Light on Yoga: Yoga Dipika

Rating:

This book is a very comprehensive take on hatha yoga. Complete with illustrations of postures, steps to achieve them, benevolent effects and even philosophical context, nothing is left out in this book. I am writing two years after purchase, and I am still loving it!

Rating:

This book is a virtual must for all those interested in Yoga practice.

The book has everything that one needs to start or continue Yoga. The first part deals with the basic principles behind Yoga, the ethical and moral laws that one must follow and also has several very practical and important tips for practice.

The next section covers the Asanas themselves. Each of the Asanas is accompanied by one or several pictures and is graded for difficulty. Iyengar is also careful to detail how far the Yoga practitioner can go right at the beginning and how he or she can progress.

The third part is on Pranayama, the breathing exercises. This also provides very detailed directions on the most important Pranayamas.

Lastly, there is a section devoted to exercise routines, introducing easy to follow routines of different Asanas for the beginner, intermediate and advanced practitioners.

All this is explained in simple and lucid language, yet there is always the sense of the profound behind the simplicity. One cannot help appreciating immediately that this a book from a master, someone who has actually realized all that he teaches, and a bond of trust and confidence is built up in his words. This is an essential book for all, whether you are thinking about starting your practice or of ways to enhance it.

.....P.J.Mazumdar, author of The Circle of Fire: The Metaphysics of Yoga

Rating:

After practicing yoga for a few years, I finally got around to reading about yoga. I took the advice of a few Amazon reviewers and purchased this book. Great (inspiring) pictures with concise/precise descriptions for each pose. Most helpful to me are the "Effects" sections; I am needing exercises to help with lower back, abdominal strengthening and to quiet sciatica problems. I am a cautious yoga student, and so I always ask yoga instructors for modifications so that I can lead up to some of the poses that seem a bit out of my range. All poses in the book are ranked in difficulty (explained in the intro somewhere), another great aspect of this purchase.

Rating:

This was the very first yoga book I purchased (many years ago). Even after years of practice and many other books, I keep going back to "Light on Yoga" for asana specifics and benefits. For me, it works as a yoga dictionary and so definitely indispensable.

Rating:

I have been a yoga teacher for 37 years. I have owned this book even before I started teaching. "Light on Yoga" has great explanations and is the definitive book with pictures of all the poses. It also shows the possibilities that one can reach in terms of extreme flexibility. However, it is not organized well. It is extrememly hard to find the explanation of the pose and connect it to the right picture. This has been around for quite awhile so I find it puzzling that Mr. Iyengar has not updated the organization. For a reference book, easy organzizational access is one of the biggest assets. I find other hatha yoga books more useful for easy reference to postures, etc. There are only 84 basic yoga postures and other bookshave the postures right along with the explanation. In the internet age, one can find almost any posture with the posture and explantion almost immediately with out having to shuffle through Mr. Iyengar's conundrum. However, for completeness, this book cannot be beat.