Yoga: A Gem for Women

Rating:
Summary: Competent Reference Book
Review: This book, written by the daughter of the famous teacher, B.K.S. Iyengar, is a nice enough reference book but would not be my first choice for a beginning North American yoga student. It contains brief, rather dry, descriptions of yoga philosophy (neither engaging for a novice nor sophisticated enough for a serious student of yoga). The book contains many useful black and white photos of yoga poses. There is a good section on yoga during pregnancy.
However, this book is not as visually appealing as many others on the market. There are several recently published yoga books with large color photos that lie flat for use during practice and which have more readable text. For example, Mira Mehta, a long time student of B.K.S. Iyengar, has a couple of nice books. I particularly like her book, How to Use Yoga. Mr. Iyengar, himself, has written many books, and his new book, Yoga: the Path to Holistic Health, is lovely.

Rating:
Summary: Yoga taught the traditional Eastern way
Review: This is a reference guide written by Geeta Iyengar, daughter of BKS Iyengar, probably the most famous living yogi. The book is designed specifically for women who wish to develop their own self-study of yoga (Yoga Sadhana), and it covers not only asanas (postures) but also the other vital components of traditional yoga such as pranayama (breath) and meditation.

Geeta is clearly a master yoga practitioner who has created a comprehensive, thoughtful manual, but her book was not at all what I was looking for. Although I have practiced yoga at home for over two years, I was overwhelmed by the level of detail in the book. In addition, I found it difficult to follow, partly because the author uses only the original Sanskirt names for the poses and partly because the visual guides to the poses were all placed at the end of the book (rather than interpersed side-by-side to the instructional information included throughout).

This book would definitely not be appropriate for the casual, Westernized yoga practitioner, especially not someone who is using yoga primarily as a form of fitness. However, for someone who wishes to extend their yoga practice beyond the poses as well as to connect with yoga's original Eastern roots, this book may be ideal.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book for women
Review: This is a wonderful book with specific reference to the main biological stages of a womans life & identifies which asanas (poses) should be practiced or avoided at those stages.. i found this book during my pregnancy at a time when i was confused whether to continue with certain yoga poses.. the book helped to clarify all my questions and has helped me continue with yoga confidently during pregnancy. My copy of this book is published in india in 1983 & subsequent publications may have a different format, but my copy is not the sort of book that you can open up at a page, & simply copy a pose by looking at a picture, some of the newer yoga books i have noticed follow this "easy" format which is weak in content & high in glossy pictures.. this book is very rich in content - be prepared to spend some time reading in detail about useful background information as well as the poses & their effects & various techniques for achieving a pose.