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March 2011 | Dance Off Calories | Read more
February 9, 2011 | Home bodies – We guide you to the best DVD workout for your fitness goals | Read more
February 2011 | 10 Best Workouts for Your Sex Life | Read more
November 10, 2010 | Article and interview with Hemalayaa0
Health.com
July 2010
By Su Reid-St. John
In general, I prefer workout instructors who skip the motivational speak and focus on the exercise. So I couldn’t help but groan when, less than a minute into the first routine on her new Bollywood Boogie Workout DVD, yogini and Indian dancer Hemalayaa began crooning about creating inner joy and sharing love with the world. This will be, I thought, a very long and annoying 45 minutes.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t, and the credit for that goes to, ironically, the very same gal who was dispensing all the new-agey wisdom. Hemalayaa, it turns out, is incredibly likable. She laughs a lot, often at herself, and seems so full of genuine joy and delight that it’s infectious.
She’s perfectly suited for her subject, Bollywood-style dance. In case you’re not familiar with this style of dancing, it is based on the catchy, colorful dance numbers found in super-popular films from India. These dances alternate between being languidly graceful and wildly energetic. This DVD visits both extremes.
The first of the three 15-minute workouts is a blend of fluid moves to loosen your body. The second and third routines are peppier, with a lot of hopping and jumping. All three are playful, easy to follow, and sometimes more than a little silly, as when Hemalayaa urges you to growl like a tiger or dance like the village idiot. (I’ll admit, I found myself glancing out the window now and again to make sure no passersby had stopped to gawk.)
Workout-wise, there are only about 20 to 25 minutes of good solid cardio in the 45-minute stretch. But that really isn’t the point. By the end, my body felt loose and invigorated, and I was in a great mood. All that inner joy Hemalayaa was going on about? It found me.
So while I won’t be turning to Hemalayaa for my regular workouts, I’m going to keep this DVD on hand as an excellent way to get my groove back after a hard, stressful day. I’ll just be sure to draw the blinds first.
Product: Hemalayaa’s Bollywood Boogie Workout
Category: DVDs
Pros: A feel-good Indian-inspired dance workout that’s alternately graceful and energetic, led by a super-likable instructor.
Cons: It won’t substitute for an intense cardio workout, and you may feel silly doing some of the moves.
Cost: $16.99 at AcaciaCatalog.com
Extra tip: To get the full effect, follow Hemalayaa’s lead and try the workout while barefoot and wearing flowy clothes.
The Times Picayune
June 25, 2010
Read the article that mentions Hemalayaa and her DVD’s
Glamour.com’s Vitamin G Blog
June 15, 2010
Bollywood Boogie DVD review and mention
Vital Juice – Los Angeles
February 2010
ElephantJournal.com – January 25, 2010
January 22, 2010 Hemalayaa: Yoga for Everyone
November 10, 2009 – Bollywood Dance Workout wins 4 out of 4 dumbells
Working Mother Magazine
August/September 2009
Bollywood Booty
body booster
Dance, Dance Revolution
With the crazy schedules working moms keep, workouts are squeezed in whenever there’s a block of unaccounted time – you know, pre-dawn, post-tuck-in or the occasional lunch hour. And if an exercise routine is boring, it gets skipped. Luckily, the new slew of workout DVDs inspired by shows like Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance will keep you on your toes. Tone up while you get down with these: Denise Austin: Body Burn with Pilates and Dance ($15) helps you groove your way slim with Austin’s 30-minute cardio dance workout. Plus, the DVD contains two Pilates workouts to flatten you abs, burn fat and build muscle. Dancing with the Stars Latin Cardio Dance ($17) and Crunch: Latin Rhythms ($15) help you mambo and meringue your way into a smaller dress size. Hemalayaa: Bollywood Booty ($15) contains four heart-pumping workouts that will make you feel like Freida Pinto during the credits of Slumdog Millionaire.
Review of Bollywood Dance Workout and Bollywood Booty
Oxygen Magazine
July 2009
Bollywood Dance
“Your Fit Summer Guide – 10 Fun Things to Try This Summer”
When the weather kicks up, so should your fitness. Try these new, out-of-the-box calorie-zapping activities that will have you burning fat without ever noticing.
By Karen Asp and Kasia Kurek
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TAKE A CUE FROM SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
You don’t have to travel to India to try Bollywood dancing. The recent craze, which combines styles like Indian folk, classical, modern, jazz, and hip-hop, is popping up across the country. Not only do you get an awesome aerobic workout, “But you also let go of stress, move through inhibitions and feel super sexy,” says Hemalayaa, California-based dance instructor and creator of the Bollywood Dance Fitness DVDs.
TIP: Try the swan – stand with your feet hip-width apart, with your knees bent and your hands on your hips. Make figure eights with your hips, pretending as if you’re drawing them onto the floor with your body. Make the moves as big as you can. Now bend your knees deeper and continue.
