Suggested Reading

Item Name: Cool Yoga Tricks

Description: This delightful book by the author of Yoga for Wimps (2000) is chock-full of practical techniques to help the average person safely perform yoga poses. Austin has studied Iyengar yoga for several years, a style of yoga that often uses props such as blocks, blankets, chairs, and walls to deepen the experience of classic poses. In this book Austin shows both new and experienced practitioners how to use yoga props and provides partner exercises to improve the performance of poses. Clear explanations and numerous photos demonstrate how to make poses easier or more challenging. Having survived various injuries, some caused by overaggressive teachers, Austin seeks to make yoga fun and safe. She encourages the reader to trust the wisdom of the body. Her enthusiasm is infectious--it's almost impossible to read the book without getting up and trying some of her "cool tricks." Jane Tuma Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Item Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345465415

Item Name: Dancing the Body of Light

Description: Dancing the Body of Light is the title of the book that Dona has brought out with her student and fellow yoga teacher, Orit Sen-Gupta. Together they have explored the past and present stages of yoga and offer in this ambitious manuscript a way that the art of yoga can continue to develop in the future. Perfect pose, empty mind, and wide heart are at the basis of this development, in which all the aspects of the human being are brought together into one organic whole. This was undoubtedly the aim of the ancient yogi's, but as happens to all traditions, at a certain moment in history the descriptions take the place of reality, the vehicle to arrive at life becomes more important than life itself. The book "Dancing the Body of Light: the Future of Yoga", aims at refreshing old concepts and giving them a new, modern look. Using modern terminology and modern sciences, the old yogic concepts of the annamaya kosha (the physical body) and the pranamaya kosha (the energy body) are rediscovered as the twin vehicle in which the human being travels through life. The application of NOT-DOING or WU-WEI to the physical body brings again the pranamaya kosha or energy body into focus. At the same time the application of NOT-DOING to the mind and heart bring back that peacefulness and innocence that can reflect without distortion the here and now. It is out of that reflection that we can act with clarity and efficiency. The book is brought out in a beautiful hard back cover, and a deluxe paperback which contain, apart from the philosophical part, a large section with a detailed description of all the asanas, bandhas, pranayama techniques and savasana techniques. With more than three hundred photographs it gives, in addition to the description, a visual idea of the ease and fluidity with which the postures can be performed if they are done from the point of view of the energy body through the application of WU-WEI or NOT-DOING. This book is a must for all serious yoga practitioners and teachers.

Item Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9080511323

Item Name: Guiding Yoga's Light: Yoga Lessons for Yoga Teachers

Description: Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others. -- Buddha Guiding Yoga’s Light is an invaluable teaching and learning tool comprised of 56 lessons any yoga teacher or serious yoga student can utilize as their own. Guiding Yoga’s Light will be an oft-referred to text on any yogi’s shelf along with such classics as Iyengar’s Light on Yoga and the Anderson and Sovik, Yoga: Mastering the Basics. Written in easy-to-follow succinct scripts for beginning to advanced students, Guiding Yoga’s Light embraces a wide array of yogic concepts: from teaching basic diaphragmatic breathing to creating mindfulness to applying the Yamas and Niyamas to Hatha practice. Guiding Yoga’s Light interprets yoga’s 4,000 year-old philosophy to inspire, delight and enable yoga students to go deeper. Students and teachers alike can now more easily bring the relevant and systematic lessons of yoga "off their mats" and into their lives.

Item Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0972280987

Item Name: Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life

Description: In his follow-up to Full Catastrophe Living--a book in which he presented basic meditation techniques as a way of reducing stress and healing from illness--here Jon Kabat-Zinn goes much more deeply into the practice of meditation for its own sake. To Kabat-Zinn, meditation is important because it brings about a state of "mindfulness," a condition of "being" rather than "doing" during which you pay attention to the moment rather than the past, the future, or the multitudinous distractions of modern life. In brief, rather poetic chapters, he describes different meditative practices and what they can do for the practitioner. The idea that meditation is "spiritual" is often confusing to people, Kabat-Zinn writes; he prefers to think of it as what you might call a workout for your consciousness. This book makes learning meditation remarkably easy (although practicing it is not). But it also makes it seem infinitely appealing. --Ben Kallen --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Item Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401307787

Item Name: Yoga for the Three Stages of Life: Developing Your Practice As an Art Form, a Physical Therapy, and

Description: Essential reading for those looking to customize their practice to life's changing needs. • Includes sections on vedic chanting, throat breathing, and exercises for women. • Presents a unique portrait of T. Krishnamacharya and his teachings. For 33 years Ramaswami studied with the legendary T. Krishnamacharya, teacher of B.K.S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and T.K.V. Desikachar and perhaps the most influential figure in the field of yoga in the last 100 years. Since that time he has developed Krishnamacharya's teaching into what may be the most highly evolved program available for making yoga a way of life, rather than simply a routine. In seventeen chapters Ramaswami lays out the whole philosophy of yoga, including principles for right living, postures, breathing practices, meditation practices, and mental disciplines. Key to Ramaswami's teaching is the focus on adapting yoga to individual needs and to different stages of life. During the early part of life, learning yoga as a physical art form is most beneficial for the self-confidence and discipline it instills. In middle age, yoga should focus on physical therapy and maintaining optimum health as far into life as possible. In the last stages of life, the practitioner will be ready to focus on the ultimate goal of yoga--true understanding of the philosophy behind it and the realization of truth.

