The Sivananda Companion to Yoga: A Complete Guide to the Physical Postures, Breathing Exercises, Diet, Relaxation, and Meditation Techniques of Yoga

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Very good book for those interested in yoga. This book has plenty of yoga poses and has interesting spiritual and hostiric facts of yoga. Why not a five star? Because this book lacks poses variations for individuals in not so good health or for individuals without intermediate flexibility. Although, if you are a bit flexible you can work your way to being able to do certain poses.

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This is my second copy of this book. The other one was loved by a house sitter and never returned. So I was very happy to find it on Amazon. It's a great book! It helps with daily practice, many modified postures, fasting, diet, and many other health related topics. I strongly recommend it!

Rating:

Very good starter book. Flexibility is a cornerstone of bodily health. This book will help get you there. Very good philosophy too. Recommended by a contortionist friend of mine.

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This is traditional hatha yoga i.e. yoga as a complete lifestyle and spiritual path. In other words, this isn't the yoga you'll find at your local gym. I love it. Beautiful pictures.

The only potential drawback I see is that even some of the basic poses are so difficult (like headstand) that beginners may be discouraged, unless they already know how to adapt poses to their own needs. Beginners should check out the sections for pregnancy and the elderly, and they'll find some good alternatives to the basic sequence.

This also isn't the first yoga product at Amazon where I find a review cautioning practicioners that yoga makes one "dangerously" flexible, and is an incomplete fitness program. Somebody appears to have made this their project. There are also studies which have found that weight-bearing yoga poses ward off osteoperosis as well as weight training. As for cardio -- pick up a heart monitor and check out what happens to your heart rate during Sun Salutations. Add that to the fact that were it not for yoga's gentle approach, there are people (like myself) who wouldn't be exercising at all.

In any case, there are at least a hundred conflicting theories when it comes to health, diet, and exercise. The best exercise is the one that you'll keep doing i.e. the one you don't hate.

I love yoga, and hate 'most everything else. And the Sivananda guide is a succinct yet complete textbook you can refer to again and again. It's also a good starting place if you want to get into the more spiritual side of yoga -- breathing, meditation, vegetarian diet, and philosophy.

Rating:

this one has proven superbly useful to me throughout my practice thus far (when it wasn't serious, and when it turned serious). the illustrations and photos are incredibly handy; and coupled with all of the descriptions of how to progress through basic to advanced variations of poses, this book is an incredibly comprehensive approach to beginning a serious home yoga practice.

+there's a chapter on breathing with a variety of depictions ranging from basic to advanced.
+lays out basic poses into a beginner/maintenance routine on a chart.