Yoga for Your Life: A Practice Manual of Breath and Movement for Every Body

by Margaret D. Pierce

Book Overview

"Yoga is the most powerful system of stress management, but it is also...a system for transforming our awareness and quieting down our mind and body to experience inner sources of peace, joy, and well-being. I highly recommend Yoga For Your Life as a practical and clear guide..."--Dean Ornish, M.D. Over 400 beautiful color photographs present the spirit of yoga adapted to fit the American lifestyle. Along with eight progressive, easy-to-follow lessons...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0915801604
• ISBN13: 9780915801602
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Rudra Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.2" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

The Best Beginning Yoga Book Out There

In my opinion, this is absolutely the best beginning yoga book you will find anywhere. It is not a book about getting into perfect pretzel shaped postures; it is not a book pushing Eastern philosophy; and it is not just another fad exercise book. This is a serious, well balanced, and gentle introduction to yoga. It's focus is on teaching yoga movements and postures in a gentle way that is accessible to anyone, and on introducing yoga as a means to improving your overall sense of well being and health. "Yoga for Your Life" is organized into a set of lessons that guide you gently from simple movements towards the more familiar postures you might see in other books, but at every step of the way, emphasis is placed on adopting the postures to your body. This makes yoga accessible to anyone no matter what their age or physical fitness level or body type. The lessons are beautifully illustrated with color photos of real people performing the movements in each lesson. There are no dry stick figures; there are no yogis in loin cloths; there are no unrealistic models. Just real people demonstrating each sequence of poses. One of the most helpful features of the illustrated instructions is the way one's breathing is linked to specific movements of the body. Many yoga books describe this in words, but "Yoga for Your Life" has incorporated the breathing very clearly into the photo sequences of the lessons. By linking one's breathing to the movement of one's body, the whole experience feels more purposeful, and focused. Throughout the book sidebars and other commentary introduce you to the ways in which yoga can be integrated into your life beyond just the physical exercises, but as with the postures, emphasis is on adopting what works for you. Having tried several introductory yoga books, this is the one that really clicked with me, and enabled me to actually make yoga part of my life. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a beginning introduction to yoga book.

A Technicolor Yoga Book for the Body,Breath and Mind

This is one of the most beautiful yoga/art books currently on the market. When I first looked at the cover, I knew this would be a visual treat for my eyes. However, the cover did not tell me that the pages inside would contain a wonderfully sequenced practice for the body, breath and mind. As a teacher of yoga and one who incorporates many styles in a class, this is one of the books that I refer to for ideas on yoga sequences done in a "softer and gentler" style when other styles seem inappropriate. Viniyoga is a practice that allows everybody to do yoga, not just the young, the strong and the flexible. It is known as one of the most forgiving forms of yoga and the Pierces present the basic concepts in an easy to follow pattern. The only problem that I found with the book is that there is so much information crammed on each page that a beginner's mind may wander about before finding the essence of the posture. The models and the settings are visually stunning, the instructions are easy to understand and the use of arrows to describe the flow of the breath is very helpful for the student. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a gentle practice that requires minimum time and a willingness to try.

best beginners yoga guide of all

I have been trying to "get into" yoga for over two years, with tapes, and a variety of books. This one clicked. It has great pictures, easy to follow routines, and the link between postures and breathing is all right on the page. It assumes nothing and starts out very simply. Anyone canfollow this book and start getting the benefits of yoga. It is the best guide for beginners I have come across, better than "Yoga for busy people", better than the yoga associations guides as well. It is accessible for any age. Extremely easy to use this book.

Yoga for Your Life changed my life.

The gradual and non-threatening approach to what for many people appears to be a complex and "other-wordly" discipline is just the ticket for those of us who must gradually work our way, often alone, into a new program. After years of suffering back pain, I have practiced for the past year and a half just ten minutes a day what I have learned from this book -in the privacy of my home and before going to work. I no longer suffer any pain. I am a 59 year old female who still runs, skis, and rides a mountain bike on forest trails, and I am able to do all of this without incurring any stiffness by practicing these modest and doable routines every day.

Quite good, practical introduction to Viniyoga

Quite good, practical introduction to Vinoyoga, with well thought out and well illustrated practice sequences. The best viniyoga practice book available. Purposeful short on philosophy. Good companion to The Heart of Yoga (Desikachar) and Yoga for Body Breath & Mind (Mohan).