Product Description

From the author of the best-selling Yoga Deck comes Essential Yoga -- the only hatha yoga book to offer this many poses (over 100), this many illustrations (over 180), and this many suggested sequences (over 50). Practical and interactive, it focuses on the poses themselves, providing clear, concise instructions and detailed illustrations for each, all in a lay-flat format that's easy to refer to during yoga practice. It also includes six classic moving meditations (such as Sun Salutation and Camel Vinyasa), 10 beginner-to-advanced sessions, and 48 mini-sequences designed to build strength for specific activities or alleviate health problems. Essential Yoga combines physical poses (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayamas), and meditations (dhyanas) into a simple and complete reference guide for yoga practitioners of all levels. Along the way, author Olivia Miller provides guidance on proper technique and alignment; modifications for beginners or those with knee, neck, or back pain; suggestions for preventing injury; and ways to keep a regular practice interesting and active. For beginners as much as experts looking for one complete book that has it all, Essential Yoga is it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #206179 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From Publishers Weekly
One of the simplest yet most comprehensive yoga books to be published in recent memory, Miller's work could become a classic. Using elegant, gentle prose and graceful line drawings to illustrate poses, the book serves as an excellent introduction for those unfamiliar with or just getting used to breathing in downward facing dog position. Miller, who has been practicing yoga for over 25 years and [has written] for Yoga Journal and other publications, takes a three-pronged approach to teaching yoga, focusing on the equally important components of breathing, poses and meditation. She doesn't spend much time on the history and origins of yoga, and quickly moves to technique. Focusing on hatha yoga, Miller teaches readers breathing exercises and how to warm up, and then proceeds to standing, seated, prone, supine and inverted poses. Subsequent chapters share suggested meditations and suggested flow series. The latter section lays out routines practitioners can follow (among them, the popular sun salutation and camel vinyasa), as well as series of poses that Miller devised [with yoga teacher Paul Howard] that target specific conditions (including ones for anxiety and tension relief, cold prevention and improving circulation) and sports (e.g., running, swimming, tennis and rowing). By giving variations for each pose, Miller makes her book appropriate for all levels, although the positive and upbeat tone will especially comfort beginners struggling with the challenging pigeon or full shoulder-stand positions.
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About the Author
Olivia H. Miller is a freelance writer and has been a student of yoga for twenty-five years. She lives on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Nicole Kaufman is a freelance illustrator whose work has appeared in several publications and books. She lives with her family in Sonoma County's beautiful wine country.

Customer Reviews

great yoga book
i really like this book. i have many yoga books, videos and decks and this is amongst the best. as an instructor i find the descriptions and visuals very helpful. i like the sequences that are written out. it's just a good book to have. this is a book i'd feel totally comfortable referring to my students for their home practice.

Great !
Excelent book, as a begginer in yoga I find it quite complete and very illustrative on the different excercises.

A Yoga Medicine Chest
Essential Yoga is like a medicine cabinet for yoga practitioners. Inside are simple, precise, and thorough single-page guides to about 100 essential poses, warm-ups, meditations, and breath exercises...plus, what is far more important, two chapters full of creative and unique routines and sequences. Each pose is simply and crisply illustrated, and detailed instructions are given. (It's particularly nice that the book is sewn to lie flat, a feature which makes it quite easy to use while actually practicing! This nicely supports the premise of the book, which is to be a text that is for the practice of actual yoga--and not just "about" it.) Each pose includes English and Hindi names, suggested modifications and variations, and a sentence or two about its physical and mental benefits. What really makes this sublimely practical book a "medicine chest", however, are the sequences. From short vinyasas (everything from Camel to Sun and Moon Salutations) to complete workouts of several lengths and intensity levels, the back chapters of this book contain everything you need to begin a home practice for all moods and occasions. Best of all are the short series geared to various physical goals and/or ailments (from "Biking", "Golf" and "Skiing" workouts to programs for "Toxin Flush", "Cold Prevention" and "Depression")--they're effective and eminently doable.