The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice
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The first yoga text to outline a step-by-step sequence for developing a complete practice according to viniyoga–yoga adapted to the needs of the individual.
• A contemporary classic by a world-renowned teacher.
• This new edition adds thirty-two poems by Krishnamacharya that capture the essence of his teachings.
Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who lived to be over 100 years old, was one of the greatest yogis of the modern era. Elements of Krishnamacharya’s teaching have become well known around the world through the work of B. K. S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and Indra Devi, who all studied with Krishnamacharya. Krishnamacharya’s son T. K. V. Desikachar lived and studied with his father all his life and now teaches the full spectrum of Krishnamacharya’s yoga. Desikachar has based his method on Krishnamacharya’s fundamental concept of viniyoga, which maintains that practices must be continually adapted to the individual’s changing needs to achieve the maximum therapeutic value.
In The Heart of Yoga Desikachar offers a distillation of his father’s system as well as his own practical approach, which he describes as “a program for the spine at every level–physical, mental, and spiritual.” This is the first yoga text to outline a step-by-step sequence for developing a complete practice according to the age-old principles of yoga. Desikachar discusses all the elements of yoga–poses and counterposes, conscious breathing, meditation, and philosophy–and shows how the yoga student may develop a practice tailored to his or her current state of health, age, occupation, and lifestyle.
This is a revised edition of The Heart of Yoga.
From the brand
Inner Traditions
Books for the Spiritual & Healing Journey
Founded in 1975, Inner Traditions • Bear & Company is one of the largest and oldest publishing houses in the world devoted exclusively to the subjects of spirituality, the occult, ancient mysteries, new science, holistic health, and natural medicine. Happily nestled in the Green Mountains of Vermont for more than 30 years, the company now has over 2,000 titles in print.
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Publisher : Inner Traditions
Publication date : March 1, 1999
Edition : Revised
Language : English
Print length : 244 pages
ISBN-10 : 089281764X
ISBN-13 : 978-0892817641
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 8 x 0.8 x 10 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #20,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #13 in Yoga (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 2,387 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Liv Glenn –
You’ll use your body and mind
Enlightened, educated, and so happy I was encouraged to read this by my yoga instructor.
Karthik Raghavan –
Very clear and precise explanation of the concepts and ideas behind a yoga practice
I have been practicing yoga for some years now and ordered this book to understand more about the theory and concepts that form the reason behind developing a yoga practice. I did incorporate some of the simple ideas from this book and got better results from my yoga practice. It helped me to introduce variations into my asana practice, introduce variations in breathing patterns with asanas.Highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the theory behind breathing patterns during asana practice, theory behind how to develop a personal practice, what are some of the precautions to consider before starting a practice etc.
Y Skoryk –
The Heart of Yoga, T.K.V Desikachar
This is a good book to own, especially if you already own a few yoga books. This book is very informative and many yogic terms and philosophies are explained clearly. In the very first chapter Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras are mentioned. Chapter three discusses breathing. Chapters four and five are about asana practice (counterposes, resting between asanas, how do you practice asana, how fast, how to adjust your breathing as you practice, etc). There are sequences in this book, but you will not see a description how to practice a particular asana on its own, there is no list of the common asanas, because the book introduces you to yoga in general and from the point of view of the Yoga Sutras. (The Sutras are included in the book, as well as “thirty-two poems by Krishnamacharya that capture the essence of his teachings”, as mentioned on publisher’s website, (innertraditions.com). You will see many black and white photographs of Krishnamacharya and the author, performing asanas or pranayama. All of the asana seguences are drawn images. There are separate chapters on Pranayama and Bandhas. In general, this is a great book for someone who enjoys reading more about yogic phisiology and philosophy, who loves Sanskrit (the book mentions many yogic terms in Sanskrit) and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. This is a thorough book on yoga and it gives a reader an understanding of what yoga is really about.
Stephen Walker –
Truly Inspirational!
Truly Inspirational!I absolutely love this book! I’m reading it slowly for a second time and will likely read it a tenth. I have been a practicing yoga student for years, but this book has really opened my mind to a more complete understanding of yoga. It seems that many books get lost in the mechanics of poses or treat it purely as a way to get great abs.In contrast this book emphasizes a steady, safe and incremental path to learning yoga. It embraces all forms of practice and is refreshingly absent of persuasion towards any style. It discusses the importance of having a good teacher and learning techniques at the appropriate time and in the correct way. It covers all the branches of yoga and discusses the importance of ancient texts. It brings clarity to the purpose of yoga and how the mind, body and breath function together. And it is a wonderful window into another place and time into the lives of Desikachar and Krishnamacharya… a glimpse directly into the fountain of yoga.This book is perfect for anyone looking to deepen and expand their understanding of yoga.
Kumari –
Good overview of yoga for the beginner
Most Americans think of yoga as just the physical poses. Once they get interested in the philosophy, they have a tendency to get silly about it – believing any old thing as long as it’s weird and New Age-y and feel good. This book by contrast is written by a real yogi, famous in the world of yoga. It’s not really so much of a “how-to” book although there is some instruction, it’s more of an intro to yoga.I found it easy to read, enjoyable and informative. There is a complete translation of Patanjali’s yoga sutra at the back of the book. i guess the only reason why I would not give this book 5 stars is that the title is a little misleading. I don’t think a person could make a personal practice of yoga merely by reading this book. I would suggest taking a few classes at an ashram or a gym or a studio – just to get clear on the alignment, before going rogue.For a person with some prior experience, you could create a personal practice after learning the basics of sequencing and breath work from this book
MB –
As described
As described, very good condition with some internal markings. Appreciated being able to track shipping. Shipped quickly.
mahsa –
very nice book, mainly focused on the theory of yoga but also gives some useful practices and guidance to design your own practice.
Jonathan Waterfield –
The book covering the fundamentals of yoga, written by lifelong teachers.
Juergen –
Gutes Buch über die leider weniger poluläre Linie von Desikachar, die einige wichtige Dinge ander behandelt als Iyengar oder Jois.
物理・化学・電子・いろいろ科学者 –
つまんねえ。まあ、個人的感想だが。
Kindle Customer –
Good book on yoga