Heart of Yoga - New Edition: Developing a Personal Practice

by T Desikachar | 31 May 1999

 The first yoga text to outline a step-by-step sequence for developing a complete practice according to viniyoga- yoga adapted to the needs of the individual. Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who lived to be over 100 years old, was one of the greatest yogis of the modern era. Elements of Krishnamacharya's teaching have become well known around the world through the work of B. K. S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and Indra Devi, who all studied with Krishnamacharya. Krishnamacharya's son T. K. V. Desikachar lived and studied with his father all his life and now teaches the full spectrum of Krishnamacharya's yoga. Desikachar has based his method on Krishnamacharya's fundamental concept of "viniyoga," which maintains that practices must be continually adapted to the individual's changing needs to achieve the maximum therapeutic value. In ‘The Heart of Yoga’, Desikachar offers a distillation of his father's system as well as his own practical approach, which he describes as "a program for the spine at every level- physical, mental, and spiritual." This is the first yoga text to outline a step-by-step practice for developing a complete practice according to the age-old principles of yoga. Desikachar discusses all the elements of yoga- poses and counterposes, conscious breathing, meditation, and philosophy- and shows how the yoga student may develop a practice tailored to his or her current state of health, age, occupation, and lifestyle.

 Key Muscles of Yoga: Your Guide to Functional Anatomy in Yoga: 1

by RAY LONG

This book offers a scientific approach to understanding the practice of hatha yoga. Through four-color, three-dimensional illustrations of major muscles, tendons, and ligaments, Ray Long describes the practice and benefits of hatha yoga. Specific anatomical and physiological descriptions highlight the agonist, antagonist, and synergist muscles that come into play with each pose. Volume I of the series describes the key muscles of hatha yoga and how they are utilized. From beginners to experts, this book will become a constant companion.

Yoga Nidra/2009 Re-print

by Swami Satyananda Saraswati

‘Satyananda Yoga Nidra™’ is a simple, yet profound, technique adapted by Swami Satyananda Saraswati from the traditional tantric practice of nyasa. This text explains the theory of yoga nidra in both yogic and scientific terms and includes class transcriptions of the practice. It also presents the various applications of this versatile technique, which has been used for deep relaxation, in stress management and therapy, to enhance the learning process in education, to harmonize the deeper unconscious and awaken inner potential, and as a meditative technique. A research section is also included.

This systematic method of inducing complete mental, emotional and physical relaxation is suitable for all practitioners.