Rating: 
Summary: Essential reading for anyone interested in learning Yoga
Review: A gentle introduction for beginners, to a more dynamic form of yoga, As well as a handy guide to the basic principles of Astanga Vinyasa Yoga. The most informative and useful guide for beginners i have reviewed yet.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect to learn as you go for beginners.
Review: I am just beginning my yoga pratice and found this book to be all that I expected. Cleary and simply written teaching the basic poses in order in the first half of the book, the intermediate poses in the second half of the book. As an athlete and cycling coach this an instruction book par excellence. I give it the ultimate recommendation - 5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Good introduction to yoga actually intended for beginners
Review: I give this book 4 stars for its organization, simplicity, and attention to the needs of true beginners; I give it 3 stars for its yoga program.
This book's strength is that it is really intended for beginners. The layout of the book is easy to follow, and the focus is on the exercises, which are divided into two routines of different levels and which are actually doable. (No twisting legs behind heads here.) These routines take about 45 minutes from warm ups to relaxation if done at a brisk pace or about 1 hour if done with more resting in between asanas. The authors also give a basic and brief introduction to other aspects of the yogi life.
I am using this book as a complement to my introductory yoga class to improve my flexibility and strength to a point where I can begin a more intermediate level of yoga. The book works fairly well for that purpose, allowing me to focus on developing strength and improving flexibility in key areas for key poses. I would definitely recommend either taking a yoga class for a couple of weeks or working with someone who is more advanced in their yoga practice to see the poses in action, get feedback on posture, and hear other interpretations of the poses.
This leads me to what I feel are the book's weaknesses. The poses are adequately, even well, explained and photographed, but I find that the authors do not do as good of a job explaining how to come out of the asanas the safest way possible. (They do hint at this, but here a more experienced yoga person could help.) I find that my lower back is often stiff following workouts unless I switch the order of the last few poses, and I have to expand the warm ups and bring in cool down stretches from my class in order to prevent injury better.
Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to someone looking to get into yoga. I think that seniors especially may find this approach to yoga helpful, particularly with the recommended modifications. (Even less intimidating than this book is Yoga for Wimps, which modifies most, if not all, of the asanas; however, that book does not intend to prepare its followers to pursue more advanced levels of yoga. In contrast, Yoga for Beginners allows users to keep to its program or work towards a more difficult method.)
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful beginner's book
Review: I have attempted yoga poses with other books that have snapped shut while I was in transition. The fact that this is spiral bound has helped me tremendously. The book includes breathing techniques and relaxation poses. It details exactly how to go through all of the poses, it also includes modifications. Its a great book!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful beginner's book
Review: I have attempted yoga poses with other books that have snapped shut while I was in transition. The fact that this is spiral bound has helped me tremendously. The book includes breathing techniques and relaxation poses. It details exactly how to go through all of the poses, it also includes modifications. Its a great book!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Beginners Book
Review: I have bought several yoga tapes marked as "Beginner" only to get frustrated by how quickly they go from one pose/position to another without regard for the real beginners. I thought I would never learn the terms and poses - and would have to ditch my tapes. This book saved me!!! It provided step by step guides to each pose - visually so that you can walk yourself through the steps to acheive the position. It's a great first step to learning the basics. With this foundation I am now ready to tune into the tapes I have purchased and truly experience yoga!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Great book for beginners
Review: I have bought several yoga tapes marked as "Beginner" only to get frustrated by how quickly they go from one pose/position to another without regard for the real beginners. I thought I would never learn the terms and poses - and would have to ditch my tapes. This book saved me!!! It provided step by step guides to each pose - visually so that you can walk yourself through the steps to acheive the position. It's a great first step to learning the basics. With this foundation I am now ready to tune into the tapes I have purchased and truly experience yoga!!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to Yoga
Review: I have several books on Yoga, but this is the one I like to use. It is easy to look at while practicing due to it's unique binding. Also, the beginners routine is the best mix of postures for beginners that I have found. It's not too easy, but it isn't too hard. You are eased into yoga practice. At the end of a workout, I feel energized and relaxed. I can't wait until I am ready to try the intermediate workout. The relaxed feeling stays with me throughout the day. That's nice. Buy this book. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book for Anyone
Review: I love this book! I am just now getting into yoga after hearing for many years about its benefits.This book is very easy to follow and straight forward.It has tons of pictures that one can easliy see and understand. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is just beggining(like me) or who wants to reinforce the basics of yoga.
Rating:
Summary: A nice book to start with
Review: I really like this book. It has clear instructions about how to get into a pose, and some good, basic information about yoga. The spiral binding allows the book to be propped up like an easel. This makes using in during practice much easier because you can see the pose and read how to do it. There are even variations of poses for someone with back problems, or who is not as flexible. There are some intermediate poses in the book as well to challenge the newbie. One real problem, there are very few poses in the book, and no information on the use of props in yoga.
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