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Yoga Books
In this collection of provocative essays by prominent teachers of Yoga and Buddhism, the common ground of these two ancient traditions becomes clear. Michael Stone has brought together a group of intriguing voices to show how Buddhism and Yoga share the same roots, the same values, and the same spiritual goals. The themes addressed here are rich and varied, yet the essays all weave together the common threads between the traditions that offer guidance toward spiritual freedom and genuine realization. Contributors include Ajahn Amaro Bhikkhu, Shosan Victoria Austin, Frank Jude Boccio, Christopher Key Chapple, Ari Goldfield and Rose Taylor, Chip Hartranft, Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara, Sarah Powers, Eido Shimano Roshi, Jill Satterfield, Mu Soeng, Michael Stone, and Robert Thurman.
Yogis have been using cannabis to enhance spiritual practice for millennia. Unfortunately, we've lost this tradition in the modern practice of yoga, and along with it the ability to truly relax, self-connect, and find peace. In Ganja Yoga, Dee Dussault, certified yoga instructor and the first person to bring ganja yoga classes to North America, finally takes this ancient tradition mainstream.Suitable for beginners and sages alike, Ganja Yoga will show you how to:
As cannabis is embraced more and more as a source of health and wellbeing, there is a growing cultural conversation about the role of the plant as part of a spiritual journey. Ganja Yoga is a welcoming guide through that process, offering a path to intentional relaxation that encourages meditation, movement, and awareness for a more stress-free, harmonious world.
UTILIZE THE BENEFITS OF GENTLE YOGA TO RELIEVE YOUR SYMPTOMS OF GENERAL ARTHRITIS Over 50 million people in the United States alone struggle with arthritis, a painful and debilitating inflammation of the body's joints. In the medical world, the focus of arthritis treatment is controlling the pain and minimizing any joint damage, while working hard to maintain quality of life. As a result, many doctors will recommend adopting a healthier lifestyle, including a balanced diet and regular physical activity. And as yoga remains the premier low-impact, high-result form of physical activity, many have reclaimed their lives from arthritis pain with the help of yoga.
Gentle Yoga for Arthritis shows you how to integrate yoga into any existing exercise routine, to improve your overall health and well-being. Yoga stances release muscular tensions, easing the strain on the body's joints, while increasing balance, strength, and flexibility. Additionally, breathing techniques encourage better circulation to help your extremities stay loose and healthy.
Gentle Yoga for Arthritis also includes:
- An overview of the causes and symptoms of arthritis
- Helpful diet and lifestyle tips to reduce symptoms
- An introductory guide to understanding the benefits of yoga
- Important precautions to ensure safety during yoga practice Whether you are beginning to experience arthritis symptoms, or whether you want to adopt a lifestyle to prevent arthritis from ever happening, Gentle Yoga for Arthritis is your complete guide to creating a customized yoga practice specifically for your needs.
Gentle Yoga for Arthritis shows you how to integrate yoga into any existing exercise routine, to improve your overall health and well-being. Yoga stances release muscular tensions, easing the strain on the body's joints, while increasing balance, strength, and flexibility. Additionally, breathing techniques encourage better circulation to help your extremities stay loose and healthy.
Gentle Yoga for Arthritis also includes:
- An overview of the causes and symptoms of arthritis
- Helpful diet and lifestyle tips to reduce symptoms
- An introductory guide to understanding the benefits of yoga
- Important precautions to ensure safety during yoga practice Whether you are beginning to experience arthritis symptoms, or whether you want to adopt a lifestyle to prevent arthritis from ever happening, Gentle Yoga for Arthritis is your complete guide to creating a customized yoga practice specifically for your needs.
This practical guide offers a pioneering method of chair yoga for every body: a full practice of asana, breathing, and meditation with 250 instructional photos. Lakshmi Voelker's Chair Yoga(TM) method upends the myth that yoga is only for the flexible, strong, balanced, thin, and conventionally able-bodied. Whether you need or want chair support, or you would like to get in some yoga practice while you sit at your work desk, Get Fit Where You Sit offers 40 active and restorative poses, illustrated with 250 photos, along with breathing techniques and meditation practices--all adapted so that you don't have to leave your chair. Poses include: Tree Pose--for a flexible spine and to combat the "slump" we often get with a sedentary lifestyle Eagle Pose--for healthy joints Squat Pose--to relax the lower back Knee-to-Chest Pose--to support good digestion Coherent breathing--to bring the body's systems into balance And much more Lakshmi Voelker and Liz Oppedijk offer a powerful, inclusive practice that is appropriate for new students or longtime practitioners and can easily be implemented by yoga instructors, educators, medical professionals, exercise professionals, or caretakers for work with their clients.
