Hatha Yoga Illustrated: For Greater Strength, Flexibility, and Focus

Hatha Yoga does a fantastic job with the photos and explaining the yoga positions. I like the simplicity of the similar outfits to not take away from the purpose of the book. Well done!

I am new to yoga and really enjoying the classes. My instructors are great at explaining the poses but this book also helped me with detailed pictures of the poses and explainations of the breathing used through the poses. One feature I also like is that each poses includes gentle versions and a list of contraindications. I have spinal and joint issues that make this important. While I think that a class is the best way to being your yoga journey this book is also a great help. Allowing you to review poses you learned in a session and expand your knowledge of this wonderful practice.

Now that yoga is so fashionable there are more yoga books in print than ever before. Many of these books are of poor or mediocre quality. Hatha Yoga Illustrated is an excellent all around book on yoga. The visual images of the poses are clear, there is a great deal of helpful information concisely presented. The book is devoid of the superflous "blah-blah" so often present in yoga books. This is a hatha yoga manual, you won't find much yoga philosophy herein, but what is stated on these topics is sound and sensible. No book is an entirely adequate substitute for personal instruction, but this book should have an honored place in every yoga students collection of yoga books.

I have been practicing yoga for several years now and have read tons of books on the subject. This is an excellent book on the basics. It covers 70 poses not including variations. Countrary to my assumptions, not all of the posture's described are 'beginner's poses', there are a few more difficult poses that are common to certain schools of yoga. The descriptions on how to do the poses are pratical - not so much detail that you're doing a 100 point check list. Simplier modifications are often given, useful if one is not as flexible or strong as required to do the final form (or injured, or tired, etc.). One addition I greatly appreciate is that counterposes are given for each posture, this gives a beginner some idea of what to do next. In fact, for each pose, the following details are listed: counterpose, drishti (what you should look at), physical benefits, mental benefits, and countraindications (injuries or health problems that may prevent you from practicing a posture or require a simpler variation).The routines in the back of the book are short, but extremely helpful for how to build a routine. There are routines for a gentle practice, flexibility, some examples of vinyasa segments, and both sun and moon salutations.I really am enjoying this book.

I am a 42 year-old male in better than average physical condition but when my ankles, knees, and shoulder recently requested that I abandon the jump rope for another regular excersize, I decided to check out yoga. So far I've explored roughly 15 books on the subject and have found Hatha Yoga Illustrated to be the keeper. I came to this conclusion when I noticed that I was comparing and cross-referencing the other books to this one, and that it contained virtually ALL of the important information from the others, collectively. There are many good books on the subject, but I found this to be the most comprehensive. Hatha Yoga Illustrated will get you started immediately, and also offers advanced information should you need a more intense program in the future. The book features detailed and well-organized instruction for all of the major poses, complete with variations and counterposes. The two authors are a man and a woman so it favors neither gender, as with some of the other books I've read. My only two criticisms are extremely minor: The women in the illustrations are very good-looking which, as petty as this sounds, can serve as a temporary distraction (that's a criticism?!) Also, there could be a little more info on routines. This is somewhat of a moot point however, because you'll probably want to build a routine to suit your own specific needs and abilities, and this book certainly provides you with the tools to do that. In conclusion I'm forced to use the old "if you can read just one book - this is the one!" cliche, but only because it is so appropriate in this case. I highly recommend Hatha Yoga Illustrated, and congratulate it's authors on a job very well done.