Yoga: Your Home Practice Companion

I've done yoga for years, both in classes and at home, and I was curious about the Sivananda school of yoga. Based on reviews, I decided to get this book. I have both the physical and Kindle versions, and both are good. It's an attractive and well thought-out tome.Being independent-minded, all their exhortations about "proper exercise" and "proper diet", etc. (they are really fond of the word "proper") rub me the wrong way. I don't believe there's any one perfect way for doing anything that serves all people at all times the best. So I ignore that aspect and take what I can get from books that talk to me like this.And as much as I enjoy hearing about the purported benefits of various yoga poses, some of them don't hold water. They say inversions bring more blood to your brain, but I'm pretty sure that's not true. Metaphorically, it may be true in the sense that inversions can make you feel more alive, aware, and awake, but they cannot literally cause more blood to flow into your brain. Take some of what they say with a grain of salt.Their other explanations, though, are really great, despite a few things that gave me pause. I really like that they go through the different types of muscles and movements, the nervous system, and the endocrine system and what yoga does for these, and I found most of what they said plausible.In practice, the recommend starting each yoga session with at least five minutes of initial relaxation in corpse pose using deep abdominal breathing, two minutes of easy sitting pose, then eye exercises followed by neck exercises. I'd say this all adds at least 20 minutes to any yoga session of this style that you do, although that depends on how long it takes you to do the eye and neck exercises. I will say I find it beneficial to start this way, although I don't always have the time. I agree with their reasoning that we tend to bring a competitive spirit to yoga and that starting this way helps release that so that you get more benefit from your practice, and that much of our tension and stress is held in our upper bodies.So far, I'm really enjoying their style of Sun Salutations, although I find them surprisingly challenging. The arm position in the forward bends and rising from them really works all the muscles of your legs, buttocks, and back. Upon initially raising your arms, you position them with your palms facing forward and you keep them this way, which is something I had never seen before. Such a difference a little thing can make! There are a couple of other differences from the Sun Salutations I've practiced in the past that also makes them more challenging. I do wish I could see a video of one of their instructors doing the full sun salutation, as I do have some questions about transitions that could be cleared up through seeing this in motion.The pictures and explanation of their poses are wonderful. Truly helpful. I have much more ease rising into shoulderstand and plough after reading their explanation. Once again, a simple little thing makes all the difference. It's their instruction to "point the toes towards the head". Just that minimal action creates an easy upward lift in your spine that allows you to rise into the pose without great effort. I'm not sure any teacher had ever pointed that out to me.At the end of the section on yoga, they give 20-, 40-, and 60-minute sequences for beginning, intermediate, and advanced students, but I think these take longer than they say if you follow their full instructions to rest in one of their resting poses for 8 breaths between each pose and then 6-10 minutes at the end. Plus, if you follow their instructions from the Proper Exercise section, you will be starting your practice with corpse pose, then easy pose, then eye and neck exercises, all of which will add at least 20 minutes to any session.Interestingly, aside from the initial sun salutations, they have you do the inversions, flexibility, and stretching exercises at the beginning of your routine, only moving on to more vigorous standing poses, if any, at the end. This is the complete opposite of any style of yoga I've done before, and certainly the polar opposite of popular vinyasa-styles of yoga, but so far I really like it. One question I have for them is what they consider to be one round of sun salutations. I've always understood one round to be doing it once with your right leg initially stretching back behind you heading into plank and then once using your left leg, but they don't explicitly say what they consider to be one sun salutation. This matters in that their routines all specify repeating sun salutation a certain number of times.At the end of the book is their section on Proper Diet, in which they tell you to become a vegetarian. I am not, and don't intend on becoming one, but I do find some of their recipes intriguing enough to try. So far I've made their Couscous with Mozzarella and Rocket, which was delicious, and far more filling and satisfying than I expected. Truly a great lunch idea you could make anywhere you had access to boiling water in only 5-10 minutes. Rocket is arugula, by the way. I also made Cillas (Chickpea Pancakes), which I found to be really dense. I think I tried eating them with scrambled eggs, but that was too heavy. They definitely need to be eaten with something that will lighten and brighten them.

I started taking a Sivananda Yoga class three months ago. Since then, I have come to enjoy yoga so much that I am trying to develop a home practice. Although you can easily find the Sivananda asana sequence online, this book is a must. Why?1. The text is easy to understand.2. This book is not super in-depth, but is just enough to not overwhelm you as a beginner but still able to carry you through your practice as you advance. In other words, it provides a great foundation and reference tool.3. The photos are beautiful and clearly demonstrate the progression of each asana.4. There are variations provided for each asana.5. The routines are shown through photos, not just the pose name. I like this because I'm more likely to have the book open and USE it during my practice.6. It shows common mistakes when performing a pose. I realized I have a lot to work on. :)7. The chapters on breathing and meditation are simple but good.8. While this book does cover Sivananda Yoga, I really think that it is universal in the information that it provides.I like that this book covers the pose and counter-pose sequence thoroughly, diet, meditation, breathing, and overall health. It briefly mentions chakras and energy, but doesn't really explain much. I kind of liked this because I know quite a few people who like yoga as an exercise, but wouldn't be interested in the rest of it. So, while chakras and energy are mentioned, it is up to the reader to explore the yoga world more through other texts as well.Overall, I heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in yoga. This book is a keeper and has earned a spot in my yoga bag next to my mat.

As a complete novice on yoga, this is a perfect book for me to learn about the ancient practice. It provides the history of yoga, the philosophy behind the poses, and the scientific benefits of practicing them.The book also teaches us about breathing, meditation, stress management, and proper diet according to yogic tradition (and how to cook or prepare for them). And every now and then the book inserts beautiful gems of wisdom, as a cherry on top of a wholesome philosophy of living.All of this are wrapped up in digestible, bite size, chapters and sub-chapters that makes it easy to read and pause (so that I can mercifully - and comically - try to emulate the poses). I couldn’t ask for a more concise and straight forward introduction to yoga than this one.

I have been practicing yoga for about 11 years and am a recently certified yoga teacher. I was looking for a yoga book that can help provide me with more information and guidance. This is one of the best yoga books I've found. It starts off introducing you to yoga and what it is about so you get your basic yoga education. Then it talks about pranayana (breathing), which is usually skimmed over. Then, it goes into the different poses and the best part is that it gives you step by step instructions with PICTURES. My biggest irk with yoga books is that they do not include step by step pictures and for beginners, it is bad because then you don't now what the "correct" posture is. It also points out the common faults that people make. It shows the beginner postures and the more advanced ones. At the end of the asanas chapter, it gives you a possible schedule to follow for your day to day yoga practice in 20, 40, or 60 minutes for beginners, intermediate, and advance. It also talks about meditation and the different methods. Finally, it talks about yogic nutrition and provides you with a possible daily meal plan and best of all recipes. I highly recommend this book for anyone except really advanced yoga practicioner who might find the information redundant and too easy.

O livro é excelente. Bem completo, abordando vários aspectos do Yoga, com muitas ilustrações sobre as posições e com boas descrições das mesmas. Uma boa opção para todos os que querem iniciar no Yoga por conta própria.

I really love this book! It is clear and neat. There are general explanations about yoga history, why it is good for your health and advices to improve you diet. Then you have all the yoga poses well described: every steps, each time you nead to breathe is explained which avoid to hurt yourself and to move the right way! I checked so many books and this one was the only one with that level of details! Great purchase! :D

Un des meilleurs livres sur le yoga à faire chez soi. Je le recommande fortement.

EXCELLENT CONDITION

Awesome book