Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Bihar School of Yoga/Munger/India (2008), Edition: 4th/17th reprint, 544 pages
Description
Contents: Introduction to Yoga; Asana: Beginners Group -- Pawanmuktasana Series; Part 1: Anti-rheumatic Group; Part 2: Digestive/Abdominal Group; Part 3: Shakti Bandha Asanas; Yoga Exercises for the Eyes; Relaxation Asanas; Meditation Asanas; Vajrasana Group of Asanas; Standing Asanas; Surya Namaskara; Chandra Namaskara. Asana: Intermediate Group -- Padmasana Group of Asanas; Backward Bending Asanas; Forward Bending Asanas; Spinal Twisting Asanas; Inverted Asanas; Balancing Asanas. Asana: Advanced Group. Pranayama; Bandha; Mudra; Shatkarma; Psychic Physiology of Yoga; Therapeutic Index; Index of Practices.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Tobias.Bruell
The text is a reference/collection of yoga techniques. The techniques are divided into groups: namely those mentioned in the title plus Shatkarma. The first group (Asana) takes by far the largest space (3/4); the other groups are approximately of equal length with Bandha being considerable shorter.
Since I found these notes often repetitious or simply annoying (see below) I mostly only read the technique descriptions which almost always was well understandable.
Most techniques are illustrated with a drawing of a person performing some stage of the technique. While these drawings certainly have their value they are of poor quality (anatomically and concerning the print quality). I consider this the main disadvantage against Iyengar's "Light on Yoga". The set of presented Asanas (i.e. without even considering the other groups: Pranayama, ...) is more diverse than that given in Iyengar's book, e.g. it contains anti-rheumatic exercises (that I would call warm-up exercises) and eye exercises.
As usual for texts of this kind, bold statements about health improvements are made (e.g., p. 74: "Simplifying the diet [...] will help rectify poor vision". Also, the notes on "Benefits" often seem dubious) and overly cautious warnings are too often heard in the notes on "Contra-Indications" (sure, not everyone should do every exercise but I do not see why, e.g., people with high blood pressure should not perform Padahastasana; cf. p. 235).
To conclude, the text is a decent and quite exhaustive overview over the techniques of Hatha Yoga.
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Each technique is presented in a uniform way that first describes the technique step by step and then lists (a subset of) notes on "Breathing", "Duration", "Awareness", "Benefits", "Contra-Indications", etc...Since I found these notes often repetitious or simply annoying (see below) I mostly only read the technique descriptions which almost always was well understandable.
Most techniques are illustrated with a drawing of a person performing some stage of the technique. While these drawings certainly have their value they are of poor quality (anatomically and concerning the print quality). I consider this the main disadvantage against Iyengar's "Light on Yoga". The set of presented Asanas (i.e. without even considering the other groups: Pranayama, ...) is more diverse than that given in Iyengar's book, e.g. it contains anti-rheumatic exercises (that I would call warm-up exercises) and eye exercises.
As usual for texts of this kind, bold statements about health improvements are made (e.g., p. 74: "Simplifying the diet [...] will help rectify poor vision". Also, the notes on "Benefits" often seem dubious) and overly cautious warnings are too often heard in the notes on "Contra-Indications" (sure, not everyone should do every exercise but I do not see why, e.g., people with high blood pressure should not perform Padahastasana; cf. p. 235).
To conclude, the text is a decent and quite exhaustive overview over the techniques of Hatha Yoga.
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LibraryThing member Jaya_Kula_Books
From the Bihar School of Yoga, a must-have primer on classical Hatha Yoga practiced as it should be.
Original publication date
1968
Physical description
544 p.; 8.5 inches
ISBN
9386383608 / 9789386383600