Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book about Yoga (not asana but the other limbs)
Review: A quiet thoughtful book about "the rest of yoga" ... the non physical side that is all to often forgotten. There is alot of meat to the book and it's presented in a non-pretentius way. I have read her book a few times and either pick up something new or allow myself to see something new with each chapter. It's not about the physical (asana) branch of yoga but about working to become a better person. I respectfully disagree with the reviewer that felt the book was more suited to people with children ... read it again without judgement and you may have a very different take. A must own in any yoga library and highly recommended for anyone alive, breathing and thinking!

Rating:
Summary: Making It Real
Review: Here in Manhattan it's not unusual to go to one of the yoga studios that now seem almost as prevalent as McDonald's, only to get overpowered by the stench not of sweat but of ego and one-upsmanship (up-yogiship?). It's like "Any pose you can hold, I can hold better." Worse, I've left class, or home practice, only to wait for the train or bus in a fit of impatience. I've meditated only to find myself procrastinating over doing something that needs to be done--six months ago. In short, I've practiced a lot of hatha yoga and meditation, and benefited from it, but there was no carry over into my life. Which is what it's supposed to be about, not an end in itself. And the Sutra's of Patanjali are nice, poetic semi-haikus but forget about applying them on the A train. Here comes Iyengar veteran Lasater with a book on integrating yoga into everyday life so you don't leave it all on the sticky mat. Every chapter deals with handling different emotional qualities, from developing courage to conquering fear and impatience. Lasater gives examples from her life. It's reassuring to read how an accomplished yogi and teacher struggles with the same issues. And the yogic methods she's found to overcome them. This book is an excellent complement to the standard books on the technique of yoga. Don't let the title fool you. This isn't a soft-headed New Age primer full of platitudes. This is a how-to manual full of practical guidance. So good it should come with a karma-back guarantee.

Rating:
Summary: Very Inspiring
Review: I thought that this book would be a little more "enlightening" after reading so many rave reviews. I, however, found that this book was more appropiate for someone with children. Much advice, etc. was directed toward dealing with the every-day obstacles, trials, and tribulations of every day, parental life. I still liked it, and I will probably read it again, and concentrate more on the mantras.

Rating:
Summary: A Nice, Inspirational Book
Review: This book is inspiring on a real-life, everyday level. The author writes about incidents from her own life that most of us will be able to relate to, and offers ways to keep the spirit of yoga flowing throughout the ups and downs of our lives. I've never liked those "inspirational" books full of cutesy quotes, and this isn't like that. It's just a down-to-earth, common-sense book that will make you think about how you deal with others, how to overcome your impatience, stress, etc.

Rating:
Summary: Simply inspiring!
Review: This book speaks volumes with a quiet simplicity that is the essence of yoga. It is very easy to read and understand, yet tackles many issues we face in our everyday lives. I find that yoga, although it appears easy from the outside, is a complex practice that gently sinks in every day and subtly changes us from the center outward. I feel this book does the same. I intend to refer to it often. Namaste.

Rating:
Summary: Very Inspiring
Review: This book was exactly what I was looking for. It integrates Yoga practice (not poses or hokey stuff) into everyday meaningful life lessons. It is very insightful and offers ways to gain and incorporate this insightfulness into your life.

Rating:
Summary: Touches on the spiritual, while focusing on the practical
Review: This was a really good book. It wasn't necessarily about Yoga postures or the theory or practice of Yoga. It focused more on the principles on how to live your life, while using Yoga as a medium to achieve some of them. This was one of those books that calms your mind and brings you a sense of peace, inspiring you to want to incorporate those principles into your own life. I will be reading more of her writings in the future.

Rating:
Summary: Finding the Spiritual in Your Everyday Life
Review: Though she holds a doctorate in East-West psychology, there's nothing academic or abstract about Judith Lasater's approach to "living your yoga." She writes in down-to-earth language we can all understand, her points illustrated with homespun anecdotes drawn from her life as a student and teacher, wife and parent. The book is divided into three parts, that grapple with an ever-widening circle of contexts and issues, from the intrapersonal ("Yoga within Yourself") to the interpersonal ("Yoga and Relationships") to the broadly social ("Yoga in the World"). Each part has seven chapters, with subjects ranging from self-judgment, fear, suffering, impermanence, and greed, to faith, courage, compassion, truth, nonviolence, and love. Each chapter has five sections: an opening quote from either the Yoga Sutra or the Bhagavad Gita, which sets the theme for the chapter as a whole; a pithy essay which expands upon this theme; a simple guided practice that helps us to integrate the theme in our everyday life and so experience its enlightening effects; brief suggestions for further practice; and a list of affirmations, called "mantras for daily living," that keep us centered, compassionate toward our self and others, and committed to our spiritual work. The English philosopher Francis Bacon once wrote, "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." Living Your Yoga is a feast for the soul that will nourish us again and again with its wisdom.