Bhakti Flow Yoga


Book Description

A guide to Bhakti Flow Yoga, a style of yoga that emphasizes a seamless connection between the breath and the movements of the body--by a popular San Francisco-based yogi. This is a comprehensive guide to the history and practice of Bhakti Flow Yoga, a synthesis of Bhakti yoga (the yoga of devotion) and Vinyasa Flow. This book describes • the foundations of Bhakti Flow Yoga, with an historical overview and an explanation of the basics of practice • the energetic side of this practice, including subtle body, meditation, sound (Nada Yoga), prana, pranayama, koshas (sheaths of the subtle body), chakras, nadis (energy pathways), and bandhas (energy locks), and more • the Bhakti Flow Yoga lifestyle: An overview of Ayurveda, including the doshas (constitution), nutrition, taste, and digestion, along with recommended Ayurvedic diet guidelines for general health. The section on vegetarianism offers practical advice on making the diet work for you. • the practice of Bhakti Flow Yoga: The section is divided into pose families, which include Basics, Standing Poses, Standing Balance Poses, Core, Arm Balances and Inversions, Backbends, Seated Poses and Twists, and Restorative Poses. The author unpacks each of the yoga poses, with details on both physical and spiritual considerations of each pose. There are also discussions on drishti (point of focus), how to start a home practice, and practical tips for pregnant students or those with high blood pressure. Rusty Wells includes two sample sequences, along with recommendations on sequencing in general. The Beginner's Sequence is gentle, complete, and accessible for all body types. The Surya Flow 1 Sequence is an example of a strong one-hour vinyasa practice that can easily be a launching pad for more creativity. Wells also provides valuable insights on teaching yoga.




A Genealogy of Devotion


Book Description

In this book, Patton E. Burchett offers a path-breaking genealogical study of devotional (bhakti) Hinduism that traces its understudied historical relationships with tantra, yoga, and Sufism. Beginning in India’s early medieval “Tantric Age” and reaching to the present day, Burchett focuses his analysis on the crucial shifts of the early modern period, when the rise of bhakti communities in North India transformed the religious landscape in ways that would profoundly affect the shape of modern-day Hinduism. A Genealogy of Devotion illuminates the complex historical factors at play in the growth of bhakti in Sultanate and Mughal India through its pivotal interactions with Indic and Persianate traditions of asceticism, monasticism, politics, and literature. Shedding new light on the importance of Persian culture and popular Sufism in the history of devotional Hinduism, Burchett’s work explores the cultural encounters that reshaped early modern North Indian communities. Focusing on the Rāmānandī bhakti community and the tantric Nāth yogīs, Burchett describes the emergence of a new and Sufi-inflected devotional sensibility—an ethical, emotional, and aesthetic disposition—that was often critical of tantric and yogic religiosity. Early modern North Indian devotional critiques of tantric religiosity, he shows, prefigured colonial-era Orientalist depictions of bhakti as “religion” and tantra as “magic.” Providing a broad historical view of bhakti, tantra, and yoga while simultaneously challenging dominant scholarly conceptions of them, A Genealogy of Devotion offers a bold new narrative of the history of religion in India.




Holistic Yoga Flow


Book Description

"Holistic Yoga Flow: The Path of Practice" is a yoga book packed with knowledge and stunning photography. The book will take you on an in-depth journey through yoga postures, philosophy, meditation, ayurveda, subtle anatomy, kirtan, yoga practice sequencing, the business of yoga and much more. This book is for both aspiring yoga teachers and yoga students who are passionate about deepening their path.Yoga instructors Travis Eliot and Lauren Eckstrom guide you through the ancient teachings of yoga in an exciting and stylitic way. The book is broken down into three distinct sections: History and Philosophy of Yoga, The Physical Practice and Teaching Holistic Yoga Flow. Highlights include: -100+ poses broken down into concise categories with detailed alignment cues -The Eight Limbs of Yoga with practice tips -Meditation, Pranayama and Mantras with exercises to apply each practice to your daily life -A full class for an inspiring home practiceEmphazing the importance of practice, Holistic Yoga Flow: The Path of Practice will inspire you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.




Yoga Sequencing


Book Description

The yoga teacher’s guide to planning and sequencing yoga classes—with over 2,000 instructional photos and 67 yoga pose sequences for students of all skill levels. Also features additional resources, including yoga class planning worksheets, comprehensive glossaries, and much more! Addressing one of the most popular topics in the yoga profession, this book offers 67 model sequences of yoga poses (asanas) that cover the broad range of yoga student experience. Inside, established and aspiring yoga teachers will find: • Over 2,000 instructional photos and guide to over 150 yoga asanas • Multiple sequences for beginning, intermediate, and advanced students • Yoga sequences for kids, teens, seniors, and women across their life cycle • Yoga classes designed for relieving depression and anxiety • Sequences for each of the major chakras and ayurvedic constitutions • Guidance for teaching breathing (pranayama) and meditation techniques • Glossary of terms and alphabetical asana index with thumbnail photographs • Yoga class planning worksheets • Representative sequences from several popular styles of hatha yoga • And many more resources for further reading! Drawing on ancient yoga philosophy and contemporary insights into functional anatomy, biomechanics, and kinesiology, Yoga Sequencing is the ultimate guide teachers looking to bring the transformative power of yoga into their practice and classes.




The Complete Book of Yoga


Book Description

The four types of yoga are covered in length in the current book, along with its philosophy, psychology, and practise techniques. It provides a comparison of the four yogas, outlining their similarities and distinctions. By destroying the ego, karma yoga, also known as the yoga of selfless action, aims to address the issue of ignorance. We are tethered to this world by attachment because of the ego, which was born out of ignorance. The practise of bhakti yoga involves inward purification. Bhakti-central yoga's thesis is that love is the most fundamental human emotion. Love is cosmocentric and divinely inspired in its most pure form. Raja-yoga ignites the flame of awareness of the self within in order to reach the Divine.




