In Yoga Nidra you enter a state of non-doing in which transformation happens from beyond the mind rather than through the mind. In this highly regenerative meditative state you can restore and rejuvenate your body, heal and recover from illness and re-wire your brain for greater mental and emotional balance and resiliency. This comprehensive guidebook explores the core of Yogic philosophy and modern applications of Yoga Nidra backed by scientific research - affirming what Yogis have known for thousands of years. You will receive instruction on the practice of Yoga Nidra and the use of intention. You will discover how unconscious thinking patterns and resulting biochemical states contribute to ill health, stress, insomnia, depression, anxiety, bad habits, trauma and addictions and most importantly, how to neutralize them with the Six Tools of Yoga Nidra.

    “Unbounded freedom and joy, oneness with the divine ... these experiences are more common than you know, and not far away.” But even after achieving such realization — after the ecstasy — we are faced with the day-to-day task of translating that freedom into our imperfect lives. We are faced with the laundry.Drawing on the experiences and insights of leaders and practitioners within the Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Sufi traditions, this book offers a uniquely intimate and honest understanding of how the modern spiritual journey unfolds — and how we can prepare our hearts for awakening.Through moving personal stories and traditional tales, we learn how the enlightened heart navigates the real world of family relationships, emotional pain, earning a living, sickness, loss, and death.

    The Yoga Sutras, a foundational text of yoga philosophy and practice, written by the guru Patanjali over two thousand years ago, are made up of 196 aphorisms that offer potent teachings on how to deal with loss and pain, and guidance on how to lead a healthy and fulfilling life. Kelly DiNardo and Amy Pearce-Hayden offer an enjoyable entrée to this yoga training for the mind and spirit by introducing a sutra or group of sutras on a related theme, providing a brief commentary, and then offering writing prompts to allow you to reflect on and apply the meaning of the sutras to your life. The book is at once an introduction to the classical philosophy, a quick guide for students and teachers, and an active self-study that helps you to engage with the wisdom in a deeply personal way.

    The yoga we practice today in the West bears little resemblance to the yoga that began humbly almost 5,000 years ago, but in its rich and varied history, yoga has always evolved to meet the needs of the culture it serves. But what distinguishes this publication are the 400 poses, or asanas, illustrated by artful black-and-white photographs taken especially for this book, that demonstrate the physical postures derived from an ancient Indian tradition. With dozens of stunning foldouts, this book beautifully explores a wide range of yoga with an emphasis on how it touches more than the physical body; the flexibility and stamina achieved on the yoga mat will doubtless transcend to more important aspects of everyday life. Linda Sparrowe’s introduction traces the evolution of yoga, rooted in the devotional and metaphysical teachings of the sacred yoga texts including the Vedas, Upanishads, and the Bhagavad-Gita, and progressing to an in-depth look at the philosophy of Patanjali, the father of modern yoga. Included are brief introductions to the twentieth-century yogis who were influential in making yoga a Western, and indeed a worldwide, obsession.

    It’s a fundamental human experience available to us all in different ways and in different moments.Learn how the ancient philosophy of yoga, modern neuroscience, and positive psychology can help you discover your life’s meaning and purpose, rewire your brain, and uncover lasting happiness and joy.   Everyone is looking for happiness, but very few really know where to find it. Maybe it’s that house you’ve been dreaming of buying, or a new car, or the perfect relationship? Or maybe it’s a grand, epic revelation about the meaning of life? But when will that revelation come to you, and how long should you wait? And what if happiness isn’t something you achieve or obtain, but how you respond to the conditions of your life? After all, yogis can find peace and joy even when life is painful and unpleasant.   In Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness, you’ll discover that lasting happiness is already at your fingertips—in the small, everyday moments inherently infused with purpose and meaning. The philosophy of yoga—rather than the poses and postures—boils down to one fundamental process: overcoming suffering by coming to know ourselves and aligning our actions with our own intrinsic sense of spiritual purpose. And yoga gives us the tools to address two basic existential questions: Who am I? What should I do? Meanwhile, positive psychology and neuroscience show us how our actions are constantly rewiring our brain in helpful ways—which points to happiness as something we must practice and carry out each day. Happiness is, simply put, something we do.   In this unique, lighthearted guide, celebrated yoga instructor Sam Chase blends ancient wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Sutras with his own personal journey of enlightenment to show you how to deepen your understanding of yourself and the world around you, end the cycle of materialism and greed that can get in the way of cultivating stillness of mind, and achieve lasting well-being.

    Michelle Berman Marchildon, internationally-known as the Yogi Muse, shows you with wit and wisdom how to connect on an authentic level and create a unique experience for your students.Discover the secrets of “The Other Eight Limbed Path,” a method Michelle developed to create and weave a theme through a typical class sequence. Theme Weaver is a must-have for teachers who want to blend inspiration with perspiration to motivate their students, but not become a distraction to the practice of yoga.

    When adhered to and practiced mindfully, yoga can unlock readers’ full creative potential, their capacity for love and compassion, and ability to find success in all areas of their lives. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga brings spirituality back to yoga. It shows how the Seven Spiritual Laws play a crucial role in yoga’s path to enlightenment while providing readers with a wealth of meditation techniques, mantras, breathing exercises, and yoga poses. Whether a newcomer to yoga or an experienced practitioner, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga is a portal to yoga’s deeper spiritual dimension and a beautiful step to a happier, more harmonious, and more abundant life.