Item Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0892818204

Item Name: Yoga for Wellness: Healing with the Timeless Teachings of Viniyoga

Description: Viniyoga provides a methodology for creating an individualized yoga program (the tradition adapts postures to individuals rather than vice versa), and Kraftsow has been recognized for his ability to train teachers and therapists in this method. Kraftsow's illustrated manual is meant to introduce "yoga for all levels" in a hands-on manner, but he seems unclear about his audience's background. Part 1, about yoga practice, assumes knowledge of anatomy and familiarity with the postures, while Part 2, about yoga therapy, explains physiology in detail too explicit for the reader of Part 1. Still, someone with previous experience in yoga or movement therapy can benefit from the chapters on adapting postures and creating sequences. Recommended for libraries with large health collections.AElizabeth C. Stewart, Portland, ME Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Item Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140195696

Item Name: Yoga Of Heart: The Healing Power Of Intimate Connection

Description: Truth is not something we have to seek out. It is not something that is absent and far away, requiring great effort to find. Truth is present within you as the Life that is you. In Yoga of Heart, Los Angeles-based yoga instructor Mark Whitwell takes us back to the time when yoga was first developed—to the shamanic past of the Upanishads, when yoga was practiced as a means of acknowledging, enjoying, and participating in the very source of Life. Whitwell explores the deeper tantric dimensions of hatha yoga—how yoga’s purpose is to link the mind to the wonder of our own condition. He shows how hatha yoga is participation in life’s polarities already in union—through the male surrender to the female principle. Yoga of Heart shows how we can forge that union of polarities within our body: above and below, front and back, left and right, male and female. Yoga of Heart focuses especially on clearing the energy centers and meridians, fostering dynamic health and allowing practitioners to create a deeper intimacy with both their partners and the energetic life forces in the universe.

Item Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159056068X

Item Name: Yoga: The Iyengar Way

Description: A comprehensive, practical, and authoritative guide to the method developed by Iyengar. 100 key postures with detailed step-by-step instructions and photographs. This is our most recently published yoga book and has quickly become a backlist bestseller.

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Item Name: Yoga as Medicine: The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing

Description: Starred Review. Western-trained internist and Yoga Journal medical editor McCall has practiced Iyengar yoga for a decade. In 2002, he traveled to India, where most scientific research on yoga's medical benefits has been conducted. The results of that visit and McCall's subsequent study of yoga therapy and ayurveda (India's ancient medical system) are presented here, translated into Western medical terms. For example, McCall demystifies such concepts as samskaras (unconscious patterns that negatively affect behavior and health); scientists, McCall says, explain these patterns as repeated firings of neurons that change the brain's wiring. Although McCall's focus is on yoga therapy, he includes material that will be helpful to most students. For readers challenged by illness, he provides an overview of popular yoga styles and their suitability for various degrees of fitness; steps to finding a yoga therapist; and what to expect from a session. Twenty chapters feature noted yoga instructors describing their approaches to specific conditions—panic attacks, carpal tunnel syndrome, depression, infertility, cancer, etc. They offer advice, rather than fixed protocols, based on their tradition and experience. This might frustrate readers seeking a formula, but those willing to experiment have access to many diverse tools and practices. No doubt McCall's fine articulation of yoga's healing potential will appeal to a large audience of instructors, students, physicians and their patients. (July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Item Link: http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Medicine-Prescription-Health-Healing/dp/05533840

Item Name: Yoga Therapy: A Guide to the Therapeutic Use of Yoga and Ayurveda for Health and Fitness

Description: Most people think of yoga as a solitary activity that is inherently therapeutic. While that is generally true, yoga poses and breathing practices can also be prescribed for specific health problems—often in combination with dietary advice taken from Ayurveda, traditional Indian medicine. Yoga Therapy is an essential guide for yoga teachers, advanced practitioners, and anyone who wants to make therapeutic use of yoga. A. G. and Indra Mohan prescribe postures, breathing techniques, and basic Ayurvedic principles for a variety of common health problems, including asthma, back pain, constipation, hip pain, knee pain, menstrual problems, and scoliosis. Yoga Therapy is one of the few books that shows yoga teachers how to put together appropriate yoga sequences and breathing techniques for their students. Mohan details how to correctly move into, hold, and move out of poses, how to breathe during practice to achieve specific results, and how to customize a yoga practice by creating sequences of yoga poses for a particular person.

