Yoga is from the Sanskrit root meaning “union,” and a sutra is a thread or aphoristic verse. The basic questions “Who am I?” “Where am I going?” “What is the purpose of life?” are asked by each new generation, and Patanjali’s answers form one of the oldest and most vibrant spiritual texts in the world. He explains what yoga is, how it works, and exactly how to purify the mind and let it settle into absolute stillness. This stillness is our own Self. It is the indispensable ground for Enlightenment, which is the ultimate goal of all our aspirations.Alistair Shearer’s lucid introduction and superb translation, fully preserving Patanjali’s jewel-like style, bring these ancient but vital teachings to those who seek the path of self-knowledge today.Bell Tower’s series, Sacred Teachings, offers essential spiritual classics from all traditions. May each book become a trusted companion on the way of truth, encouraging readers to study the wisdom of the ages and put it into practice each day.

    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.

    Avoid putting stress on your joints and heart with this slower yoga style.In today's fast-paced world it's easy to lose the balance in our lives and the connection with our bodies. Yin Yoga offers a remedy to the stress and hustle of everyday life. As yin balances yang in Taoist philosophies, so the slower yin-style yoga offers an alternative to the faster, more active forms of yoga such as ashtanga. Yin yoga concentrates on holding and breathing through floor-based poses, allowing you the time and space to clear your mind and stretch your body. The 54 meditative poses and 20 targeted sequences will help you attain a sense of mindfulness and physical well-being, making it the perfect complement to a busy, active yang lifestyle and bringing you back into balance.

    A new chapter on The Many Benefits of Yoga gives a fascinating and valuable overview of the ways that yoga can maintain or restore the health of the body. With the help of specially commissioned anatomical drawings, it explains how yoga poses work on and benefit the body, including their effect on different types of muscle and the connective tissue (the vast network of elastic tissue that encloses and connects muscles and organs); how poses can help to stimulate our hormonal system; the vital role they play in calming the nervous system, helping you to relax and deal with stress; and the powerful effect yoga has in oxygenating the whole body, and especially the brain, which needs plentiful supplies of oxygen to function properly. In the chapter Proper Exercise, the yoga poses are arranged in the order you should practice them in, and poses are clearly labeled beginner, intermediate, or advanced, helping the reader to progress at his or her own pace. At the end of the book, in another new feature that yoga students will welcome, there are specially devised programs of yoga poses for beginners, intermediate, and advanced students of 20, 40 and 60 minutes each. The chapters on Yogic Breathing and on Positive Thinking and Meditation provide detailed advice on breathing techniques and on how to meditate. The Vegetarian Diet chapter has also been rewritten, and now includes a helpful transition eating plan to becoming vegetarian. The chapter also includes over 40 wholesome and delicious all-new vegetarian recipes.

    

    It's time for the opposite--for readers to demand that yoga conform to their individual needs. It's time for a yoga book to reflect the broader population that would benefit from a yoga practice geared toward them. It's time for Yoga for Everyone!This book offers yoga for every type of body: those who are big, small, elderly, pregnant, or of various physical abilities--everyone. No matter who you are or what you look like or what your abilities are, you can do all 50 poses in this book. The variations to classic poses in this book will also allow you to perform all 10 sequences, which combine different poses into one singular experience and focus on specific physical and mental benefits.So forget what you've heard. Yoga isn't just for the privileged few. It's meant to be enjoyed by everybody and every body. Yes, you can do yoga--and Yoga for Everyone will show you how!---------------------------------"Dianne is a wonderful teacher with a voice and a message that's absolutely needed not only in the yoga community but also in the world. I'd go as far as to say that this book is the most important yoga book released this year. This book smashes the myth of the thin, able-bodied yogi and provides a safe introduction to the art of yoga in a way that's accessible to all. Yoga is for everyone!"-- Rachel Brathen, author of Yoga Girl "Dianne Bondy is truly a leader in the yoga world. Her unwavering commitment to accessibility and inclusiveness is demonstrated perfectly in her new book, Yoga for Everyone. This is a great book for yoga teachers and yoga students of all levels. If you're intimated by the conventional imagery of yoga, if you think yoga isn't for you, or if you're a teacher looking for tools to make the practice approachable for everyone, this book will be a valuable tool. Yoga is an ancient science of the soul, and Dianne's work aims to bring these universal teachings to different kinds of folks with the heart and wisdom that's a vital part of her contribution to the world."-- Kino MacGregor, yoga instructor"Dianne is a force, a personal inspiration, and someone who knows her power and uses it to uplift others. Western yoga and wellness spaces are severely lacking safety and inclusion. Oftentimes, walking into those spaces can feel more marginalizing than healing. Dianne's book is full of resources anybody can use--teacher or student--to create an accessible and welcoming space. The visual representation of diverse bodies and abilities provides a needed reminder that yoga in indeed for all of us. Thank you, Dianne!"-- Dana Falsetti, yoga instructor

    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.

    A radical presentation of the most rigorous form of contemporary yoga as meditation in motion....

    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.

    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.

    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 emphasis is on basic human anatomy as it relates to external body movement. In clear and concise text illustrated with more than a thousand graphic drawings, the author takes the reader on a lively tour of the muscles, bones, ligaments and joints of the arms, legs and trunk. The focus throughout the book is on anatomy not for its own sake, but in its functional relationship to the actual movements of the body in physical disciplines. Features: *

    Everyone would like to age as heathfully as possible and now numerous studies confirm what many yoga preactitioners have known for a long time: yoga practice has a remarkable impact on physical and mental health--and spiritual well-being--as you grow older. Yoga for Healthy Aging is the most accessible and usable guide available on to how yoga can address concerns realted to strength, flexibility, balance, agility, cardiovascular health, brain health, and stress management, among other issues. The authors--both popular and respected yoga teachers (one of whom is a family physician) provide readers with a yoga toolbox for healthy aging that includes poses, breathing practices, meditation, and yoga philosophy. They then offer you a safe, real-world yoga program to suit your particular needs. These short yoga practices were developed in consultation with scientific and medical experts on aging, and allow you to focus on maintaining overall physical health and/or addressing target problem areas, such as digestion, cardiovascular health, or anxiety. The authors conclude with instructions for practicing several different forms of conscious relaxation and meditation, all of which will set you up for a lifetime of emotional and spiritual well-being. This book includes over 200 instructional photos.

    The Yoga Sutras, containing 196 epithets or threads of Yoga, is the most respected treatise on Yoga. In his commentary on each verse, Swami Satyananda Saraswati fully explains the text and the path of raja yoga.

    Her focus on perseverance and overcoming adversity transforms Namaslay into a powerful, motivational guide to help you live your most authentic life.With a distinct visual format, Namaslay guides readers step by step through more than 100 yoga poses. The poses are broken down by experience level into a series of progressions and include modifications for those who can't quite achieve the full expression of a pose just yet. Full-color photos and tips on overcoming common mistakes helps people get the most out of every pose. Namaslay also features three 30-day yoga programs that focus on: de-stress, core strengthening, and back pain. You will also find specific yoga sequences that are customized for everyone from the office dweller to the endurance athlete. Written with heart, humor, and swagger, Namaslay is a book for everyone, from beginners to advanced practitioners and even the simply curious. Namaslay’s high-quality, edgy yet beautiful photographs add an artful flair that puts it in a class of its own—as appropriate for a coffee table as a yoga studio!