Showing posts with label yoga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yoga. Show all posts

Stretch: The Unlikely Making of a Yoga Dude Review

Stretch: The Unlikely Making of a Yoga Dude
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Yes, there is a lot about yoga in this book and Pollack's journey through yoga is the story, but this book is really about a a guy who is on the verge of a full-blown midlife crisis and attempts to deal with it by re-discovering his "best self." Pollack pulls this off by avoiding sentimentality and self-pity - his wit and humor is sharp and hits the target. It is clear that Pollack is not a wild-eyed yoga zealot, he finds yoga teachers and methods that speak to him, but he also pulls no punches when it comes to some of the more cynical yoga-marketing schemes (the "yoga championship" section is really a marvel). I found myself for-real laughing out loud whenever I picked up the book.

As someone around Pollack's age (and not that into yoga), his journey resonated with me this book resonated with me. Yes, I went to some yoga classes after reading the book, but more importantly it served as a reminder to try to find my own "best self" and not take myself so damn seriously.
Highly recommended.

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Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation Review

Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation
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I really like Stephen Mitchell's work, but it's important to know what you're getting.
What you're ordinarily _not_ getting is a straight-up translation of the source text; you're getting Mitchell's attempt to render the source text into a fine English poem that expresses the spiritual insights he wants it to express. (Examples: his excellent interpretive renderings of the Psalms and the Tao Te Ching. They are excellent interpretive renderings; they are _not_ translations.)
Even when the translation _is_ straightforward, he tends to chop the text to bits and just keep the parts he agrees with. (Examples: his translation of the book of Genesis, which includes the entire text but relegates the "spiritually suspect" parts to an appendix, and his rendering of the book of Job, which includes some terrific translation but omits the speech of Elihu and the poem in praise of wisdom.)
And now he's done the Bhagavad Gita. Has he translated it, or has he interpretively rendered it?
Well, the first point to make is that he _has_ included the entire text and limited himself to offering commentary on the parts he doesn't agree with. (Incidentally, I tend to disagree with the same parts and I understand that there have been Hindu scholars who have at least raised the same questions that Mitchell does.) This point alone means that Mitchell's Gita is a landmark: he hasn't chopped up the text in order to leave out the "spiritually inferior" portions.
So how good is his translation? Well, Mitchell says his own Sanskrit is "rudimentary," but that doesn't mean (as some reviewers seem to think) that he doesn't know any at all. (This is a bit different from his Tao Te Ching, in which he admits that he just doesn't read Chinese.) And this _is_ called a "new translation" rather than a "new interpretation."
But I don't know any Sanskrit at all, so I've just done some short comparisons with other translations. Based on spot-checks against the versions of Barbara Stoller Miller and Juan Mascaro, it looks to me as though Mitchell has stayed pretty close to the source. This is of course not an expert opinion of any kind and I'm prepared to be corrected by anyone who knows better. (And it may not even be much of a test, as Miller's translation in particular was one of the handful Mitchell consulted in preparing his own.)
Either way, what Mitchell is up to here is what he's up to nearly everywhere: he uses the traditional text as a medium to convey his own spiritual insights. And it's pretty clear from the get-go that he regards Lao-Tzu (i.e., _his_ Lao-Tzu) as spiritually superior to the author(s) of the Gita. Some readers may well agree with this evaluation (and I may be one of them; you guess). But all readers should be aware that Mitchell isn't trying to present a reverent discussion of the teachings of the Gita; he's sifting through it to see what parts of it measure up to his own Buddhist-Taoist-Jewish insights.
I am _not_ criticizing this enterprise; far from it. I tend to agree with many of Mitchell's insights, I really really really enjoy his poetic renderings, and on the whole I even admire his chutzpah (although in other books I've seen reason to criticize some of his scholarship). And in the present work he does, for example, raise (and to some extent answer) deep questions about the limits of nonviolence.
But, y'know, caveat emptor and all that. If you buy this book, buy it as Stephen Mitchell's work, not as an introduction to Hinduism through one of its central sacred texts. It's not really fair to describe this as a "boutique" Gita, but on the other hand it _is_ primarily a vehicle for Mitchell himself. I think that, like all of Mitchell's stuff, it's well worth reading and owning, but it depends on what you're looking for.