Challenge yourself to practice yoga five minutes a day with this inclusive beginner's guide to 30 foundational yoga poses and sequences--for everyone and every body Yoga is a healthful, stress-busting, powerfully life-changing practice that is truly for everyone! You don't need to be young, flexible, or athletic to do yoga--and you don't need to spend hours on the mat. You just need to be yourself and commit to practicing at least five minutes a day. Here, renowned yogi Kino MacGregor presents a basic, self-paced plan to encourage you to try each of the thirty foundational poses included and slowly build a regular yoga practice. Through step-by-step instructions, over two hundred color photographs, and modifications for different body types and abilities, Kino makes yoga possible at whatever level you may be. By challenging yourself for just five minutes a day, you will end up learning a strong, basic yoga sequence that you can grow and adapt for a lifetime of yoga.
New York Times best-selling author Michelle Goldberg tells the globetrotting story of the incredible woman who brought yoga to the West. When Indra Devi was born in Russia in 1899, yoga was virtually unknown outside of India. By the time of her death, in 2002, it was being practiced around the world. Here Michelle Goldberg tells the globetrotting story of the incredible woman who helped usher in a craze that continues unabated to this day. A sweeping picture of the twentieth century that travels from the cabarets of Berlin to the Mysore Palace to Golden Age Hollywood and beyond, The Goddess Pose brings the Devi's little known but extraordinary adventures vividly to life.
When the woman who would become Indra Devi was born in Russia in 1899, yoga was virtually unknown outside of India. By the time of her death, in 2002, it was being practiced everywhere, from Brooklyn to Berlin to Ulaanbaatar. In The Goddess Pose, New York Times best-selling author Michelle Goldberg traces the life of the incredible woman who brought yoga to the West and in so doing paints a sweeping picture of the twentieth century.
Born into the minor aristocracy (as Eugenia Peterson), Devi grew up in the midst of one of the most turbulent times in human history. Forced to flee the Russian Revolution as a teenager, she joined a famous Berlin cabaret troupe, dove into the vibrant prewar spiritualist movement, and, at a time when it was nearly unthinkable for a young European woman to travel alone, followed the charismatic Theosophical leader Jiddu Krishnamurti to India.
Once on the subcontinent, she performed in Indian silent cinema and hobnobbed with the leaders of the independence movement. But her greatest coup was convincing a recalcitrant master yogi to train her in the secrets of his art.
Devi would go on to share what she learned with people around the world, teaching in Shanghai during World War II, then in Hollywood, where her students included Gloria Swanson and Greta Garbo. She ran a yoga school in Mexico during the height of the counterculture, served as spiritual adviser to the colonel who tried to overthrow Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, and, in her eighties, moved to Buenos Aires at the invitation of a besotted rock star.
Everywhere she went, Indra Devi evangelized for yoga, ushering in a global craze that continues unabated. Written with vivid clarity, The Goddess Posebrings her remarkable story as an actress, yogi, and globetrotting adventuress to life."
Born into the minor aristocracy (as Eugenia Peterson), Devi grew up in the midst of one of the most turbulent times in human history. Forced to flee the Russian Revolution as a teenager, she joined a famous Berlin cabaret troupe, dove into the vibrant prewar spiritualist movement, and, at a time when it was nearly unthinkable for a young European woman to travel alone, followed the charismatic Theosophical leader Jiddu Krishnamurti to India.
Once on the subcontinent, she performed in Indian silent cinema and hobnobbed with the leaders of the independence movement. But her greatest coup was convincing a recalcitrant master yogi to train her in the secrets of his art.
Devi would go on to share what she learned with people around the world, teaching in Shanghai during World War II, then in Hollywood, where her students included Gloria Swanson and Greta Garbo. She ran a yoga school in Mexico during the height of the counterculture, served as spiritual adviser to the colonel who tried to overthrow Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, and, in her eighties, moved to Buenos Aires at the invitation of a besotted rock star.
