Hathayoga: Breath by Breath

Godfrey Devereux encapsulates in this book the entire process of Hatha Yoga. Utilising the postures which are commonly identified with this Yoga form, Godfrey leads you to to a full realisation of this Yoga method. Be prepared to move beyond the physical as you begin your journey into the unknown.

This book offers a decent set of 14 routines that build upon one another to introduce the important concepts and Asanas of modern yoga. Each coarse has a different focus, from relaxation, through rooting the feet, to strengthening the back with back bends. The asanas are mostly beginner's modifications with lots of pictures and text instruction based on what movements to do to come in and out of the postures with the breathing. In this way, it is a good introduction to yoga for beginners.Problems with this text include:1. It is not associated particularly with any one school. This can be good or bad. It is hard to find classes that teach yoga like that in the book, but it can be nice to find something that is new and not too dogmatic. Also, this work draws mostly from Iyengar and some Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga so it would not be totally foreign and could be integrated with classes somewhat.2. There is not a lot of theoretical instruction, like in the author's excellent "Dynamic Yoga." The reader is encouraged to read this book, and I recommend it too, however, Hath Yoga: Breath by Breath seems like a series of progressive beginners routines for people who were unsatisfied with routines in the earlier book. As a work on it's own, it seems almost incomplete. However, this is perhaps only because the previous book was so rich, and this one cannot compare.3. There are, perhaps, better beginner's books out there. Yoga: Mastering the Basics, for instance is and excellent beginners book which is not associated with any one style particularly. So, I would recommend this book highly to people who enjoyed Dynamic Yoga and are looking for a more graded approach to learning the asanas, and to a lesser degree, to any beginner looking for a very gradual, graded introduction to asana.