Pilates and Yoga

Really a combination of three separate books, each originally published separately. The first section describes one of the styles of yoga. The second section covers Pilates, with a focus on mat-work rather than anything requiring expensive equipment. The third section covers Jonathan Monks' fusion of yoga and Pilates. While each of the three sections is good (well-written, understandable, and with good photographs and diagrams), in my opinion the most interesting and valuable part of the book is Monks' section. Rather than adhering to and propagating a particular style or dogma, Monks emphasizes the value of learning your own body and how it moves. He uses a mix of classic postures and movements drawn from both yoga and Pilates to achieve his goal, but spends plenty of time describing why and how a particular posture is worth performing, and what sensations you should be trying to feel. The whole book is worth having, but if you only want Monks' stuff, his Yoga-Pilates book sounds like it covers the same ground without all of the extraneous material from other authors.