Everywhere she went, Indra Devi evangelized for yoga, ushering in a global craze that continues unabated. Written with vivid clarity, The Goddess Posebrings her remarkable story as an actress, yogi, and globetrotting adventuress to life."
With candid, witty, and compelling experiences of yoga from renowned memoirists, including Cheryl Strayed (author of the number-one New York Times bestseller Wild), Claire Dederer (author of national bestseller Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses), Dinty W. Moore (author of The Accidental Buddhist), Neal Pollack (author of Stretch: The Making of a Yoga Dude) and many others, Going Om shares a range of observations about this popular practice. Unlike books on yoga that provide instruction on technique, Going Om is a unique collection of personal narratives from celebrated authors. This anthology of original material values the quality of writing over the authors' flexibility. Ira Sukrungruang shares his heartbreaking struggle as a 375 pound yoga student discovering self-worth on his mat; Gloria Munoz explores the practice of stillness with lyrical elegance in the midst of her busy mind; Neal Pollack's signature sarcasm leads to surprising turns at yoga class with his dad; Elizabeth Kadetsky uses yogic wisdom while coping with her mother's devastating Alzheimer's.
Transform your yoga practice into an intimate, creative, and healing experience in this refreshing guide to yoga in the modern world
"An inspiring read for all yogis." --Michael Franti, musician, filmmaker, activist What if, instead of constantly pushing yourself beyond your limitations, you paused to really listen to your body's needs? In Gravity & Grace, innovative yoga teacher and trainer Peter Sterios shares a unique set of practice principles to help anyone--from beginners to advanced practitioners and teachers--revitalize their approach to yoga by tuning into the subtle body. When our yoga practices become too rigid, overly focused on technique, or dependent upon ideals that are not suited to our bodies, we lose the full potential of what yoga offers--a truly personal pathway to physical well-being, emotional unfolding, and spiritual awakening. In this groundbreaking book, Sterios helps you embrace the full, healing potential of yoga as he shares wisdom gained from over 45 years of exploring yoga and the subtle body. He teaches that by developing a sensitivity to how the natural forces of gravity and grace are at work physically and psychologically, we become empowered to confidently decide how to practice each day. Through an insightful blend of practical theory and direct instruction, Sterios will guide you to incorporate awareness of physical and subtle anatomy into your practice, utilize the breath for greater well-being, and create flowing sequences that naturally meet your unique needs in each moment. For teachers looking to deepen their offerings, students who want to bring a more personalized and healing experience to their yoga practice, and anyone working with physical limitations (from injury, body type, age, or any of the myriad obstacles humans face), Gravity & Grace is the "no-style" yoga guide you've been waiting for.
Rollicking and well-researched...A story of scandal, financial shenanigans, bodily discipline, oversize egos and bizarre love triangles. -Wall Street Journal More than fifteen million Americans currently practice yoga (according to Yoga Journal), but how many of them know the true story of how Downward Dog first captivated America? Resurrecting a fascinating and forgotten tale, journalist Robert Love returns to the Gilded Age, when Dr. Pierre Bernard (né Perry Baker in Iowa) revived a discipline banned in Victorian India, packaged it for Americans, and taught legions of followers, who bankrolled his luxurious Hudson River ashram- the first in the nation. Filled with Jazz Age celebrities, heiresses, spies, and outraged clergy, The Great Oom is the enthralling life story of the unlikeliest of gurus, and a stunning saga of mysticism, intrigue, and the American dream.
The amazing story of how yoga came to America-and the charming rogue who made it possible
In Jazz Age New York, there was no place hotter than the Clarkstown Country Club, where celebrities such as Leopold Stokowski mingled with Vanderbilts, Goodriches, and Great War spies. They came for the club's circuses and burlesques but especially for the lectures on the subject at the heart of the club's mission: yoga. Their guru was the notorious Pierre Bernard, who trained with an Indian master and instructed his wealthy followers in the asanas and the modern yogic lifestyle.
Robert Love traces this American obsession from moonlit Tantric rituals in San Francisco to its arrival in New York, where Bernard's teachings were adopted by Wall Streeters and Gilded Age heiresses, who then bankrolled a luxurious ashram on the Hudson River-the first in the nation. Though today's practitioners know little of Bernard, they can thank his salesman's persistence for sustaining our interest in yoga despite generations of naysayers.
