The Yoga of Breath : A Step-by-Step Guide to Pranayama

Rating:
Summary: Opening the door to Pranayama
Review: For me this book was the link between Yoga Asana and Pranayama techniques. Useful? Yes, absolutely! If like me you are looking to begin the process of learning Pranayama from a background of attending yoga classes and practising at home. This book helps you build upon the familiar yoga postures allowing you to be confident as you start explore the breath. Pranayama is the foundation of a balanced Yoga practice, this book is an easy to understand introduction to the basics of the practice. For people looking for advanced practices there are plenty of esoteric hard to read, hard to understand books available. For the rest of us this book will more than adequate for many years.

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Summary: Provides a detailed plan for the study of yoga and breath
Review: I have been a home practitioner of yoga for some time now, but I struggle with the breathing, or pranayama, necessary to go deeper into the asanas (postures), and so I was hoping that ths book would provide detailed breathing instruction. Although the author definitely does include step-by-step instruction for how to perform some of the most common types of yogic breath, this information does not come until the end of the book. Instead, the first part of the book focuses on growing accustomed to breathing normally while performing a series of basic yoga poses modified with props (as per the Iyengar tradition). The author offers a planned study guide which first incorporates the basic poses and then eventually works up to the breathing exercises.

This book doesn't really work for people like myself who originally came to yoga via asana practice alone but then eventually desired to incorporate pranayama into their practice. However, for the beginning yoga practitioner looking simultaneously develop an asana and pranayama practice, this might be a useful reference manual.

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Summary: one of a kind - the book that fills a void
Review: Just as Light on Yoga can be a bit daunting to the beginning yoga student, so Light on Pranayama can feel overwhelming to those trying to incorporate a home practice of pranayama. Having practiced Iyengar yoga for seven years but still finding it challenging to incorporate a regular home pranayama practice, I found Richard's book was exactly the roadmap I was looking for. If some find the introductory chapters unecessary, it is easy to skip them. I like having them there so that the book is accesible to as many students as possible - plus it is always interesting to see how each new teacher approaches the poses. And of course context is always helpful. However, the book is worth the price for the pranayama sections alone. Deliberate and thoughful instructions make it easy to follow. Also worth mentioning is that this book has recieved excellent reviews in every yoga publication on the newsstand - Yoga Journal, Yoga Internationa, Ascent, and numerous online publications. This book is a must for anyone interested in pranayama practice.

Rating:
Summary: It's okay...
Review: The book is not for me. I got little sense of enthusiasm for the subject from the author. Reading, I was getting the sense that I was beginning a life-long drudgery. "Bliss is not in the cards" he says for those who might have overly high expectations of pranayama. He probably has a point, but still, all his warnings about the causes of failure are a bit of a downer at the beginning of a book.

Further, it is difficult to find actual instructions for pranayama. They are lost in various asanas and instructions for journaling and proper use of pillows and straps and bits and harnesses. The author apparently has developed a very specific type of practice which incorporates asanas and body awareness exercises. For those who have already developed a practice, this makes it difficult to tease out information specific to breath. All this reliance on props also seems to make it difficult to do breath work out in nature or on a spontaneous basis.

That being said, there is some good information in this book, but I know this will not be one of my favorites. Perhaps if you are interested in learning strap and harness theory or are looking for a complete, all-inclusive program you will find it valuable.

Rating:
Summary: Rosen has misplaced his emphasis in the title
Review: This book should be titled "A Step by Step Guide to Hatha Yoga" for those practice Pranayama.
The reader is given detailed "Hatha Yoga" postures that are excellent guides to Hatha Yoga - with the lightest sprinkling of Prayanama technique and practice.
If you are looking for an intensive "Pranayama" book - follow the writer's advise and avoid this book and follow his own suggestion of reading "Light on Pranayama - the Yogic Art of Breathing" by BKS Iyengar.
If your soul is yearning for the classic Prayanama as mentioned by sages and saints of yore - avoid this book like the "SARS" virus.
If you are looking for good technique and tips on Hatha Yoga - this is an EXCELLENT book.