Rating: 
Summary: Great Book for Instructors Libraries As Well
Review: As a certified yoga teacher, I have found this book to be a good, basic source of information. Perfect for passing on to beginning students who would like to know more about yoga, it's beginnings and how it can and will affect their bodies. Easy to navigate. I would use this as a supplement to practice with and instructor or video.
Rating: 
Summary: Great and very accessible.
Review: I have just started a Yoga practice, and I am interested in the therapeutic use of asanas. This book goes in depth enough to help me in this way. Mr. Stiles makes it possible to learn about and self treat all types of musculo-skeletal issues safely, though he does recommend having a teacher to supplement your own practice. This book has explained what muscles I need to stretch and strengthen. The history and background of yoga given in the introductory chapters is well written and interesting to read, which was an unexpected bonus for me. I am looking forward to using the exercise series outlined in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Great research book
Review: I have just started a Yoga practice, and I am interested in the therapeutic use of asanas. This book goes in depth enough to help me in this way. Mr. Stiles makes it possible to learn about and self treat all types of musculo-skeletal issues safely, though he does recommend having a teacher to supplement your own practice. This book has explained what muscles I need to stretch and strengthen. The history and background of yoga given in the introductory chapters is well written and interesting to read, which was an unexpected bonus for me. I am looking forward to using the exercise series outlined in the book.
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME book!! Very Informative
Review: I used this book as a part of my study and research for my Yoga Teacher course. It is completely awesome! This book is chock of very useful and informative information!! I passed my Yoga Teacher diploma course with an A+ and I believe that this book had a great deal to do with my achievement!!!
Rating:
Summary: Well organized useful book
Review: I've looked at many books about yoga for various physical needs, and this is the most knowledgable and comprehensive book I've seen. Reading Peg2's comments, I can see what she means about photos. They would have been nice, or at least drawings of the postures in various phases, but in my mind this "inadequacy" is greatly overshadowed by other aspects of this book. Charts and comprehensive details about muscles need to be strengthened or stretched. There is a great deal of information about body structure, and the reader is guided through an analysis of their own posture problems. I have suspected that my shoulder, back, and knee problems were related to each other in some way. This book confirmed it. I have been doing recommended postures for a few weeks and am seeing real progress. I feel like I'm equipped to go into a yoga class and modify or substitute postures for to meet the needs of my body. The author has a physical therapy degree and well as yoga training and his knowledge level is very apparent in this book. I can't recommend it enough! This information is not available anywhere else that I know about, in this beautifully organized, accessible way.
Rating:
Summary: Well organized useful book
Review: I've looked at many books about yoga for various physical needs, and this is the most knowledgable and comprehensive book I've seen. Reading Peg2's comments, I can see what she means about photos. They would have been nice, or at least drawings of the postures in various phases, but in my mind this "inadequacy" is greatly overshadowed by other aspects of this book. Charts and comprehensive details about muscles need to be strengthened or stretched. There is a great deal of information about body structure, and the reader is guided through an analysis of their own posture problems. I have suspected that my shoulder, back, and knee problems were related to each other in some way. This book confirmed it. I have been doing recommended postures for a few weeks and am seeing real progress. I feel like I'm equipped to go into a yoga class and modify or substitute postures for to meet the needs of my body. The author has a physical therapy degree and well as yoga training and his knowledge level is very apparent in this book. I can't recommend it enough! This information is not available anywhere else that I know about, in this beautifully organized, accessible way.
Rating: 
Summary: A yoga book without photos is pretty useless
Review: There are no photos, the illustrations are amateurish, and the descriptions aren't all that great. If you need to adapt your practice, the books to buy are Yoga for Wellness by Gary Kraftsow and Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness by Eric Schiffman.
