Asanas: 608 Yoga Poses

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for novices or experts
Review: Although I am new to the yoga scene, I found this book incredibly useful as an introduction to various methods and techniques, including poses I had never heard of before. In addition, I thought the book's connection with Dharma Mittra, who has been teaching for over 30 years, gave it a real sense of authenticity. In short, "Asanas: 608 Yoga Poses" is both educational, and entertaining!

Rating:
Summary: selfless service to all
Review: As Dharma's name implies, he has devoted his life to the selfless service of others. As he explains in the book, he painstakingly created these photographs as an offering to his guru, Swami Kailashananda, in order to document the ancient asanas. Many of them had only been described in written form, but had never been illustrated before.
In executing this monumental undertaking, Dharma not only served his guru, but served all yogis and yoginis for generations to come, who wish to study the eight limbs of yoga. While the majority of the photos were taken circa 1975, some of the original negatives were lost, and he recently had to retake some of the photos for the book. Looking at the more current photos is the strongest possible testament to the benefits of leading a life of yoga and selfless servitude. This book is both educational and inspiring.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: Asanas collects 608 of black-and-white photographs, each accompanied by the English name of the pose and the Sanskrit characters, brief commentary, and specific combinations for Vinyasa, Ashtanga, and Iyengar practice. There are suggestions for beginning, intermediate, and advanced yoga practitioners, as well as a list of poses beneficial for particular health problems and chakra relationships. Because it builds on basic postures, Asanas will appeal to students of any of the 100 yoga styles. This would make a wonderful gift for anyone who is interested in yoga.

Rating:
Summary: 608 Asana
Review: Dharma's little pocket book (it fits in my purse), much like his poster, is truly an inspiration. It reminds me of Light on Yoga without the explanations and would be a wonderful companion to this book. Much like Iyengar in Light on Yoga there is something about either Dharma's expression or body language that demonstrates a deep devotion. You can tell that Dharma sees the yoga postures as a dedication. Truly a work of art and devotion.

Rating:
Summary: Look elsewhere
Review: I contemplated purchasing this online, but decided to take a look at it in a bookstore. I'm glad I did. If you're interested in learning yoga poses, look elsewhere. Even if you're after a book that captures the beauty and art of yoga, look elsewhere. The photos looked grainy and the book is so short and fat that it won't lie flat. Keep shopping.

Rating:
Summary: Look elsewhere
Review: I contemplated purchasing this online, but decided to take a look at it in a bookstore. I'm glad I did. If you're interested in learning yoga poses, look elsewhere. Even if you're after a book that captures the beauty and art of yoga, look elsewhere. The photos looked grainy and the book is so short and fat that it won't lie flat. Keep shopping.

Rating:
Summary: Asanas
Review: I have watched Dharma Mittra`s incredible poses live and through his poster, and I have wished to scrutinize each under magnification and learn from each pose to the fullest. My wish came true. This book is an incredible reference and inspiration, covering the full scope of hatha yoga (many poses come as a surprise even to the experienced). There are beautiful introductions to the chapters written by Dharma. Otherwise, the focus is simply and brilliantly on the asana (1 per page- one can also interestingly use this as an animated "flip book" to better understand Dharma's movement in the sequences). There are no distractions of accessory text or excessive design on these pages. Although the book has a contemporary look, I feel at times I am viewing an ancient book on yoga...and I realize in many ways I am. We are told the best path to perfecting our hatha yoga practice is to watch a yogi master practice to perfection and then emulate them. Here is our opportunity.

Rating:
Summary: A Jewel in the ocean..
Review: Pictures say more than words. These 608 pictures truly does. For the Intermediate to the Advanced student, you don't really need a descriptive guide - the pictures tell you all. This is going to be an inspiration to me all the time. For the great price Amazon.com offers, think no further. Just buy it and your Yoga practise is bound to get more inspired.

The size of the book (small) is a plus as you can carry it along even on your vacation. The quality of the pictures is not going to impress the aesthetically prone, but the point is the variety of asanas come out quite well with few words!

Dharma Mittra put Yoga to work in the form of Karma (Yoga), when he spent time and effort in photographing himself and distributing it to the public (I have read he did this free). Pure, selfless action results in such works that will stand the test of time!

Rating:
Summary: Don't purchase this book.
Review: This book was worthless to me and would be to anyone other than a Yoga instructor. I have been doing Yoga for a year and was looking for a book that displayed a wider range of "exercises" with descriptions of each. While this book does in fact show 608 poses, it does not provide any instruction on positioning. I use Yoga to complement my weight lifting and long distance running and this book does not do this. Having said this, a professional Yoga instructor probably would know exactly how to do each pose and just having a visual representation may be quite helpful. I highly recommend "Journey into Power, How to shape your body, free your self, and transform your life" by Baron Baptiste. Don't be scared by the esoteric nature of the title, for me it was very thorough on the exercise part of Yoga. I don't know why these people insist on attempting to inculcate this psycho-babble on people that may just be looking for exercise and the benefits of the relaxation. No offense intended.

Rating:
Summary: Asanas
Review: This is a beautiful book which should have been made
years ago of the most important Yoga teacher in New York City . The photos are clear and inspiring. The format of the
book is simple, beautiful, and pocket friendly. It is direct and to the point. Thank you publishers and Shri Dharma Mittra