Yoga

by Linda Sparrowe

Book Overview

Yoga is everywhere these days. The yoga we practice today bears little resemblance to the yoga that began humbly almost 5,000 years ago, but in its rich and varied history, yoga has always evolved to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0789399873
• ISBN13: 9780789399878
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Universe Publishing(NY)
• Length: 453 Pages
• Weight: 2.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

What advanced yoga looks like

I agree with everyone that the pictures are gorgeous, and the yoga posses are inspirational. However I'd like to point out another aspect of how to use this. Frequently yoga books are written for a beginner to intermediate audience and they show very basic of poses. You can use this book to look up what an advanced variation looks like. For example take Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) which most people learn as a simple back stretch with weight on the legs. In this book you see the 3rd variation where the head is is laying on the butt and the arms are grabbing the shins. For me this makes it much clearer what the big difference was between Cobra and Upward facing dog, you can see how the shift in where the weight goes changes what sorts of advanced posses are possible. Also you get to see asanas I've never seen in any other book, like asymmetrical arm balances (all the weight is on the two arms which are lifting the body while the body is off center and stretching). Or the existence of Warrior III (Virabadrasana III), everyone knows about I and II but...Anyway, the paperback is a steal in terms of value for your money. I can't think of any reason not to buy it if you are the sort of person who cares enough to read this review.

simply beautiful

As a student of both art and yoga, I really like the work done in this book on a number of levels. The poses are mostly well executed (there are exceptions, albeit very few) and the photographs themselves are very well composed (lighting, deciding which angle to take of the pose, etc.). It truly is both amazing and inspiring to see both yoga and photography performed at this level. What seems underrated even in these reviews is the outstanding introduction by Linda Sparrowe. After having read "Light on Yoga" by B.K.S. Iyengar and Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, as well as other texts, this book has probably the most balanced and concise history of the development of yoga philosophy and practice that I have come across. Although Iyengar is more thorough on the philosophy, he is also convinced of his own interpretation of both Patanjali and his own teacher, Krishnamacharya. The text here is less concerned with the "rightness" of any one approach, and places each in its proper perspective. You could read the 60 pages of introduction and have a completely sound, although somewhat basic, understanding of where yoga came from, what it's all about, and what the major schools of practice currently are.My only complaint is that there are several editorial errors that haven't been corrected in the new paperback edition and I don't know if anyone will be bothered to fix them in the future, which would be a shame. Given the nature of the work, it's natural that there would be some mistakes, but that is what second editions are for. This paperback edition leaves the errors intact, which concerns me for future editions, if there will ever be any. For example, Indra Devi died in 2001 at the age of 102, but someone apparently didn't tell Ms. Sparrowe, who claims that she's 104 (which she would have been at the time of publication) and makes no reference to her passing. Some of the poses are incorrectly titled as well, and given the stunning and thorough nature of the rest of the book, it seems a shame to leave such small but glaring errors uncorrected.

Beautiful and artistic

I love this book. I often look through it for inspiration. The photos are well done. However, I do not agree with a previous reviewer in that something is missing (i.e the yogis/yoginnis are not sweating). I think that was the idea. The idea is to get to a level where yoga is like breathing. Do you need to sweat to breath? For most people the answer is no. I thought of this book as a demonstration of various poses performed at the highest level possible. It depicted yoga as an art form. I enjoyed this book immensely.

FINALLY, THE DEFINITIVE YOGA BOOK

First of all, if you're moving anytime soon, don't purchase this book quite yet. It is ENORMOUS. You'll have an easier time getting the sofa out of a bay window.Or, for that matter, getting into some of the asanas displayed herein. Up through now, I have been disappointed by the photography in most yoga books: either the constrast is poor, the pictures too dark, the subject's posture is off, or the background is some cliched, cheesy setting, like a beach or whatever, taking the focus off the subject. (Another mistake is when a book tries to do a two-page spread, and the subject's center winds up lost in the book's fold)Here, the photography is absolutely stunning, and the quality of the paper it's printed on allows the beauty of the prints to shine. Subjects include David Life, Richard Freeman, Sharon Gannem, Rodney Yee, and many more of today's most respected yoga professionals.The book also includes essays on the history of yoga, yogic philosophy, and diet.Yoga Journal has created the ultimate tome on yoga. I do not read the magazine: to my taste, many of the articles are either sappy or exercises in public relations and attempts to create as commerial a magazine as possible with the highest subscription circulation (Fran Leibowitz once said that any special interest magainze that turns a profit is probably not so special or so interesting). But here they have spared no expense - either financially or creatively - trading what could have been yet another title on yoga in an already over-saturated market, and decided to make a book strictly to satisfy a deep, committed passion for the practice.

Outstanding!!

First of all, this book is HUGE -- I was not expecting this (there was no dimension information when I purchased it). It is roughly 11"x14" and 2" thick. If that isn't stunning enough, wait until you open it. The pictures are *GORGEOUS* and truly amazing. I read elsewhere that there are ~375 photos in this book, and all but a few photos in the beginning are full-page photos. The poses they demonstrate are breathtaking and people doing the poses are equally so! The book begins with 60 pages of a remarkably complete and concise background of yoga - very informative. The rest of the book is the pictures and they are broken down into general genre of poses: inverted, seated, backbends, etc.Believe me, this book will not teach anyone yoga, nor does it suggest that it will. What it does do is INSPIRE. This book is thoroughly fascinating and I cannot recommend it highly enough. If you are interested in yoga at all or in the potential of the human body I believe you will find this book a treasure. It is actually quite a bargain for the price, I feel, given the quality of the book and the volume of material contained within.