Health Meter: Yoga and Videogames

Putting your ankle behind your head in the palm of your hand.
8/29/2008 5:10 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 2

Moviegoers have yet to see Vin Diesel or Jason Statham beat the daylights out of anyone using yoga, and very few people would probably list "a really good Pigeon Pose" in their top five things they look for in a mate. Yoga is a tough sell, but improving your flexibility will make you better at any sport you play. It'll help keep you healthier and pain-free if you lead a more sedentary life. And the relaxation techniques that are a part of yoga training will also help you deal with the stress of your day-to-day-grind. That said, does the world really need two (or even one) yoga carts for the Nintendo DS? In the spring, Konami came out with the oddly titled Let's Yoga, and Ubisoft just shipped its Quick Yoga Training. As a trainer and fitness writer, I'm a big fan of yoga. As a gamer and gaming journalist, I'm a big fan of the DS. Will either of these carts make both sides of me happy?

Amazingly, these DS releases bring the number of times that yoga has been foisted on gamers up to five. The first two attempts -- as elements of Yourself! Fitness for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox and EyeToy Kinetic for the PlayStation 2 -- were pretty lame (although Kinetic is a must-have for anyone into movement-based gaming). On the flipside, the yoga component of Wii Fit is the absolute nuts. Going head-to-head against a buddy in a Tree Pose competition is serious gaming fun. Unfortunately, both Let's Yoga and Quick Yoga Training fall more into the "instructional" genre than the gaming genre. Both have their limitations, but the level of interactivity makes them more than simply portable versions of a yoga DVD.

Each takes a different approach to getting you all bendy. Let's Yoga has much more of an Eastern flavor. It's definitely the funkier and more esoteric of the two. While it tells you about the functional benefits of each posture, it doesn't shy away from the mystical side of things. While you can jump right in and go to a pre-planned or user-created series of postures, the real guts of the thing is the 25-part Master's Lesson section. Here, you not only get the goods on what each pose does, you get all sorts of cool info about chakras, meditation, breathing and other things that they never taught you in high school biology class.

The presentation also captures that same sense of out-there-ness. After you choose your model and her outfit, you get to watch her go through the postures while laid-back Indian music plays in the background and a bizarre on-screen flower grows and shrinks to tell you when to inhale and exhale. All the while, a soothing female voice talks you through the poses. The voice navigation is very important. It keeps you from having to contort yourself when you're in a position that might not give you an optimal view of the screen. When you are able to focus on the screen, a bonus feature lets you use the stylus to move the model around to give you a complete 360-degree view of what you're supposed to be doing.