Yoga Mind And Body (DK Living)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book - A Must for every Yoga Teacher /Student
Review: I am a Yoga Teacher from India and have been practising / teaching Yoga for the past 4 years and I use the Yoga Mind & Body from the Sivananda Yoga Centre as a guide book for my practice / teaching and I find it to be a very extrmely useful guide .Currently I am giving a Morning Yoga Class in a Private T.V Channel as part of its Morning Breakfast show and I use lots of inputs from this book for my T.V Show . It has made an excellent sepraration of the basic / advanced postures and also dealt every posture with very clear step by step instructions on how to come to a posture , how to hold it and how to come out of it and it also deals with the physical , mental and spiritual benefits of each major posture .The most imortant of all is the section of common errors for each major posture that I found it to be very useful .No other book discusses the common errors of the postures as in this book . Apart from postures it also deals with Pranayama , Relaxation,Diet and Meditation . On the whole a very very excellent book .A must for every Yoga Student and Teacher

Rating:
Summary: This was very helpful
Review: I am just a beginner in yoga and this book helped me to understand how I can benefit from yoga in so many ways. Each asana has a description of the physical, mental and pranic benefits. I had no idea I would be helping my digestion system so much! Each asana is described in detail, step-by-step and includes pictures and descriptions of how you could be doing it wrong. Some of the positions in this book were fairly difficult and others were impossible. The great thing about this book is it shows you exercises to bring you to the level where you can do the positions. It also has page holders on both sides so you can have the book stay open while you do the asanas.

Rating:
Summary: Truly awful!
Review: I can't understand all of the excellent reviews for this book. The poses shown are impossible for most people. I am relatively flexible (can do the splits easily, etc.), but I think I'd break in half if I tried to do these exercises. The average American soccer mom would run the other way if this was the first yoga book she picked up.

Along with the poses, the "spiritual" and dietary explanations and recommendations are extreme: the various "layers" of the body including the astral body, insistence on a vegetarian diet, fasting, setting up an altar, abdominal churning, stomach cleansing (which involves swallowing a length of gauze and then pulling it back out through the mouth - to be done twice a week!), and more.

The book also ridiculously claims to cure countless ailments through poses. "This position balances the function of the thyroid"... "relieves indigestion and diabetes"... "relieves insomnia"... "increases the capacity of the lungs"... "helps relieve problems of the uterus and ovaries."

I recommend Yoga Journal's Yoga Basics as a much more practical book.

Rating:
Summary: anatomy diagrams
Review: I chose this book because it showed many pictures of the anatomy. It shows the position, and superimposes a sketch of the ligaments/bones inside the person. This helps me to understand what is supposed to be happening inside.
I am a beginner, studying Ashtanga Vinyasa.

Rating:
Summary: An EXCELLENT book!
Review: I had a herniated disc a few months ago, but no longer have any pain after changing my lifestyle and using another book of exercises that I have since found out was based on Yoga. This book was the next level for me and I cannot tell you how great I feel! I have gained tremendous flexibility and balance and can now do all but the most advanced asanas. The woman is the book is flexible beyond belief! But the good thing about the book is that is shows you the beginner versions of the asanas with the advanced ones being the ultimate goal that may take years of practice. As they say, "Life is short and the art is long" I also study karate and this book has helped me tremendously! I am much more relaxed as well as being flexible. Being relaxed in a key to excelling in karate.

Rating:
Summary: Nice book, but impractical for the beginner
Review: I purchased Yoga Mind and Body as a beginner wanting to explore. I was pleased to see clear illustrations of the exercises, as well as other suggestions on yogic living. However, I am disappointed that so many of the exercises are too difficult for the beginner. This book is cumbersome to flip through while exercising, and concentration is needed outside of holding the book open. It takes over an hour to complete the whole sequence in the book. While I understand the unrushed pace is the whole point, it is very difficult to find one hour each day to devote to the exercises alone. In addition, some of the practices the book mentions have to be done with guidance from an instructor, as they are dangerous. My suggestion to the beginner is to find another book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource for learning form and alignment
Review: I've been studying yoga for several years now, but I still found this book to be an excellent resource for providing me with information on form and alignment. The instructions for each asana (pose) are very clear, and the myraid of illustrations presented are extremely helpful. I particularly liked the illustrations of common mistakes, as these display what NOT to do when performing the poses. This is definitely a book for all levles of yoga students, and beginners would certainly find it useful in building a solid foundation to their yoga practice. However, I would caution beginners and others that some of the yogic customs presented in the final part of the book should probably not be attempted without the supervision of a yoga instructor. But on the whole, this is a well-done guide which provides effective and concise information about the practice of yoga.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource for learning form and alignment
Review: I've been studying yoga for several years now, but I still found this book to be an excellent resource for providing me with information on form and alignment. The instructions for each asana (pose) are very clear, and the myraid of illustrations presented are extremely helpful. I particularly liked the illustrations of common mistakes, as these display what NOT to do when performing the poses. This is definitely a book for all levles of yoga students, and beginners would certainly find it useful in building a solid foundation to their yoga practice. However, I would caution beginners and others that some of the yogic customs presented in the final part of the book should probably not be attempted without the supervision of a yoga instructor. But on the whole, this is a well-done guide which provides effective and concise information about the practice of yoga.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: The book is excellent for a beginner. This is my most used book in my collection. I would recommend it to anyone who is beginning yoga.

Rating:
Summary: Yoga is NOT just a workout!!
Review: This book has several very attractive pictures of very flexible people performing asanas. If you like to go to local yoga classes to watch others practice, then this is the book for you. This book is very impractical for most readers though. There is a lot of ground covered, and none of it is done with any degree of thoroughness. This book gets points only for presentation. Check out the book by Erich Schiffman for a complete yoga book you can use.