Book picks similar to
Health, Healing, and Beyond: Yoga and the Living Tradition of Krishnamacharya by T.K.V. Desikachar
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Mindfulness Yoga: The Awakened Union of Breath, Body, and Mind
Frank Jude Boccio - 1993
This groundbreaking book introduces an entirely new form of yoga, Mindfulness Yoga, which seamlessly integrates the Buddha's teachings on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness with traditional asana yoga practice. Mindfulness Yoga emphasizes the spiritual side of yoga practice, an aspect often overlooked in a culture that tends to fixate solely on the physical benefits of yoga. Unlike any other Buddhism-meets-yoga book, Mindfulness Yoga presents the two disciplines as a single practice that brings health to the body and liberates the mind and spirit, awakening compassion and fostering equanimity and joy. Mindfulness Yoga will appeal to the many people who have an interest in yoga, Buddhism, and meditation, but who may not have been able to find a teacher who could bring these practices together in a meaningful, practical way. In the first part of the book, author Frank Jude Boccio offers a superb and lively introduction to the Buddha's teachings and locates them within the larger context of the Indian spiritual traditions. Then, in the second half of the book, Boccio offers three complete Mindfulness Yoga sequences, including over 100 pictures, with detailed guidance for body, breath, and mind. Special lay-flat binding makes this book even more useful as a practice aid.
Yoga of the Subtle Body: A Guide to the Physical and Energetic Anatomy of Yoga
Tias Little - 2014
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.
Moola Bandha: The Master Key
Buddhananda - 1998
This book looks at all aspects of the practice - physical, mental, pranic, therapeutic, scriptural - and is an important work for serious students of Tantra and Kundalini Yoga.
Kripalu Yoga: A Guide to Practice On and Off the Mat
Richard Faulds - 2005
For advanced students, there is a broad menu of additional poses to increase strength, flexibility, and challenge. Far more than an exercise program, Kripalu Yoga also teaches the lifestyle practices and energy techniques that make yoga a powerful catalyst for physical healing, psychological growth, and spiritual awakening.
Mantras: Words of Power
Sivananda Radha - 1980
This helpful guide to the practice of chanting is useful for both the beginner and the experienced yogi.Mantras: Words of Power, now in its beautiful third edition, teaches how Mantra practice can be used to focus the mind and increase awareness. Each chapter of the book builds on learning from the previous chapter, beginning with an explanation about what Mantra is, how to practice, and then giving specific instruction for twelve mantras. It also includes chapters on Mantra and Healing, and Mantra and Initiation.
The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards
William J. Broad - 2012
He reveals what is real and what is illusory, in the process exposing moves that can harm or even kill. Five years in the making, The Science of Yoga draws on a hidden wealth of discovery, drama, and surprising fact to cut through the fog that surrounds contemporary yoga and to show—for the first time—what is uplifting and beneficial and what is delusional, flaky, and dangerous. At heart, it illuminates the risks and rewards.Broad describes yoga as a burgeoning global industry that attracts not only curious scientists but millions of true believers and charismatic hustlers. He takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of unknown yoga that goes from old archives in Calcutta to world capitals of medical research, from storied ashrams to spotless laboratories, from sweaty yoga studios with master teachers to the cozy offices of yoga healers. In the process, he shatters myths, lays out unexpected benefits, and offers a compelling vision of how the discipline can be improved.
Inside the Yoga Sutras: A Comprehensive Sourcebook for the Study and Practice of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras
Jaganath Carrera - 2005
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.
The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali: A New Translation with Commentary
Chip Hartranft - 2003
Compiled in the second or third century CE, the Yoga-Sutra is a road map of human consciousness—and a particularly helpful guide to the mind states one encounters in meditation, yoga, and other spiritual practices. It expresses the truths of the human condition with great eloquence: how we know what we know, why we suffer, and how we can discover the way out of suffering. Chip Hartranft's fresh translation and extensive, lucid commentary bring the text beautifully to life. He also provides useful auxiliary materials, including an afterword on the legacy of the Yoga-Sutra and its relevance for us today.
Meditation for Beginners
Jack Kornfield - 1998
Meditation for Beginners introduces you to this ancient art, and shows you, step-by-step, how it can help you feel truly alive and connected with the treasure each moment brings. In this complete video beginners' course, Jack Kornfield introduces you to the "insight" practice of meditation. Buddhist monks draw from this same tradition; anyone can use its principles to cultivate a profound inner calm and awaken to the truth behind the power of their presence. Four easy-to-learn meditations cover postures and breathing, beginner's mind, awareness practices, lovingkindness, and much more. Join this respected teacher and learn the time-honored secrets of mindfulness and inner freedom on Meditation for Beginners.
Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students
Guy Donahaye - 2010
Sri K. Pattabhi Jois was such a soul, and through his teaching of yoga, he transformed the lives of countless people. The school in Mysore that he founded and ran for more than sixty years trained students who, through the knowledge they received and their devotion, have helped to spread the daily practice of traditional Ashtanga yoga to tens of thousands around the world.Guruji paints a unique portrait of a unique man, revealed through the accounts of his students. Among the thirty men and women interviewed here are Indian students from Jois's early teaching days; intrepid Americans and Europeans who traveled to Mysore to learn yoga in the 1970s; and important family members who studied as well as lived with Jois and continue to practice and teach abroad or run the Ashtanga Yoga Institute today. Many of the contributors (as well as the authors) are influential teachers who convey their experience of Jois every day to students in many different parts of the globe.Anyone interested in the living tradition of yoga will find Guruji richly rewarding.
Path of Fire and Light, Vol. 1: Advanced Practices of Yoga
Swami Rama - 1986
Practical information on the advanced practices of yoga presented in straightforward language.
A Series of Lessons in Raja Yoga
William Walker Atkinson - 1906
You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
Science of Yoga: Understand the Anatomy and Physiology to Perfect Your Practice
Ann Swanson - 2019
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.
Yoga and the Path of the Urban Mystic
Darren Main - 2002
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.
The Essential Yoga Sutra: Ancient Wisdom for Your Yoga
Michael Roach - 2005
Although little is known about Patanjali (most scholars estimate that he lived in India circa 200–300 b.c.), his writings have long been recognized as a vital contribution to the philosophy and practice of yoga. This new, expert translation of the original Sanskrit text of Patanjali’s best-known work presents his seminal ideas and methods in accessible, plain-language English. Patanjali organized the sutra into four parts: Samadhi (absorption), Sadhana (practice), Vibhuti (supernatural powers), and Kaivalya (liberation). Each represents a step in breaking free of our limited definition of consciousness and training the mind to achieve oneness with the universe. Geshe Michael Roach, one of the most respected teachers of Tibetan Buddhism in America and a renowned scholar of Sanskrit, provides authoritative commentary on each of the sutras. His notes and clarification are straightforward and highly readable, untainted by obscure, academic terminology or New Age jargon. The first edition of the Yoga Sutra to present a Buddhist perspective, this paperback original will be welcomed by students and spiritual seekers alike.