And practiced regularly, it can strengthen the nervous system, balance the glandular system, and harness the energy of the mind and emotion as well as the body. While general yoga technique focuses on exercise postures and breathing, Kundalini takes yoga concepts a step further by integrating them into everyday life activities.This definitive guide, fully illustrated with photographs, is an accessible introduction to this ancient practice, with information on poses and positions, diet and lifestyle, breathing and stretching techniques, chanting and meditation exercises, and general guidelines that can help anyone--beginner or advanced--gain the greatest benefit from yogic practice.

    The over two thousand entries cover Yoga's history, its many approaches, schools, teachers, scriptures, as well as its technical terminology. The book is arranged and written in a manner that will inform rather than overwhelm the lay reader, while at the same time offering valuable references for the professional researcher and the historian of religion. The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga offers the following features:    •  Each entry has cross-references providing pertinent conceptual links    •  Entries are in English alphabetical order, unlike comparable reference works that follow Sanskrit alphabetical order, which is difficult for the lay reader to follow    •  Orientational entries provide an overview of central aspects of the Yoga tradition, such as history, psychology, and major branches    •  Many entries cite or even quote original sources, shedding light on how a given term is used by traditional Yoga authorities

    • An insightful commentary aimed at making the path of love immediately accessible to Westerners. • A life-affirming and relationship-positive path of yoga. • Written in the spirit of the kirtans (ecstatic songs and dances) of Narada, sensitively translated by Prem Prakash. Bhakti Yoga, the path of devotion, is considered one of the primary paths for spiritual realization in yogic tradition. Its representative, Narada, is the embodiment of the enlightened sage who travels the universe spreading his sacred teachings. Unlike Jnana Yoga, the Yoga of Wisdom, the bhakti acolyte does not discriminate against material phenomena--for him, all phenomena are aspects of God. Within the context of Ananda, blissful love, the temporal is realized as the reflection of the eternal, and the soul is realized as the expression of God.

    Yoga of the Heart takes the reader a step further -- into the development of confidence and well being by reaching deep into yogic philosophy to explain in simple terms its ten essential ethics. It includes such lessons as: -- "Do no harm". (Ethic #1)-- "Learn More About What's Important to You" (Ethic #2)-- "Encourage Heroic Capability in Yourself" (Ethic #10)Alice Christensen shows that when these principles are applied daily, life grows richer and more satifying. The key message is that living happily in a world overwhelmed with uncertainties is the pinnacle of achievement, for within uncertainty lies possibility.

    First published in 1660 in Harmonia Macrocosmica, the complete 29 double-folio maps and dozens of unusual details reproduced here depict the world systems of Claudius Ptolemy, Nicolas Copernicus, and Tycho Brahe, the motions of the sun, the moon, and the planets, and the delineation of the constellations in various views.

    The book includes: A step-by-step, integrated system of yoga poses designed to increase cognitive and motor skills in children with learning and developmental disabilities. Specialized breathing exercises and relaxation techniques to improve concentration and reduce hyperactivity. And early intervention program to assure the healthy formative development of infants and toddlers.

    An unusual and rewarding exploration of the Gospel of John from an Indian perspective, offering a meditation on our need to draw inspiration from all spiritual sources as we search for the paths toward personal transformation.

    Their only goal was to escape the body through purification. Cathars denied any value to material life, including the humanbody, baptism, and the Eucharist, even marriage and childbirth. What could explain the long popularity of such a bleak faith in the towns of southern France and Italy?Power and Purity explores the place of cathar heresy in the life of the medieval Italian town of Orvieto. Based on extensive archival research, it details the social makeup of the Cathar community and argues that the heresy was central to the social and political changes of the 13th century. Thelate 13th-century repression of Catharism by a local inquisition was part of a larger redefinition of civic and ecclesiastical authority. Author Carol Lansing shows that the faith attracted not an alienated older nobility but artisans, merchants, popular political leaders, and indeed circles ofwomen in Orvieto as well as Florence and Bologna. Cathar beliefs were not so much a pessimistic anomaly as a part of a larger climate of religious doubt. The teachings on the body and the practice of Cathar holy persons addressed questions of sexual difference and the structure of authority thatwere key elements of medieval Italian life. The pure lives of the Cathar holy people, both male and female, demonstrated a human capacity for self-restraint that served as a powerful social model in towns torn by violent conflict. This study addresses current debates about the rise of persecution, and argues for a climate of popular toleration. Power and Purity will appeal to historians of society and politics as well as religion and gender studies.

    For ages 7-11