Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The Yoga Bible



Editorial Review on Amazon.com
Featuring over 150 yogic postures from the main schools of yoga, including Iyengar and Astanga Vinyasa, this guide provides a comprehensive illustrated step-by-step book to achieving the postures and advice on altering them where necessary with easier postures highlighted for beginners. The book also includes more advanced positions for experienced yogists, which will inspired them in developing their practice.
In addition to postures, the book includes notes on various types of yoga practices as well as a summary of well-known traditional schools of yoga and how they vary. Also inside is advice from the author on breathing techniques and the benefits of yoga in healing, pregnancy, de-stressing and meditation.

Christina Brown qualified as a yoga instructor at the Sivananda Ashram in southern India in 1995. She has also trained in Iyengar Yoga at the Sydney Yoga Centre and in Deradun, India and in yoga therapy at the Yoga Therapy Centre in London. She currently teaches yoga in Sydney, Australia and holds a degree in complementary medicine from the Natural Care College in Sydney. She lives in Sydney, Australia.

Review by G. Brazitis on Amazon.com
The Yoga Bible: The Definitive Guide to Yoga Postures by Christina Brown is a nice little yoga book that fits snuggly into your bag and can be a source of inspiration for all yoga students but some of the poses would challenge the most advance yogi's.

Physically, this book has a small foot print but has over 400 pages of information and covers 170 Yoga Positions. The construction seems average at best. I doubt if this book would stand up to much wear and tear since the binding looks brittle. It is tough to keep open on the mat with out the pages closing quickly on you. It should be bigger!

The content of the books starts with Part One: Introductions (8 Yoga Limbs, Breathing, and Practice Suggestions), Part Two: The Practice (Postures, Pranayama, Mudras, Bandhas, and Kriyas), Part Three: Yoga with a Special Focus (Ailments, Meditation), Part Four: Finding Your Yoga (9 Branches of Yoga).

Part One: Introductions - Starts with the History of Yoga, Rewards, The Eight Limbs of Yoga, and Practice Guidelines. This section is clear, short, and concise. The guideline for practicing offers some very good suggestions for approaching your time on the mat.

Part Two: The Practice - The color photos are great and the detailed Information Box is extremely helpful with the following headings: Gaze, Build-Up Poses, Counter Poses, Lighten, and Effect. It would have been even better if they would have included Warnings and included page numbers next to the Build-Up and Counter Poses for quick reference. The models are exceptionally yogis with many years of practice so use some caution when trying these poses. It would have been an added benefit to show modifications with props. The sections on Pranayama, Mudras, Bandhas, and Kriyas are presented and explained very well allowing the student to enrich their practice.

Part Three: Yoga with a Special Focus - Deals with suggestion posture for specific ailments. This chapter would have been better to have included some Yoga Sessions or Practices designed for beginners and then some more advanced students. The Meditation discussion is nice but could have done better by exploring it some more.

Part Four: Finding Your Yoga - Explores the different forms of yoga presenting a brief explanation of each style. This is helpful in understanding the differences between the different schools of yoga.

Bottom line, The Yoga Bible would make a nice addition to your yoga library.


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