In February 1969 Srila Prabhupada gave a series of lectures on the yoga system as it is discussed in the sixth and eighth chapters of the Bhagavad-gita. The Path of Perfection is a collection of these talks. The perfect life - the life that achieves the goal of yoga - is dynamic and full of activity, Srila Prabhupada says. It connects us with the Supreme Spirit in straightforward, practical ways and resonates with truth. These absorbing talks show us how the Gita's timeless teachings can help us walk the path of perfection.
Although there are many types of yoga practice, the Vedic literature explains that no matter which practice you choose, success is only achieved when bhakti is present. What is bhakti-yoga, and how can you add it to your life or your current yoga practice? As bhakti is a pivotal element in any yogic or religious practice, it is known as the topmost yoga. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna explains bhakti-yoga to his dear friend Arjuna, and here Srila Prabhupada expands these concepts in this introductory text.
A full-color illustrated exploration of the body in motion during yoga practice • Examines anatomical patterns and body mechanics in specific asanas, such as forward bends, twists, external hip rotations, arm balances, and back bends, to inspire confidence in students, deepen practice, and prevent injury • Provides detailed images and photos overlaid with anatomical diagrams, allowing you to see clearly what is happening within each asana discussed • Explores how various yoga postures interrelate from the perspective of functional anatomy In this full-color illustrated guide, David Keil brings the anatomy of the body in yoga asanas to life. Writing in an accessible, conversational tone, he outlines how practitioners and yoga teachers alike can utilize a deeper understanding of their anatomy and its movement and function to deepen their yoga practice, increase confidence, prevent injury, and better understand their students and their challenges. Providing detailed images and photos overlaid with anatomical diagrams, allowing you to see clearly what is happening within each asana discussed, Keil shows how the muscles, joints, tendons, and structure of the body work together to support integrated movement. He discusses the basics of functional anatomy, exploring the workings of the foot and ankle, the knee, the hip joint, the pelvis and SI joint, the spine, the shoulder, and the hand, wrist, and elbow. He examines anatomical patterns and body mechanics in specific asanas, such as forward bends, twists, external hip rotations, arm balances, and back bends, such as, for example, how a wide-legged forward bend shifts the position of the femur and the pelvis, allowing students with tight hamstrings to accomplish a deep forward bend--something they struggle with when the legs are together. Keil also shows how various yoga postures interrelate from the perspective of functional anatomy. Revealing in detail how everything in the body is connected and how your anatomy functions holistically during yoga practice, this book helps you to understand the body better and connect and integrate yoga postures in a completely new way.
A world-renowned yoga master cuts through the commercialism that now clouds the real meaning of yoga. Beyond the postures and exercises, he explains, the ancient teachings of yoga aim at lasting, loving union with the Supreme. The author, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, has written more than 60 volumes of authoritative translations, commentaries and sundry studies of the philosophical and religious classics of India. Highly respected in academic circles for their authority, depth and clarity, they are used as standard textbooks in numerous colleges and universities around the world.
NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER "This book will shine new light on your journey, ignite your practice with new power, inspire new possibilities for growth, and infuse your life with the grace and confidence you seek." --Baron Baptiste A little over a decade ago, Baron Baptiste published his seminal book, Journey into Power. The first of its kind, it introduced the world to Baptiste Yoga, his signature method that marries a lifetime of studying with some of the world's most renowned yoga masters with his uniquely powerful approach to inner and outer transformation. Since then, yoga has steadily moved into the mainstream in our culture, and Baron's unique contribution has played a key role. As millions of participants incorporate yoga into their daily lives, Baron's teachings have evolved to bring them even deeper into their own transformative possibilities. Perfectly Imperfect: The Art and Soul of Yoga Practice takes readers beyond the foundations of the practice by speaking to everything that happens in their bodies and minds after they get into a yoga pose. That is where the true transformation occurs, and where much rich spiritual and emotional growth is available. Readers will learn how to move through their lives with grace and flow, begin again when a situation becomes difficult, "be a yes" for their innermost desires, give up what they must, follow their intuition, and find their truth north. With his signature blend of boldness, insightfulness, humor, and warmth, Baron offers what is destined to be an instant classic in the yoga and meditation world. With Perfectly Imperfect, he proves once again to be a true yoga master for the modern world.
What happens when a coffee-drinking, cigarette-smoking, steak-eating twenty-five-year-old atheist decides it is time to get in touch with her spiritual side? Not what you’d expect . . . When Suzanne Morrison decides to travel to Bali for a two-month yoga retreat, she wants nothing more than to be transformed from a twenty-five-year-old with a crippling fear of death into her enchanting yoga teacher, Indra—a woman who seems to have found it all: love, self, and God. But things don’t go quite as expected. Once in Bali, she finds that her beloved yoga teacher and all of her yogamates wake up every morning to drink a large, steaming mug . . . of their own urine. Sugar is a mortal sin. Spirits inhabit kitchen appliances. And the more she tries to find her higher self, the more she faces her cynical, egomaniacal, cigarette-, wine-, and chocolate-craving lower self. Yoga Bitch chronicles Suzanne’s hilarious adventures and misadventures as an aspiring yogi who might be just a bit too skeptical to drink the Kool-Aid. But along the way she discovers that no spiritual effort is wasted; even if her yoga retreat doesn’t turn her into the gorgeously calm, wise believer she hopes it will, it does plant seeds that continue to blossom in surprising ways over the next decade of her life.
The Science of Yoga draws on a hidden wealth of science, history, and surprising facts to cut through the fog that surrounds contemporary yoga and to show - for the first time - what is uplifting and beneficial and what is delusional, flaky, and dangerous. At heart, it illuminates the risks and rewards. The book takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of undiscovered yoga that goes from old libraries in Calcutta to the world capitals of medical research, from little-known archives to spotless laboratories, from sweaty yoga classes with master teachers to the cosy offices of yoga healers. In the process, it shatters myths, lays out unexpected benefits, and offers a compelling vision of how to improve the discipline.
Clear, accessible, and meticulously annotated, Tracing the Path of Yoga offers a comprehensive survey of the history and philosophy of yoga that will be invaluable to both specialists and to nonspecialists seeking a deeper understanding of this fascinating subject. Stuart Ray Sarbacker argues that yoga can be understood first and foremost as a discipline of mind and body that is represented in its narrative and philosophical literature as resulting in both numinous and cessative accomplishments that correspond, respectively, to the attainment of this-worldly power and otherworldly liberation. Sarbacker demonstrates how the yogic quest for perfection as such is situated within the concrete realities of human life, intersecting with issues of politics, economics, class, gender, and sexuality, as well as reflecting larger Indic religious and philosophical ideals.
This collection of articles by Srila Prabhupada from Back to Godhead magazine covers knowledge of the soul and the practice of bhakti-yoga. These interviews, lectures, and essays cover topics such as the goal of human life, seeking a true spiritual teacher, reincarnation, super-consciousness, Krishna and Christ, and spiritual solutions to today's social and economic problems.
