Foundational to all yogic thought, they are considered to be the guidelines to the yoga way of living that free individuals to take ownership of their lives, direct them toward the fulfillment they seek, and gain the skills to choose attitude, thought, and action. The first five guidelines are referred to as the yamas—a Sanskrit word that translates to "restraints"—and encompass nonviolence, truthfulness, not stealing, nonexcess, and nonpossessiveness. The last five are referred to as the niyamas, or observances—purity, contentment, self-discipline, self-study, and surrender. A self-study section at the end of each chapter may also be used by instructors for group discussion.

    With more than 600 photographs depicting all the postures and breathing exercises, it remains the fullest, most practical, and most profusely illustrated guide by the world's foremost yoga teacher. Light on Yoga is a comprehensive and definitive source-book for the initiated, as well as the best introduction for the novice who seeks the healthful benefits of Yoga for mind, body, and soul.

    Whether you are just beginning your journey or have been practicing yoga for years, Yoga Anatomy will be an invaluable resource-one that allows you to see each movement in an entirely new light.Leslie Kaminoff is a recognized expert and teacher in anatomy, breathing, and bodywork. He is the founder of the Breathing Project, New York City's premiere yoga studio dedicated to the teaching of individualized, breath-centered yoga practice and therapy.

    Tias Little is a master teacher, and he brings his precise instruction to the wisdom teachings and philosophy of hatha yoga. He offers us a guided tour of the body's structure and physical anatomy, then uses this new structural awareness as grounds for exploring the subtle body. In a meaningful and pragmatic way, the book maps the connection between the body and the rich symbolism that pervades the yogic imagination, including the chakras, nadis, and koshas. We come to see how the (yoga) body cannot be seen apart from the psycho-spiritual forces that animate it. Further, Tias offers readers clear, illuminated instruction for yoga, pranayama, and meditation techniques that apply these body-mind principles. This book is essential reading for all serious students and teachers of yoga.Each chapter focuses on one of the eight key energetic/anatomy centers of the body: feet/base, pelvis, sacrum, belly, diaphragm, heart/lungs, throat, and crown. The book is organized literally from the ground up, and figuratively from physically basic to conceptual/subtle. Each chapter has a list of poses for activating and applying the lessons, guided meditations, and excerpts from yogic texts. These practical exercises allow readers to immediately integrate the chapter's lessons into their practice.

    Discover the path to inner peace with this guidebook that combines hatha yoga and meditation strategies from world-renowned yoga master Erich Shiffmann.World-renowned yoga master Erich Schiffmann offers an easy-to-follow, exciting new techniques—the first to combine hatha yoga and meditation—to all who are seeking healthful beauty and inner peace.

    This new deluxe printing of these timeless teachings is a treasure to be read and referred to again and again by seekers treading the spiritual path. The classic Sutras (thought-threads), at least 4,000 years old, cover the yogic teachings on ethics, meditation, and physical postures, and provide directions for dealing with situations in daily life. The Sutras are presented here in the purest form, with the original Sanskrit and with translation, transliteration, and commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda, one of the most respected and revered contemporary Yoga masters. In this classic context, Sri Swamiji offers practical advice based on his own experience for mastering the mind and achieving physical, mental and emotional harmony.

    The 365 meditations incluided in this book offer a way to integrate the mindfulness that yoga teaches into everyday life. Whether used in the morning to set the tone for the day, during yoga exercise itself, or at the end of the day, during evening reflection, Meditations from the Mat will support and enhance anyone’s yoga journey.

    Becoming Supernatural marries the some of the most profound scientific information with ancient wisdom to show how people like you and me can experience a more mystical life.Readers will learn that we are, quite literally supernatural by nature if given the proper knowledge and instruction, and when we learn how to apply that information through various meditations, we should experience a greater expression of our creative abilities; that we have the capacity to tune in to frequencies beyond our material world and receive more orderly coherent streams of consciousness and energy; that we can intentionally change our brain chemistry to initiate profoundly mystical transcendental experiences; and how, if we do this enough times, we can develop the skill of creating a more efficient, balanced, healthy body, a more unlimited mind, and greater access to the realms of spiritual truth. Topics include: • Demystifying the body’s 7 energy centers and how you can balance them to heal • How to free yourself from the past by reconditioning your body to a new mind • How you can create reality in the generous present moment by changing your energy • The difference between third-dimension creation and fifth-dimension creation • The secret science of the pineal gland and its role in accessing mystical realms of reality • The distinction between Space-Time vs. Time-Space realitiesAnd much more...

    This groundbreaking work in transpersonal psychology has been revised and redesigned for a more accessible presentation. Arranged schematically, the book uses the inherent structure of the chakra system as a map upon which to chart our Western understanding of individual development. Each chapter focuses on a single chakra, starting with a description of its characteristics, then exploring its particular childhood developmental patterns, traumas and abuses, and how to heal and maintain balance. Illuminated with personal anecdotes and case studies, Eastern Body, Western Mind seamlessly merges the East and West, science and philosophy, and psychology and spirituality into a compelling interpretation of the chakra system and its relevance for Westerners today.Revised edition of the groundbreaking New Age book that seamlessly integrates Western psychology and the Eastern chakra system, including a new introduction from the author.Applies the chakra system to important modern social realities and issues such as addiction, codependence, family dynamics, sexuality, and personal empowerment.