     Did you know that yoga practice can help lower your blood pressure, decrease inflammation and prevent age-related brain changes? Recent scientific research now backs up what were once anecdotal claims about the benefits of yoga to every system in the body. Science of Yoga reveals the facts, with annotated artworks that show the mechanics, the angles, how your blood flow and respiration are affected, the key muscle and joint actions working below the surface of each pose, safe alignment and much more. With insight into variations on the poses and and a Q&A section that explores the science behind every aspect of yoga, look no further than Science of Yoga to achieve technical excellence in your practice and optimise the benefits of yoga to your body and mind.

    In Yoga Girl, Brathen takes readers beyond her Instagram feed and shares her journey like never before—from her self-destructive teenage years in her hometown in Sweden to her adventures in the jungles of Costa Rica, and finally to the beautiful and bohemian life she’s built through yoga and meditation in Aruba today. Featuring spectacular photos of Brathen practicing yoga with breathtaking tropical backdrops, along with step-by-step yoga sequences and simple recipes for a healthy, happy, and fearless lifestyle—Yoga Girl is like an armchair vacation to a Caribbean spa.

    He was surprised to find that yoga classes at home were missing the humor, joy, and celebration that fueled his Eastern studies. Instead of expanding and enhancing the joy of being, Western yoga classes focused obsessively on correcting body positions and developing a picture-perfect physique. Determined to keep his yoga practice true to cultivating bliss and inner radiance, Ross started his own yoga studio and has created a yoga movement in Los Angeles that is, to put it simply, revolutionary.Ross lives and teaches according to his belief that the secret to yoga is not obsessing over whether your feet are parallel or whether you can bend as far as the person on your left can, but about transcending the serious and allowing joy into your life, your body, your mind, and hopefully your yoga practice itself. It's about lightening up.In Happy Yoga, Ross reveals that everyone is inherently happy, but that our true self is shadowed and concealed by the layers of worry that, through habit, become our daily thoughts. In each chapter, he examines one of our seven greatest human fears -- depression, ill health, loss of love, career failure, war, death, and emotional stasis -- and uses yoga wisdom to explain how to strip away these worries to reach your core of calm radiant joy. By sharing his system of yoga postures, diet, meditation, music, supplements, and philosophy, Ross has effected profound physical and mental changes in both his life and the lives of his students.Ross's power is that he goes back to the source -- five thousand years of ancient yogic wisdom -- and decodes the abstract Eastern ideas for a Western audience. Happy Yoga is not just a set of movements and facts to consume, it is a way of shifting your awareness to bring the spirit of yoga into each movement, each meal, each relationship, each thought, and each breath.With love and joyful abandon, Ross offers us a new way to practice and live yoga. The result is profound calm, a dramatic release of anxiety and pain, and the realization that there really is nothing to worry about.

    Drawing from such classical texts as the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, as well as modern Indian and Western teachers, this treasure trove of yoga knowledge defines key terms and highlights important themes. It's also a helpful supplement to yoga classes, offering asanas, meditations, breathingexercises, mantras, and mudras for every occasion and skill level. Just the right size to pop into a yoga bag, here's a guide to the practical and philosophical aspects of yoga that complements any spiritual practice.

    In Gita Wisdom, Joshua Greene retells this timeless text in a completely new way, revealing that it is, in essence, a heart-to-heart talk between two friends about the meaning of life. As Krishna and his friend Arjuna reminisce on a battlefield known as Kurukshetra, readers learn that the two played together as children, were close as young men, and became family when Arjuna married Krishna’s sister. In later life the men shared extraordinary adventures, including a journey to places outside the known universe. Like all great literature, the Gita explores the human condition: who we are, where we came from, and why we’re here. With a helpful glossary that lists names, terms, and places, this accessible, enlightening retelling is the perfect introduction to the Gita’s venerable wisdom.

    Clinical stories and anecdotes explore how these yoga-based interventions, rooted in a firm, evidence-based foundation, can be used as effective treatments for a particular mood or mental state.With over 50 photographs that clearly illustrate the practices and gestures, detailed, step-by-step instructions, and scripts for guided relaxation and meditations, Yoga Skills for Therapists is a practical, hands-on guide that teaches the power of basic yoga techniques to bring great self-awareness, balance, and lasting well-being to you and your clients.

    In order to fully heal from trauma, a connection must be made with oneself, including one’s body. The trauma-sensitive yoga described in this book moves beyond traditional talk therapies that focus on the mind, by bringing the body actively into the healing process. This allows trauma survivors to cultivate a more positive relationship to their body through gentle breath, mindfulness, and movement practices. Overcoming Trauma through Yoga is a book for survivors, clinicians, and yoga instructors who are interested in mind/body healing. It introduces trauma-sensitive yoga, a modified approach to yoga developed in collaboration between yoga teachers and clinicians at the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute, led by yoga teacher David Emerson, along with medical doctor Bessel van der Kolk. The book begins with an in-depth description of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including a description of how trauma is held in the body and the need for body-based treatment. It offers a brief history of yoga, describes various styles of yoga commonly found in Western practice, and identifies four key themes of trauma-sensitive yoga. Chair-based exercises are described that can be incorporated into individual or group therapy, targeting specific treatment goals, and modifications are offered for mat-based yoga classes. Each exercise includes trauma-sensitive language to introduce the practice, as well as photographs to illustrate the poses. The practices have been offered to a wide range of individuals and groups, including men and women, teens, returning veterans, and others. Rounded out by valuable quotes and case stories, the book presents mindfulness, breathing, and yoga exercises that can be used by home practitioners, yoga teachers, and therapists as a way to cultivate awareness, tolerance, and an increased acceptance of the self.

    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.