Rating:
Summary: Total Yoga
Review: This is an excellent book from which one can create one's own "basic" yoga practice. Please understand- basic does not necessarily translate to beginner or easy. I have used this sequence with some of my classes and while there are some postures that most people do not feel a Herculanean challenge in, there is no one who feels that this sequence is a walk in the park.I believe most people are going to come to this book for a sequence grounded in a solid anatomical understanding of the body and the effects of common yoga postures and breathing techniques on the body. While this book does that, it also presents a framework upon which one can build one's own total yoga practice- incorporating mantra and meditation as well as breathing and posture. Stiles has a way of writing about both the very scientific and very spiritual at the same time and bringing the concepts together in such a way that one wonders why one ever thought of them as distinct in the first place. Though the practice he outlines is very valuable, his suggestions for body reading and use of the asanas for addressing postural problems makes this manual stand out. In addition to evaluating standing posture, he also outlines a 21-movement Joint Freeing Series. While a useful diagnostic tool, it is also a satisfying practice on it's own (if one's mobility or stamina is compromised) or in conjunction with the asanas. He also outlines six Spine Freeing exercises which can aid in gently increasing mobility of the spine. If you want the nitty gritty anatomical detail of why yoga "works", this isn't your book. Check out Couler's Anatomy of Hatha Yoga for that. However, this book will give most readers the level of detail that they need to understand their own physical issues and how yoga can help them.
Rating:
Summary: Total Yoga
Review: This is an excellent book from which one can create one's own "basic" yoga practice. Please understand- basic does not necessarily translate to beginner or easy. I have used this sequence with some of my classes and while there are some postures that most people do not feel a Herculanean challenge in, there is no one who feels that this sequence is a walk in the park. I believe most people are going to come to this book for a sequence grounded in a solid anatomical understanding of the body and the effects of common yoga postures and breathing techniques on the body. While this book does that, it also presents a framework upon which one can build one's own total yoga practice- incorporating mantra and meditation as well as breathing and posture. Stiles has a way of writing about both the very scientific and very spiritual at the same time and bringing the concepts together in such a way that one wonders why one ever thought of them as distinct in the first place. Though the practice he outlines is very valuable, his suggestions for body reading and use of the asanas for addressing postural problems makes this manual stand out. In addition to evaluating standing posture, he also outlines a 21-movement Joint Freeing Series. While a useful diagnostic tool, it is also a satisfying practice on it's own (if one's mobility or stamina is compromised) or in conjunction with the asanas. He also outlines six Spine Freeing exercises which can aid in gently increasing mobility of the spine. If you want the nitty gritty anatomical detail of why yoga "works", this isn't your book. Check out Couler's Anatomy of Hatha Yoga for that. However, this book will give most readers the level of detail that they need to understand their own physical issues and how yoga can help them.
Rating:
Summary: Total Yoga
Review: This is an excellent book from which one can create one's own "basic" yoga practice. Please understand- basic does not necessarily translate to beginner or easy. I have used this sequence with some of my classes and while there are some postures that most people do not feel a Herculanean challenge in, there is no one who feels that this sequence is a walk in the park. I believe most people are going to come to this book for a sequence grounded in a solid anatomical understanding of the body and the effects of common yoga postures and breathing techniques on the body. While this book does that, it also presents a framework upon which one can build one's own total yoga practice- incorporating mantra and meditation as well as breathing and posture. Stiles has a way of writing about both the very scientific and very spiritual at the same time and bringing the concepts together in such a way that one wonders why one ever thought of them as distinct in the first place. Though the practice he outlines is very valuable, his suggestions for body reading and use of the asanas for addressing postural problems makes this manual stand out. In addition to evaluating standing posture, he also outlines a 21-movement Joint Freeing Series. While a useful diagnostic tool, it is also a satisfying practice on it's own (if one's mobility or stamina is compromised) or in conjunction with the asanas. He also outlines six Spine Freeing exercises which can aid in gently increasing mobility of the spine. If you want the nitty gritty anatomical detail of why yoga "works", this isn't your book. Check out Couler's Anatomy of Hatha Yoga for that. However, this book will give most readers the level of detail that they need to understand their own physical issues and how yoga can help them.
| 