In this surprising, sometimes comic story, Love uncovers the forgotten life and times of the colorful, enigmatic character who brought us hatha yoga. "The Great Oom" delves into the murky intersection of mysticism, money, and celebrity that gave rise to the creation of one of America's most popular practices and a fivebillion-dollar industry.
In Jazz Age New York, there was no place hotter than the Clarkstown Country Club, where celebrities such as Leopold Stokowski mingled with Vanderbilts, Goodriches, and Great War spies. They came for the club's circuses and burlesques but especially for the lectures on the subject at the heart of the club's mission: yoga. Their guru was the notorious Pierre Bernard, who trained with an Indian master and instructed his wealthy followers in the asanas and the modern yogic lifestyle.
Robert Love traces this American obsession from moonlit Tantric rituals in San Francisco to its arrival in New York, where Bernard's teachings were adopted by Wall Streeters and Gilded Age heiresses, who then bankrolled a luxurious ashram on the Hudson River-the first in the nation. Though today's practitioners know little of Bernard, they can thank his salesman's persistence for sustaining our interest in yoga despite generations of naysayers.
In this surprising, sometimes comic story, Love uncovers the forgotten life and times of the colorful, enigmatic character who brought us hatha yoga. "The Great Oom" delves into the murky intersection of mysticism, money, and celebrity that gave rise to the creation of one of America's most popular practices and a fivebillion-dollar industry.
An inspiring guide to finding your life's purpose--what spiritual teachers call dharma--through mindfulness and self-exploration. Stephen Cope says that in order to have a fulfilling life you must discover the deep purpose hidden at the very core of your self. The secret to unlocking this mystery, he asserts, can be found in the pages of a two-thousand-year-old spiritual classic called the Bhagavad Gita--an ancient allegory about the path to dharma, told through a timeless dialogue between the fabled archer, Arjuna, and his divine mentor, Krishna. Cope takes readers on a step-by-step tour of this revered tale and highlights well-known Western lives that embody its central principles--including such luminaries as Jane Goodall, Walt Whitman, Susan B. Anthony, John Keats, and Harriet Tubman, along with stories of ordinary people as well. If you're feeling lost in your own life's journey, The Great Work of Your Life may help you to find and to embrace your true calling. Praise for The Great Work of Your Life
"Keep a pen and paper handy as you read this remarkable book: It's like an owner's manual for the soul."--Dani Shapiro, author of Devotion
"A masterwork . . . You'll find inspiration in these pages. You'll gain a better appreciation of divine guidance and perhaps even understand how you might better hear it in your own life."--Yoga Journal
"I am moved and inspired by this book, the clarity and beauty of the lives lived in it, and the timeless dharma it teaches."--Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart
"A rich source of contemplation and inspiration [that] encourages readers . . . to discover and fully pursue their inner self's calling."--Publishers Weekly "Fabulous . . . If you have ever wondered what your purpose is, this book is a great guide to help you on your path."--YogaHara
"Keep a pen and paper handy as you read this remarkable book: It's like an owner's manual for the soul."--Dani Shapiro, author of Devotion
"A masterwork . . . You'll find inspiration in these pages. You'll gain a better appreciation of divine guidance and perhaps even understand how you might better hear it in your own life."--Yoga Journal
"I am moved and inspired by this book, the clarity and beauty of the lives lived in it, and the timeless dharma it teaches."--Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart
"A rich source of contemplation and inspiration [that] encourages readers . . . to discover and fully pursue their inner self's calling."--Publishers Weekly "Fabulous . . . If you have ever wondered what your purpose is, this book is a great guide to help you on your path."--YogaHara
Playful, simple, and beneficial yoga poses and mental exercises set in your real life to help alleviate pain and stress. No mat, big class, or huge time commitment required - just your commitment to feeling better and being happier! "Highly recommended as a way to create healthy habits for a more peaceful, happy life." -- New York Journal of Books Sold globally in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Canada and More Translated and sold in Russia Advice from the book and author featured in: Fox Health News, HLN/CNN, Todayshow.com, USA Today, AARP Life Reimagined, Costco Connection, Real Simple, Health.com and more! Yoga isn't about becoming a human pretzel, being vegan, or wearing trendy workout clothes to a green juice bar. Based on her own healing journey, instructor Christine Chen presents a fun, easy way to do yoga at home, in the office, during a commute, and more--no matter your fitness level, yoga experience, age or gender. A #1 National Bestseller on Amazon in Exercise & Fitness and Injury Prevention A #1 New Release on Amazon (2015)
Finally, an easy-to-use quick-reference guide that captures the beauty and essence of hatha yoga itself.
