Into the Heart of Truth: The Spirit of Relational Yoga

by John McAfee

Book Overview

A description of Relational Yoga. The book outlines the history of Yoga and provides practices to help the reader develop in-depth self-awareness. It explains the relationship of Yoga to all of life. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0971156913
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: Woodland Publications
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Profoundly Illuminating

Having read the previous review, I can answer quite simply that the author is talking to nearly everyone that I know - he's certainly talking to me.Far from assuming anything about the life of the reader, McAfee presents universal yogic truths in a way that makes the reader confront himself. This will make some readers bristle, bewilder others and for most create a tension between their image of themselves and the truth of themselves. McAfee resolves this tension gently and delicately in the final chapters. The resolution lies in the unvarnished observation of ourselves as we relate to his words and images.Seldom does a book elicit potential lasting change in a person's life in an inward, transcending direction. This book is one of those and should be required reading for all yoga students, and yes, teachers alike.

A marvelous yoga book

I had seen a few ads in Yoga Journal for Relational Yoga retreats and other Relational Yoga events and hadn't paid them much mind. I assumed Relational Yoga was yet one more yoga fad that I didn't have time for. But when a friend turned me on to this book I was spellbound. McAfee manages, with simplicity and directness, to peel back the unecessary and overworked surface layers of yoga and shows us the inner heart. I found this book to be enlightening at many levels. First, my yoga practice has blossomed enormously as a result. Second, I have begun integrating the heart of yoga into my everyday life with profound results. And lastly, I have begun to perceive myself in a new light that shines more direct, more brightly and more true.

A New Look at Yoga

I have been teaching and practicing yoga for more than 15 years and I was floored to discover all that I didn't know about yoga. This book reaches into the soul of yoga and extracts a bright, shining truth: yoga is the path to yourself. I have heard this many times in many ways, so it was nothing new - intellectually, but McAfee brings this out with such clarity, authority and tangible reality that my entire being, not just my intellect, was forced to acknowledge this fundamental truth. McAfee then takes us down the path, pointing out items of mystery and beauty along the way, while shining the light of truth so forcefully that the mysteries unfold before our eyes.I only wish that I had read this book when I first began my practice of yoga. It would have made my current task of unlearning everything so very much easier.

A treasure trove of insight and meaning

Rarely does an author turn a subject upside down without losing the fundamental meaning and purpose of the subject. But this is what author John McAfee has done with the subject of yoga. With loving tendersness, "Into the Heart of Truth" strips yoga of its accumulated baggage left by centuries of cults of personalities and leaves the bright, shining core of yoga in all of its magnificent splendour. Yoga and life are seen to be one moving vehicle, and the movement discloses beauty beyond descxription.Every yoga student, teacher, scholar or guru should keep this book at their side for constant refference and reminder that yoga is a powerful tool for self awareness.

Excellent reading! Thoroughly recommended!

Prolific author and seeker John McAfee in his provocative new book, Into the Heart of Truth, leads the reader to an understanding of real truth. Since truth is interpreted through our own conditioning---beliefs, fears, cravings and anticipations---how do we determine absolute truth? The answer is Relational Yoga, based on the principle of bringing the practice of yoga into our everyday activities.This eye-opener is divided into three parts, all designed to enable us to understand and discover who we are. Part One, The Importance of Relationship, points out that "It is through relationship that we assert our personal identities, and it in the mirror of relationship that we see ourselves and know our natures."Part Two of In the Heart of Truth, The Fabric of the Self, discusses the conclusions we all form about ourselves---how and where self-image is created, and why. Mr. McAfee writes, "Any serious, earnest approach to the question "Who am I?" must begin with an understanding of this image of ourselves we have created." Further, he suggests that our image of ourselves is dynamic, fluid and always changing based on our relationships.The end section, Relational Yoga, is a compilation of thousands of years of wisdom that (perhaps) began with the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. We learn that, "...Relational Yoga is a mechanism of profound change--not just relationships to our loved ones, but our relationship to all of life." A further understanding of Patanjali's wisdom can be found in Beyond the Siddhis---see my review.John McAfee has given us enlightenment. Into the Heart of Truth illuminates the path to self-understanding and truth!