The Power of Ashtanga Yoga II: The Intermediate Series


Book Description

Elevate your yoga fitness with his essential guidebook to intermediate-level Ashtanga Yoga—ideal for yoga teachers and experienced yogis In her first book, Kino MacGregor introduced readers to Ashtanga Yoga, a popular and athletic type of yoga developed by her mentor, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Now, she returns with this informative follow-up to present and explain the Second—or Intermediate—Series to practitioners who wish to take their practice to the next level. MacGregor provides step-by-step instructions and covers the key aspects of the practice, including: • The basics of Ashtanga Yoga philosophy • Essential background information on the Intermediate Series • How to know when you are ready to take on this next stage of practice • The purification aspects of the practice • The pranayama techniques associated with the practice • And more With over 250 photographs, this solid and engaging entrée into intermediate-level practice is a wonderful resource for both practitioners and teachers.




Being of Power


Book Description

We live in a world where we’re all about updating. We update our computers, phones, cars, careers—even our partners. Now it’s time to update your personal philosophy and view. In essence, it’s time to update you. Being of Power is about transforming relationships. Not just with others, but with yourself, your experiences, your work, your purpose—how you relate to everything in your life. Here you will find the tools to enable you to break through the limiting views that have been keeping you stuck, frustrated, and unfulfilled; expand your viewpoint to see new possibilities; and come into your authentic self. The nine practices in this book are the stepping-stones on the path back to your essential authenticity, which is where your greatest power lies. These are practices to put into action minute by minute, day by day. We don’t master them all at once; instead, we work them in each present moment, again and again, until eventually we come to embody them as a natural way of being. This is how we transform. The aim of this book is not to tell you "the truth," but rather to help you rediscover your own truth. Your deepest power comes from what you already know inside. You have the intelligence. You have the answers. The nine practices of transformation will simply allow you to dissolve the blocks standing in your way and access the wisdom that’s already within you. They will show you how to put your essentially powerful way of being into action so you can create new, expanded results in your life. At its core, this book is about connecting to your authentic self and rediscovering who you are and what’s possible.




Tantric Advaita - Energizing Nonduality


Book Description

'You are that blissful Self-awareness beyond duality. You really 'get that', yet it is hard to keep feeling it. Tantric Advaita may be just what you need.' Having discovered the beauty of Self-awareness, nonduality or Advaita becomes a way of pure being. Yet, life tends to produce its various emotions, which easily remove that blissful feeling of the Self. We can actually never lose the Self, as it is ever in our presence. However, when that particular feeling or energy of the Self is lost, pure beingness itself is perceived to be lost. Tantric Advaita is the ancient knowledge on the nondual energy of the Self. It teaches us how to maintain full awareness of the Self, while simultaneously bringing our feeling closer to the bliss of the Self, energizing our nonduality practice. As we focus our awareness on itself, we harmonize our energy. The most essential understanding in Tantric Advaita concerns the seeds or potentials that are hidden within the Self, from which the entire universe manifests. They are based on the ancient trinity of Sat-Chit-Ananda, from which the powers of Time, Space and Sound emerged. These seeds also offer us the principal energetic methods to regenerate the feeling of nonduality. They provide us with a unique insight into the origin of all Yogic and Tantric practice, at all times allowing us to retrace our way back to the Self. "You will find wonderful guidance for achieving the highest spiritual understanding and bliss." Swami Asokananda, president of the Integral Yoga Institute of New York & the Integral Yoga Global Network.







Jivamukti Yoga


Book Description

The long-awaited, complete guide to the popular, vigorous American method of yoga that is deeply rooted in ancient wisdom and scriptures “In this day and age of health and fitness trends, it is assuring to know that Sharon and David encourage their students to draw inspiration from the classical texts of Yoga and timeless scriptural sources. ”—Sri Swami Satchidananda Creators of the extremely popular Jivamukti Yoga method and cofounders of the New York City studios where it is taught, Sharon Gannon and David Life present their unique style of yoga for the first time in book form. As they explain their intensely physical and spiritual system of flowing postures, they provide inspiring expert instruction to guide you in your practice. Unlike many books about yoga, Jivamukti Yoga focuses not only on the physical postures but also on how they evolved—the origins of the practices in yoga’s ancient sacred texts and five-thousand-year-old traditions—the psychotherapeutic benefits that accrue with a steady practice, and the spiritual power that is set free when energy flows throughout the mind and body. Jivamukti Yoga, which means “soul liberation,” guides your body and soul into spiritual freedom, physical strength, peace of mind, better health, and Self-realization–the ultimate goal of any practice. Gannon and Life help you understand each of the practices that comprise the yoga path to enlightenment: AHIMSA–The Way of Compassion: choosing nonviolence, respecting all life, practicing vegetarianism, living free of prejudice ASANA–The Way of Connection to the Earth: postures and sequences, breathing, transforming energy, understanding the bandhas KARMA–The Way of Action: creating good karma, giving thanks NADAM–The Way of Sacred Music: appreciating the sacred sounds of yoga MEDITATION–The Way of the Witness: how to sit still and move inward BHAKTI–The Way of Devotion to God: living with love, grace, and peace Whatever yoga you practice, Jivamukti Yoga will help you to strengthen and deepen that practice and lead you onto a path of spiritual clarity and self-discovery. “If there is only one book you read about the practice of Yoga, this should be the one. . . . This book is for anyone who wishes to find transformation through Yoga. I’m grateful for their work and teaching.”—Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD, Co-founder & CEO, Omega Institute