January 2, 2009 – Interview with Hemalayaa | Read more
January 1, 2009 | Review of Bollywood Booty | Read more
December 10, 2008 | Hemalayaa Behl on Finding Bliss | Read more
October 2008 | Dance of the Kama Sutra | Read more
August 19, 2008 | Bollywood Burn | Read more
June 26, 2008 | Beautiful Belly | Read more
April 2008 | Bollywood Burn
By Diana Kelly
Fitness Library Additions: Tummy-Toning Dance DVDs
Looking to pick up a few dance steps in time for that upcoming wedding or reunion? Or are you just looking for a few new ways to work on your hourglass figure without doing endless crunches on the floor?
We stepped, sweated and shook what our mommas gave us to test these recently-released fitness DVDs. Here are four reviews from women like you who were impressed with the fun-factor of these waist-whittling fitness routines.
Bollywood Burn
Looking for the perfect ratio of giggles to squats and stretches? Well look no further than Bollywood Burn. Fitness guru Hemalayaa bases her workout on aerobic adaptations of popular Indian dance moves, made famous in the Bollywood movie genre. Set to bhangra (Indian hip-hop), Hemalayaa and two backup dancers walk you through easy-to-follow routines that managed to have me sweating buckets within 20 minutes. This workout was so fun that my roommate actually stopped eating dinner and joined me halfway through the second set! Although I must offer a word of caution–this extremely high-impact workout features lots of jumping that may not be suitable for people with bad joints or those in walk-up apartments (or so my downstairs neighbors claim). I would recommend this to anyone interested in a unique and fun way to tone hips, thighs and lower abs. — Laura March, Production Assistant
March 2008 | Skip the gym, work out at home, fitness videos!
By Anderson-Minshall, Diane; Swislocki, Lina
You promised yourself you are going to get fit but haven’t done it? Take your pick, take the plunge and try something new.
- The Bollywood Dance Workout with Hamalayaa (Acacia): Word on the street has it that Bhangra is even hipper than hip-hop right now. That said, “hip” is not the word to describe The Bollywood Dance Workout. Campy, certainly. Cute, probably. Fun, definitely. But not hip. The best thing about this work out may be that if you can remember any of the moves you can bust them out the next time you’re at the club. Hipper than hip-hop, indeed. (AcaciaCatalog.com)
February 25, 2008 | The Bollywood Dance Workout
Drop pounds to the Bollywood beat!
Want an exciting way to slim down, tone up and get your heart pumping? Bop to the bhangra beat made famous in India’s Bollywood musicals! Hemalayaa, creator of The Bollywood Dance Workout DVD, promises it’ll make you smile!
Body-toning bounce
Stand with feet hip-width apart and toes facing out 45 degrees. Bend knees and lower down about 4 inches. Gently bounce up and down by bending and straightening your knees about an inch. Next, raise arms to shoulder-level. Shrug your shoulders and flick your hands each time you pulse downward. Do the movement continuously for 1-2 minutes; rest and repeat.
Heart-pumping cross-jack
Stand with your feet wide apart and your hands stacked on top of one other, in front of your chest. As you jump to cross your feet, push your hands straight down, elbows out. Jump between the two poses, as if you were doing jumping jacks. Continue jumping 1-2 minutes; rest and repeat.
February 13, 2008 | Bollywood Burn by Hemalayaa
In this 47 minute workout, you’ll enjoy low to high impact dance moves performed to a great Bhangra beat! (Hemalayaa and her 2 assistants perform the workout in barefeet but due to some of the higher impact moves, a good aerobic/dance shoe may be needed) Hemalayaa guides you through three 15 minute sequences. You can choose to do one, two or all three depending on your mood and/or time constraints. Done in voiceover, Hemalayaa keeps everything light and jovial, often joking & laughing! A wonderful fusion of dance principles, it is easy to follow (no experience necessary). Each segment gets progressively harder with more jumps, hops and even some plyometric type moves. You’ll work hard but the music and the “attitude” makes it seem easier! A definite total body toner, you’ll be working arms, core and legs throughout the workout. You will also burn calories and diminish stress. (any of the 3 sections will lift your spirit and bring a smile to your face) If you enjoy dance with a “burst of energy”, you’ll find this workout right up your alley!!
January 29, 2008 | Bollywood Burn | Read more
January 7, 2008 | Bollywood Burn
In Bollywood Burn, the follow-up to her successful Bollywood Dance Workout, Los Angeles-based fitness star and yogini Hemalayaa offers a workout in three 15-minute segments set to a hip bhangra soundtrack. The three segments, based on Bollywood dance moves, build in intensity and can be experienced individually or combined. The DVD features audio options allowing instruction and music or music only. To order, contact Acorn Media, 800-944-0474 or visit www.acaciacatalog.com.