    The Sanskrit text is written in 210 brief, cryptic verses whose meaning has long ago sunk into darkness; the many, confusing modern attempts to explain them bear little resemblance to each other, which is just a sign of how difficult this priceless little book can be. Geshe Michael Roach is an honors graduate of Princeton University and the first westerner in the 600-year history of Sera Mey Tibetan Monastery to be awarded the degree of Geshe, or Master of Buddhism. He is known for his business bestseller, The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Managing Your Business & Your Life. Using a database of almost half a million pages of ancient Asian literature, Geshe Michael has produced a fresh, clear, and immediately usable translation of the Yoga Sutra in the form of a wonderful novel about a young Tibetan woman who uses the wisdom to transform the corrupt world around her into a paradise on earth. How Yoga Works has been acclaimed as a must-read for anyone who does yoga and who wants to know what the Yoga Sutra really says. It is an especially popular reading for yoga teacher training courses throughout the world, and as a personal daily guide for spiritual inspiration.

    A long-time disciple of Sri Swami Satchidananda, he has taught all facets of Yoga at universities, prisons, Yoga centers, and interfaith programs. He established the Integral Yoga Ministry and is a spiritual advisor and visiting lecturer on Hinduism for the One Spirit Seminary in New York City. He is a former chief administrator of Satchidananda Ashram--Yogaville and founded the Integral Yoga Institute of New Brunswick, NJ, where he was director for fourteen years. He served as Dean of Academics at the Eastern School of Acupuncture and is a member of its Govern ing Board. A senior member of the Integral Yoga Teachers Council, he co-developed the highly regarded Integral Yoga Meditation and Raja Yoga Teacher Training Certification programs.

    This text elucidates the entire science of hatha yoga (asana, pranayama, shatkarma, mudra and bandha) as it was conceived and practised not only for health and fitness but for awakening the vital energies: pranas, chakras and kundalini shakti.It points out that hatha yoga is not just a physical practice but a process of cellular transmutation from gross to subtle to divine. Thus hatha yoga was considered to be the foundation of all higher yogas. Line drawings and diagrams illustrate the text.

    • A contemporary classic by a world-renowned teacher. • This new edition adds thirty-two poems by Krishnamacharya that capture the essence of his teachings. Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who lived to be over 100 years old, was one of the greatest yogis of the modern era. Elements of Krishnamacharya's teaching have become well known around the world through the work of B. K. S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and Indra Devi, who all studied with Krishnamacharya. Krishnamacharya's son T. K. V. Desikachar lived and studied with his father all his life and now teaches the full spectrum of Krishnamacharya's yoga. Desikachar has based his method on Krishnamacharya's fundamental concept of viniyoga, which maintains that practices must be continually adapted to the individual's changing needs to achieve the maximum therapeutic value. In The Heart of Yoga Desikachar offers a distillation of his father's system as well as his own practical approach, which he describes as "a program for the spine at every level--physical, mental, and spiritual." This is the first yoga text to outline a step-by-step sequence for developing a complete practice according to the age-old principles of yoga. Desikachar discusses all the elements of yoga--poses and counterposes, conscious breathing, meditation, and philosophy--and shows how the yoga student may develop a practice tailored to his or her current state of health, age, occupation, and lifestyle. This is a revised edition of The Heart of Yoga.

    Some practice Iyengar yoga, while others practice vinyasa or restorative yoga—almost all who practice yoga have touched something deep within themselves and had their lives transformed by this ancient practice. In Yoga and the Path of the Urban Mystic, Darren Main offers a fresh, down-to-earth approach to the time-tested practice and philosophy of yoga. He shows us the way to apply the ancient wisdom of India to every aspect of life. From work and relationships, to death and dying—allowing even our busiest days to become powerful and mystical adventures, filled with all the wonder and magic that was once reserved for those living as monks and nuns. This is not a book about perfecting yoga asanas or pranayama breathing techniques. It is a book about changing the way we see the world—transforming every experience and relationship into a yoga practice unto itself. Since teachers like Swami Vivakananda and Paramahansa Yogananda brought yoga to the West, yoga students and teachers alike have sought to integrate the practice and philosophy of yoga into modern life. Find out why this best-selling yoga book has been used in yoga teacher training programs the world over and has become a modern spiritual classic.

    Far fewer are aware of the full promise of yoga as a 4,000-year-old practical path of liberation—a path that fits the needs of modern Western seekers with startling precision. Now Stephen Cope, a Western-trained psychotherapist who has lived and taught for more than ten years at the largest yoga center in America, offers this marvelously lively and irreverent "pilgrim's progress" for today's world. He demystifies the philosophy, psychology, and practice of yoga, and shows how it applies to our most human dilemmas: from loss, disappointment, and addiction, to the eternal conflicts around sex and relationship. And he shows us that in yoga, "liberation" does not require us to leave our everyday lives for some transcendent spiritual plane—life itself is the path. Above all, Cope shows how yoga can heal the suffering of self-estrangement that pervades our society, leading us to a new sense of purpose and to a deeper, more satisfying life in the world.