30 Essential Yoga Poses
For Beginning Students and Their Teachers
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- $25.99
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- $25.99
Publisher Description
A yoga teacher and student of B.K.S. Iyengar offers guidance on how to develop a yoga practice—from poses and sequencing to creating targeted routines for pain relief, relaxation, and more
Judith Hanson Lasater draws on her wealth of yoga practice and teaching experience, as well as her training as a physical therapist, to present this comprehensive resource for beginning students and their teachers.
Several pages are devoted to each of the yoga poses or asana, including photos and charts, introductory steps and variations, benefits, which props to use, and more. Teachers will find guidance on adjustments for beginners learning new poses as well as how to help students more fully realize the pose. Lasater also helps practitioners with notes on how to go inward and what to explore when holding each pose.
You’ll also learn how to put poses together in sequences, and Lasater provides several to get you started. You’ll find quick sequences for busy days, for areas of tightness such as the lower back or the hamstrings, and even routines to remedy fatigue, or foster relaxation, or just for strength and balance. Sequences are presented with photographic charts for easy visual reference, as well as a “Mantra for Daily Practice". A glossary of anatomical terms and resources for further study are also included.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
There are many books available on different schools of yoga and many aspects to this complex and venerable mind-body spiritual practice. Longtime teacher Lasater offers a quintessential guide to Iyengar yoga, which uses props and emphasizes precision and alignment in yoga poses. She writes for beginners, but also includes material aimed at those who teach beginners, since teachers are students of whatever field they teach. The book is well-organized, opening with a concise introduction to yoga as an entire system. Its heart is a clearly written, amply illustrated (more than 340 color photos) sequence of 30 essential poses. A physical therapist and psychologist, Lasater understands the nuances of yoga poses, addressing common mistakes and precisely describing what is happening anatomically. She also skillfully correlates the challenges to mind and body that each pose provides, suggesting spiritual "explorations" that make the pose a new lesson each time it is practiced. A subsequent section combines poses in varied sequences, each series aimed at a different goal, such as strength, relaxation or overcoming busy days. A helpful concluding section lists terms and resources. The book is blessedly accessible, eschewing the glitz of some trendy yoga material. It also consistently counsels respect for physical and student-teacher boundaries to avoid problems, whether from physical pain or exploitative student-teacher relationships developing from an intense body-based discipline. This is highly recommended for beginners.