March 22, 2007 | Exercise the Bollywood Way
By Sandra Kallio
First, close the blinds … unless you’re prepared for the neighbors to see your shimmying midsection, bouncing butt and the sass in your hips as you groove to the bhangra beat in “The Bollywood Dance Workout with Hemalayaa.”
I will be ready for that approximately … NEVER. But in the privacy of my own home, a co-worker and I tried the moves we’ve only seen in Bollywood movies, the name a blend of Bombay (now Mumbai) and Hollywood and the moves a mix of classical Indian, modern, hip-hop and belly dancing.
Our moves looked more Midwestern than Hindi or Hollywood, but we highly recommend trying this or another bhangra workout DVD, since health clubs here don’t seem to be putting the Punjabi moves on their calendars with the frequency of New York City and Los Angeles fitness centers.
“The dance steps are sassy, big, bold, outrageous, out of the ordinary and enormously fun,” says Hemalayaa Behl, a Los Angeles-based yoga and dance instructor, as she introduces her 45-minute workout. “It’s impossible not to laugh.”
And that’s why we closed the blinds when we started warming up with six minutes of mouthing oohs and ahhs and bouncing our hips and shoulders and other body parts that came along for the ride.
“A little attitude in the face here,” our instructor commands. Our countenance is one of confusion when she double-times movements, but we move on to the “Playtime” segment of the DVD, which is available for $14.99 through www.acaciacatalog.com. We’ve taken enough exercise classes – and suffered enough aches and pains – to hold back when she starts what she calls spine whips.
“Whip the spine slowly. Flip the head back very slowly, being careful of the neck,” she begins, talk that makes wordsmiths wonder about her command of the English language. Turns out she was born in Canada and, as a fitness instructor, ought to choose her words more thoughtfully so viewers don’t try a whiplash move when she really means something much more gentle.
She has us tapping alternate feet to the side, while we “get that sass in the hips.” Despite her frequent invocations of sass and sassy, we’re looking more silly as we bounce while scooping our butts from side to side – but we are getting a workout.
The “Footwork” segment starts nice and slow with a one-two-three-wipe-the-foot move and practice, which falls apart when she speeds it up. “Try not to worry about it,” she says, making us wonder if this is interactive TV and she knows we’re looking more like our feet are stuck on gum. The arm movements such as “feed the chickens” and “roller-coaster” are easier to follow.
After that six-minute segment designed to burn calories and strengthen the cardiovascular system, we spend eight minutes firming our legs and building endurance while learning new moves in “Now We’re Hot!” We thought we were with our gorilla walk forward and head shakes backward, and there is no YouTube clip to prove otherwise.
This is a complete workout, so there’s no avoiding ab work, although we need more than six minutes of “Ground Play” before we’d dress like Hemalayaa (she goes by her first name only) and her two belly-baring dancers. This section, which also works on butt muscles and core strength, continues to the bhangra beat, followed by “Playful Dance.” We decide the bhangra bounce – a really fast really deep knee bend – is more of a spectator sport and would urge caution with what seems an excess of pli bounces and other knee movements.
We preferred the goddess hip bounce, the running man and the ensuing cool down, although we’re still wondering how to “breathe into the groin area.”
“The Bollywood Dance Workout,” which includes a performance segment to aim for, can be played minus the voiceover for those who don’t need instruction. For those who want more, Sarina Jain, sometimes called the “Indian Jane Fonda,” has produced several bhangra workout DVDs. We recommend trying one from these women with a friend just for the laughs, to mix up your workouts and to prepare for work as an extra filming a Bollywood wedding scene.
Chris Martell contributed to and boogied for this story.
Click here to read all the reviews on Amazon.com.
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Reviews from Women who took ‘Kama Sutra Dance Journey’…
“With energy and charm, Hemalayaa taught me to find my heart space, a place in my mind and in my heart where fear does not exist! I want to return to this space more often. Using various Indian dance traditions, Hemalayaa guided me to unleash my femininity and power. Her spirit is contagious and enabled me to feel uninhibited. It felt natural!” — Sonya Gauthier, Yogini | Executive Producer | Woolf + Lapin
“First off, thank you so much for a fulfilling and awakening workshop. It was fabulous. I would love to get the word out on how terrific you and your teachings are so we can do many, many more.”— Jen Neskovic | Jam Studios in Playa Del Ray | www.Jam310.com
“I took this amazing workshop in TO a couple of days ago…and I’m still buzzing! It’s fun, freeing, empowering, and breathtaking – literally! Hemalayaa is a beautiful teacher, yogi, and goddess.” — Leigh Rachel Faithe | Actress
“Just want to thank you again for the extraordinary experience you offered us today…You are very beautiful and very feminine and you reminded me of a period in my life which I thought lost…” — Raluca Moldovan
