Mindfulness Yoga: The Awakened Union of Breath, Body, and Mind

I've been doing yoga for about 5 years and began to become more interested in why we do yoga, in its spirtual underpinnings if you will. This book perfectly addresses that topic. There's an excellent description of yoga's origins and relationship to Buddhism. Moreover, it's a great tool to turn yoga asanas and movement into "moving meditation." Even in vinyasa-power yoga, there's a lot we can learn about and practice to enhance mind-body-spirit connection. This book does an outstanding job of informing the new or experienced yogi about how to gain more insight into what we really want to achieve from yoga.

This is a must read for yoga practitioners who want to expand and deepen their knowledge of Buddhism and its relationship to hatha yoga practice.

Ce livre de F.J. Boccio est une addition nécessaire à toute personne voulant approfondir son expérience et compléter ses connaissances concernant les relations entre la philosophie bouddhiste, la pratique de la méditation Vipassana et la philosophie du yoga. Bien écrit, souvent humoristique, Boccio nous illustre d'abord les liens historiques et philosophiques entre le yoga hindouiste, surtout celui de Patanjali, et le bouddhisme. Il explique comment le Bouddha a développé sa technnique de méditation et la possibilité de transformation intérieure qu'elle procure. Il explique par de nombreux exemples (parfois tirés de sa propre expérience)comment on peut accéder à cet état en préparant son corps avec différentes séquences d'asanas simples. Il jette un éclairage nouveau sur le rôle des postures du Hatha Yoga comme aide à la pratique de la méditation en développant une série de postures en photos simples et de bonne qualité. Le tout est aussi ponctué d'exemples d'applications à sa vie de tous les jours. C'est à mon avis le meilleur livre de synthèse sur la relation entre les pratiques de méditations bouddhistes et la philosophie yoguique dont elles sont historiquement issues.

I still consider myself a newcomer to yoga, having practiced semi-regularly for 3 years. Frank Jude Boccio's book, Mindfulness Yoga helped me make the distinctions between yoga practice and its origins and Buddhist traditions which heretofore I had lumped together in my Western mind as "same." He then goes on to demonstrate how the two cultural traditions intersect and work together in harmony for both meditation and asana practice. Boccio manages to give us the "Cliff Notes" explanation that is concise and clear and provides the reader with a basic overview of the historical and philosophical tenets of Buddhist teachings and how they relate to yoga practice. He also offers an easy and thorough introduction to meditation practice. The last section includes a series of asana sequences to practice which are thoroughly and imaginatively explicated. Mindfulness Yoga is chock full of information tempered with personal antecdotes and practical examples that make the material accessible and help us understand how to bring the Practice into all facets of daily living. His engaging writing style is informative and at times funny and lighthearted (Car Alarm Dharma, for example). I would recommend this book to anyone who's starting yoga or is a current practictioner and wants to understand more deeply the philosophical/spiritual aspect of the practice as well as the Sanskrit and Buddhist terminology.

I am a student of Frank Jude Boccio's at Jai Ma Yoga Center in New Paltz, NY so I guess I am slightly biased . . . However, if you aren't lucky enough to have Frank as a teacher, pick up this book and you will feel as though he is there with you. The teachings in this book expand beyond the Western notion of what "yoga" is (that is, a way to lose weight, etc) and really get to the heart of the teachings. The writing is clear and concise and personal--you can really identify with the things Frank writes about. And for anyone who wants an understanding of Buddhism, and how Buddhism and yoga can go hand in hand, this is the book for you. I highly recommend it. Om Shanti.