Item Link: http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Therapy-Therapeutic-Ayurveda-Fitness/dp/15903013

Item Name: Light on Yoga: Yoga Dipika

Description: The definitive guide to the philosophy and practice of Yoga--the ancient healing discipline for body and mind--by its greatest living teacher. Light on Yoga provides complete descriptions and illustrations of all the positions and breathing exercises. Features a foreword by Yehudi Menuhin. Illustrations throughout.

Item Link: http://www.amazon.com/Light-Yoga-Bible-Modern-Yoga/dp/0805210318/ref=sr_1_1

Item Name: The Ayurveda Encyclopedia: Natural Secrets to Healing, Prevention, & Longevity

Description: Although there is no shortage of books that attempt to explain Ayurveda medicine (a system that originated in India about 5000 years ago) to a popular audience, the author, instructor at the Ayurveda Holistic Health Center in Bayville, NY, claims that this is the first English-language textbook on the subject. However, he does little to simplify this complicated system and goes into too much detail not only for average readers but for health practitioners who want to learn more about this form of treatment. Many of his statements seem far-fetched (e.g., can the color orange really help with menstrual cramps?). Organization is poor; for instance, information on therapies for diabetes is spread throughout the book rather than being concentrated in the section on diseases. Perhaps the most useful information here is the list of Ayurvedic resources and the glossary containing clear definitions of many of the terms used. Better choices for books on Ayurveda medicine include titles by Vasant Lad (Ayurveda: The Science of Self Healing, Lotus Light, 1990) and Deepak Chopra (Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, LJ 6/15/93). Recommended only for libraries with extensive collections in alternative medicine.?Natalie Kupferberg, Arizona State Univ. West, Phoenix Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Item Link: http://www.amazon.com/Ayurveda-Encyclopedia-Natural-Prevention-Longevity/dp

Item Name: Yoga and Psychotherapy: The Evolution of Consciousness

Description: Provides and in-depth analysis of Western and Eastern models of the mind and their differing perspectives.

Item Link: http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Psychotherapy-Consciousness-Swami-Rama/dp/089389

Item Name: Eastern Body Western Mind, Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to the Self

Description: Judith (Sevenfold Journey, LJ 4/1/93), a healer, elucidates the chakra system and how it shapes and is shaped by human behavior. The seven chakras, or human biocomputer, are located at various levels of our bodies. The chakras start with survival (at the base of the spine), followed by sexuality (lower back), power (solar plexus), love (heart area), communication (throat), intuition (brow), and cognition (crown). Giving an understanding of the chakras and their corresponding psychological character, Judith then invites the reader to explore multidimensional healing processes to bring the chakras into balance. To provide illustrations of practical applications, she offers personal stories. Although her book contains a lot of information, it is user-friendly, allowing the reader to view pertinent chapters through the use of subtitles and reference charts. Like Rickie Moore's Goddess in My Shoes (Humanics, 1988), this work would be popular in New Age collections.?L. Kriz, West Des Moines Lib., Iowa Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Item Name: Yoga RX: A Step-by-Step Program to Promote Health, Wellness, and Healing for Common Ailments

Description: Amidst a superfluity of enthusiastic but unspecialized "yoga-is-good-for-you" books, this volume stands out by focusing on yoga therapy, a system of using yogic exercises to relieve pain and sickness. The chapters are organized by anatomical system (musculoskeletal, circulatory, endocrine) and describe a sequence of poses to benefit each one. Usatine, a professor at UCLA's medical school, stresses that yoga therapy is a complement to traditional medical care; he begins each section with easy-to-read overviews of human anatomy and physiology, bolstered by practical advice on both Eastern and Western methods of treating ailments. The clarity and confidence of the yoga directions testify to Payne's many years as an instructor. But learning yoga from a book is difficult, and the novice would likely find this particular volume less forgiving than most. The photographs are fairly small, and for the most part, two must suffice for illustrating a multi-step pose. However, for those who practice yoga on a regular basis (and therefore won't need to parse out sun salutation's complex postures) and would like to refine their routines to improve their health, this book may prove a very valuable resource. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Item Name: Yoga for Transformation: Ancient Teachings and Practices for Healing the Body, Mind, and Heart

Description: While there is no denying yoga's popularity as a form of physical exercise, the other life-enhancing aspects of this tradition remain obscure to many Westerners. In Yoga for Transformation, Gary Kraftsow introduces techniques that treat not only the physical body but also the emotions, mind, heart, and soul of the practitioner-the places where real transformation can take place. There are breathing techniques to control energy levels, exercises to train and sharpen the intellect, and meditative practices to help increase self-awareness. With more than 350 black and white photographs throughout, this unique and accessible book is dedicated to strengthening the whole self-body, mind, and spirit.

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