Hatha Yoga Asanas: Pocket Guide for Personal Practice features full-color photos, basic movement cues, the English and Sanskrit names, and difficulty ratings for over 150 poses, including these
Bound angle
Bow
Bridge
Chair
Child's
Cobra
Crescent lunge
Crow
Dancer I
Downward-facing dog
Forward bend
Garland
Half moon
Headstand
Intense side stretch
Lord of the fishes
Lotus
Pigeon
Shoulder stand
Side angle
Staff
Tree
Triangle
Upward-facing dog
Warrior
Wheel
Simple, attractive, and convenient, Hatha Yoga Asanas: Pocket Guide for Personal Practice is the one reference every practitioner and instructor should own.
Experience the physical benefits and body awareness from hatha yoga--the most popular form of yoga today. Hatha Yoga Illustrated presents nearly 650 full-color photos to visually demonstrate 77 standard poses from hatha yoga that apply to all major hatha styles including Iyengar, Astanga, Anusara, and Bikram.
Individual poses are presented from start to finish, showing you how to achieve proper alignment and breathing to ensure challenging yet safe execution. The result is an increase in the effectiveness, both physically and mentally, you'll experience with each pose. Several pose variations based on your personal preference, ability, and fitness level are also included.
Eleven sample yoga routines show how to assemble the poses into workouts that meet your specific time, difficulty, and intensity parameters. Colorful and comprehensive, Hatha Yoga Illustrated is organized for your ultimate convenience and use. Use it to guide your muscles, as well as your mind, and increase strength and stamina, reduce stress and anxiety, reduce blood pressure, and increase flexibility.
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, authored in the 15th century is one of the most well-known texts on physical yoga. This translation offers unique perspectives and insight from Sri T. Krishnamacharya, who had perhaps the most influence in physical yoga in the modern era. Drawing upon extensive notes of private studies with Krishnamacharya, his long time student, A. G. Mohan, presents critical analysis unavailable in any other translation to date. This translation includes summaries, notes on which practices may be more or less useful or even harmful, and comparisons to the Gheranda Samhita. This book is a worthwhile read and companion to any serious yoga aspirant, especially those interested in knowing what one of the most influential yogis of the modern times had to say on the esoteric practices of hatha yoga: on pranayama, mudras, and bandhas.
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is a classical text describing Hatha Yoga. It is the oldest surviving text on Hatha Yoga. Swami Swatmarama, a disciple of Swami Goraknath, wrote the text, drawing upon previous texts and his own experiences. While the text describes asanas (postures), purifying practices (shatkarma), mudras (finger and hand positions), bandhas (locks), and pranayama (breath exercises), it also explains that the purpose of Hatha Yoga is the awakening of kundalini (subtle energy), advancement to Raja Yoga, and the experience of deep meditative absorption known as samadhi.
Stress is now considered the foremost contributor to poor health and a major factor in causing heart disease, cancer, and a myriad of chronic and acute diseases. This book will make yoga a fundamental part of your quest for wellness and well-being, whether you are a novice or a current pactitioner. Nischala Joy Devi, a pioneer in the field of alternative healing and a renowned yoga expert, has spent years helping people realize the healthful and stress-controlling benefits of yoga. In 1982 she developed yoga-based retreats for Dr. Michael Lerner's now famous Commonweal Cancer Help Program. That same year Dr. Dean Ornish asked her to create a program of yoga practices for patients suffering from heart disease. Yoga's contribution to the success of both programs has been astounding. Devi shares her years of experience working with the healthful benefits of yoga, teaching visualizations, breathwork, and meditation, as well as providing the classic steps and illustrated instructions for yoga's physical poses. The Healing Path of Yoga uses timeless Indian-based yoga techniques and philosophy, along with Devi's lifestyle-altering regimen, to create one extraordinary program with the power to rejuvenate and heal. The Healing Path of Yoga presents the key to: preventing disease and stress in healthy people aiding in recovery from heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses physical conditioning and weight loss deep, healing relaxation techniques heightened overall wellness of body, mind, and spirit