening though – do it gently or you will mess yourself up pretty fast), all of the segments get your heart rate going. He keeps you motivated, and has good support dancers. If things get too intense you can follow along with the adorable Tanya and keep it a bit more low impact. The music is okay, except I am not crazy about the Sean T. theme song (no worries – it doesn’t go on for too long). Some of it is a little too repetitive for my taste – it can get boring. Definitely an effective way to work your abs and all your muscle groups without making your neck sore, which is more than I can say for crunches. Remember to mix up the tapes so you don’t tire of the repitition. Total Body Burn is my favorite of the series.