This book is an excellent guide to astanga yoga. For beginers, or experienced practicioners.
If you're looking for an exercise routine, you can't do better than this.
Astanga yoga builds strength, flexiblity, stamina, discipline and mental quiet. It won't change your life overnight. But bit by bit as you start to feel healthier, and better about your body, the way you perceive the world changes as well. But everything comes very slowly, as it should.
I purchased Power Yoga after attending classes at my gym, since I wanted a yoga workout that I could do at home. This book certainly has served that purpose, and it following the workout increased my strength and flexibility tremendously. The pictures are very helpful in getting into the various poses from the series. There is also a great deal of information in the book concerning yoga history and practices which was interesting for a beginner. The biggest problem that I have had with the book is that I think that it would be very difficult for someone who had never taken a yoga class with a live teacher to understand what is called for by some of the positions. I believe that this book is best used as a home supplement to taking a yoga class with an experienced teacher who can guide the student through the asanas (postures) and help correct them if need be. The book also does not really discuss meditation before or after a workout, which I have found to be tremendously relaxing.
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This book could have been half as long if Birch wasn't so interested in talking about herself. For the most part, this is book about why Birch practices yoga.
Certainly there is a lot of quality content here, but it is sparse and has been covered more thoroughly by other authors (Schiffmann and Farhi for philosophy, Kraftsow for yoga therapy, and David Swenson for asanas).
The program which Birch recommends is basically a watered-down ashtanga yoga workout in the primary series, with a few embellishments.
When this book was initially released, it would have been a very valuable addition to any yogi's library. However, with the current selection of books and videos covering this subject, it has become obsolete and unneccessary.
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As a previous reviewer said the Primary Series should not be learned solely through a book. This book does the best job of breaking down most of the difficult poses, offering great modification poses to help work a person into the pose that's part of the series. For instance the half bound lotus forward bend is by not means an easy pose (at least not for me). Bender offers beginner and intermediate modifications to help you work to the full version of the pose. She does this throughout the book giving the reader a chance to build up his/her endurence while he/she is learning the series. I used this book in conjunction with Julie Pegrum's "Ashtanga Yoga: The Complete Mind and Body Workout" Book. Together they are the next best thing to going to class. Overall, I have seen nothing better that helps a person learn the Primary Series, and at the same time, making finishing it semi-attainable.
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This book is excellent. It really helped me to further my practice at home. It has a lot of helpful information. Now that I'm teaching Power Yoga, I recommend it to my students.
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