Yoga: Mastering the Basics

This Hatha Yoga manual is authentic, clear, thorough, precise and well illustrated. For each posture, there is at least one illustrative photo. All the postures are scientifically sequenced. As a Yoga student of the same tradition, I recommend this book to all Yoga students and teachers without reservation.

This is an excellent and thorough introduction to yoga including the philosophical foundation and context for a meaningful practice. It has a great progressive program and provides a complete and comprehensive rationale for following it. It is well-organized, contains a lot of material, is very readable and very accessible to anyone. It is also printed on very quality paper, has excellent illustrations and is quite a bargain at this price. Highly recommeneded by this reviewer and I see a lot of yoga books!

This is the book that got me onto a yoga mat, and is still one of my favorite yoga manuals. In fact, I'm reordering it because it's getting so tatty being on the floor all the time, and I'm buying a copy for my daughter in college. What is particularly nice is the way the book is broken out into 3 distinct parts - the 1st is a programmed series of moves for beginners - a GREAT way to start. The 2nd is the program you move into as your joints become more flexible. The 3rd section has yoga moves for different areas of your body that you want to work on. The hip exercises help keep me pain free! I HIGHLY recommend this book!

All elements of yoga practice both spiritual and physical are brought to play in a title packed with black and white photos illustrating techniques and positions. From technical discussions of muscles used in these positions to step-by-step directions, Yoga: Mastering the Basics is packed with clear information any beginner will appreciate.

As a beginning yoga student, I've consulted several books to support my practice and this is one of the best I've found. This book is slightly oversized and printed on thick, glossy paper so it feels really nice to use. The photos, drawings and text are clear and concise and the photos show modifications for different abilities. The book features two asana sequences and chapters on pranayama, relaxation and meditation. The chapter that sets this book apart has sections on problem areas such as hips, hamstrings, abdomen and back. The chapter shows you which poses in the asana sequences help in these areas and then shows additional poses. This is the only book I would recommend to the yoga beginner.