Cool Yoga Tricks

Rating:
Summary: Loaded with Great Instruction!
Review: I have only flipped through this book since receiving it, but I am thrilled with the information in it! It is not just how to add props to a few poses, as I expected, but also has ideas for how to 'teach' your body what it should be doing in each pose. It does this first by explaining what is meant by concepts such as 'press the top of your thighs back', or 'rotate your upper arms inward', then provides instructions and photos for assisted exercises to achieve these concepts. Sometimes your 'prop' is another person (or two!) to assist your body in achieving these poses. This book has me looking forward to practicing more than any other book I've seen recently! While this book will not satisfy those looking for a traditional yoga instruction with spiritual and breath aspects, it is an excellent beginning and intermediate guide to the physical practice of yoga.

Rating:
Summary: Iyengar
Review: I saw this at the book store last night, and came to order it from Amazon. The person who wrote this book has taken some of the cool tricks from Iyengar classes and written them down. I have trained with some senior Iyengar instructors and forgot what they showed me, until I picked up this book. I think the book is honest to its title.

Rating:
Summary: Solid Iyengar Yoga based book more like 4.5 stars than 4
Review: This book does a nice job of talking about and demonstrating many poses that people do in yoga classes and on yoga dvds. This book is broken up into sections (standing poses, seated poses, twisting poses, etc) and does a nice job with providing modifications for the poses. The advanced section towards the back of the book is also very good, and helps people who have a nice degree of flexibility (or who are looking for increased range of motion) to go a little deeper and try some tougher poses. My only problem with this book is that there were not enough seated poses. The book only covered Cobbler's Pose and Full Lotus Pose (I admit to being slightly bias because these are the poses I struggle the most with). While these are great poses to cover, adding a few more of the seated poses would made this book 5 stars for me. Otherwise, this is a great book, and I think anyone from any level or any style of yoga can get something out of this book.

Rating:
Summary: Modify, modify, modify!
Review: This book is all about learning to modify yoga poses to make them work for YOU. It begins by helping you to become more aware of your body and how to control the way it moves. For example, many yoga poses include the instruction "roll your thighs outward"--how do you do that? This book doesn't just TELL you how, it SHOWS you how! Using a varitey of props such as blankets, straps, bolsters, chairs, and even helpful friends, you will learn to find comfort in some of the most common yoga poses, such as downward facing dog, standing forward bend, seated forward bend, and headstand. Yoga teachers and students of various shapes and sizes illustrate the many poses included in this book. This book is an excellent tool for anyone looking to further their yoga practice by attaining postures best suited to their ability.

Rating:
Summary: Modify, modify, modify!
Review: This book is all about learning to modify yoga poses to make them work for YOU. It begins by helping you to become more aware of your body and how to control the way it moves. For example, many yoga poses include the instruction "roll your thighs outward"--how do you do that? This book doesn't just TELL you how, it SHOWS you how! Using a varitey of props such as blankets, straps, bolsters, chairs, and even helpful friends, you will learn to find comfort in some of the most common yoga poses, such as downward facing dog, standing forward bend, seated forward bend, and headstand. Yoga teachers and students of various shapes and sizes illustrate the many poses included in this book. This book is an excellent tool for anyone looking to further their yoga practice by attaining postures best suited to their ability.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: This book is chock full of helpful hints for those who want to take their practice to the next level. Or even for beginners who are looking for a genteler way to ease into certain postures.
Dog Tricks-lengthen your spine more fully with these Downward Facing Dog tricks, designed to relax your neck, shoulders, and back-and make your Dog Pose much more lovable.
Befriending Backbends-increase your preztebility with a little help from your friends-and from some garden-variety folding chairs.
Tweaking Your Twists-learn the techniques that will stretch your spine and give you more life energy.
Super Stretches-feel as limber as your average bowling ball? Gently coax your muscles to new lengths by practicing the routines in this chapter.