How do you know if an exercise video (DVD) is good quality? Are there any industry standards?

Veronica, what a smart question you're asking! I think sometimes people would just buy whatever they see on the shelf, assuming that somewhere along the way the DVD has been evaluated by a medical and/or fitness authority just by being published. Wouldn't it be nice if that were so?

Here's a website that keeps track of sources who have evaluated and ranked exercise videos:

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/health_and_fitness/exercise-video-revi...

What you will find there is this. They have many sources who have evaluated exercise DVDs, such as the editors of Fitness Magazine, Self Magazine, About.com all the way to Amazon and epinions.

Check the "Credibility Rating" column for the source you are reading. They are arranged in order of highest to lowest credibility; sites where DVDs are evaluated by experts rank much higher than those which rely on only consumer reviews.

Then, you can read across the chart to see which exercise DVDs or videos rank highest with that source.

There are several yoga videos cited on this site by different sources. A certified yoga instructor chooses videos for Yoga-Health-and-Fitness.com, and About.com chooses its favorite yoga videos as well. Some are mentioned as being particularly good for a beginner, though they don't go into the age of the beginner. I imagine your mom has seen her doctor and knows that it is ok for her to be beginning yoga?

Here is fitnessmagazine.com's page about yoga and yoga workouts:

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/yoga/

And here's a link to about.com's list of top yoga workout videos:

http://hinduism.about.com/library/products/aatp_yogavideos.htm

Have fun!! I may have to order one as well!