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American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation How Indian Spirituality Changed the West Review

American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation How Indian Spirituality Changed the West
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In 1963 the United States opened the door to immigrants from Asia,and when they did, lots of gurus, swamis, lamas and roshis poured through to share their cultures' various wisdoms. Some of them had integrity and some of them didn't, but they all changed the way we look at the world and helped shape our present worldview. After nearly fifty years of experimenting with the mystic East, Americans are wiser in many ways; unfortunately, they sometimes fell prey to charlatans, but that was all part of the growth curve. Phil Goldberg's book is an exceptional introduction to the journey into Hindu traditions that many have taken, through meditation, yoga, and other techniques of consciousness expansion. The book is filled with extraordinary stories and entertaining analysis. It is a book for everyone who has studied with an Indian teacher, or thought about it. It is simultaneously a warning and an enticement. His humor and insight make this a wonderful ride, and an accurate telling of what went down. It is certainly the best book today on the subject.

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Happy Yoga: 7 Reasons Why There's Nothing to Worry About Review

Happy Yoga: 7 Reasons Why There's Nothing to Worry About
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****
This is a lovely book ostensibly about yoga (and it is), but more than that, about life. It is about how ordinary people can learn from yogic wisdom and apply it to our mainstream lives. It is about how to be enlightened, simply and happily, rather than rigorously and with struggle.
Full of wisdom and strong opinions from the author (especially about veganism---the author is a vegan), you may not agree with everything, but you will enjoy this book greatly and learn a lot. It will make you think and examine your beliefs. It will also make you happy---the subtitle is "7 Reasons Why There's Nothing to Worry About". An example of one secret: "You Can't Get Happy (You Can Only Be Happy)".
There are brief questions for reflection throughout the book. It is well-organized.
People who will enjoy and benefit from this book are:
Those who practice yoga very seriously.
Those who have never tried yoga and who wonder what it's all about.
Those who think a lot and who spend time worrying.
Those who want to "wake up", sensing that they are sleepwalking through their lives and missing something.
Other very serious people.
This is a happy book, although I wouldn't call it light. It's not heavy, either, though. "Fun" and "deep" would be the best description...well..."happy"---and thus unique. I really enjoyed it. Oftentimes I'd feel happy and blissful just reading it and contemplating on the points the author would make.
The only negative about the book is that the yoga postures at the end of each chapter are very advanced---many at the contortionist level---with instructions not anywhere near beginner level. I just looked at the pictures. However, it would be very easy for an uninformed reader to injure themselves while attempting to follow the instructions and illustrations. It would also give a beginner new to yoga the misguided idea that they can't do yoga because it's too hard for them at their fitness level. Untrue! The yoga postures are not, however, vital to the book and can simply be skipped. Still, for this reason I give this wonderful book only four stars.
****

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After studying yoga in India and traveling all over the world with traditional Vedantic masters, Steve Ross returned to his hometown of Los Angeles with a broadened point of view of what yoga could be. He was surprised to find that yoga classes at home were missing the humor, joy, and celebration that fueled his Eastern studies. Instead of expanding and enhancing the joy of being, Western yoga classes focused obsessively on correcting body positions and developing a picture-perfect physique. Determined to keep his yoga practice true to cultivating bliss and inner radiance, Ross started his own yoga studio and has created a yoga movement in Los Angeles that is, to put it simply, revolutionary.

Ross lives and teaches according to his belief that the secret to yoga is not obsessing over whether your feet are parallel or whether you can bend as far as the person on your left can, but about transcending the serious and allowing joy into your life, your body, your mind, and hopefully your yoga practice itself. It's about lightening up.

In Happy Yoga, Ross reveals that everyone is inherently happy, but that our true self is shadowed and concealed by the layers of worry that, through habit, become our daily thoughts. In each chapter, he examines one of our seven greatest human fears -- depression, ill health, loss of love, career failure, war, death, and emotional stasis -- and uses yoga wisdom to explain how to strip away these worries to reach your core of calm radiant joy. By sharing his system of yoga postures, diet, meditation, music, supplements, and philosophy, Ross has effected profound physical and mental changes in both his life and the lives of his students.

Ross's power is that he goes back to the source -- five thousand years of ancient yogic wisdom -- and decodes the abstract Eastern ideas for a Western audience. Happy Yoga is not just a set of movements and facts to consume, it is a way of shifting your awareness to bring the spirit of yoga into each movement, each meal, each relationship, each thought, and each breath.

With love and joyful abandon, Ross offers us a new way to practice and live yoga. The result is profound calm, a dramatic release of anxiety and pain, and the realization that there really is nothing to worry about.


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Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga Review

Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga
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Mediations from the Mat is a one-a-day vitamin for the yogic soul. There are 365 essays here designed to nourish you on your journey off and on the mat.
If you practice yoga, you will appreciate this book. If you like thought-provoking quotes, you'll find them here. If you're on a path toward spiritual and emotional well being, this book is for you.
Grasping Patanjali's 8-limb path is a daunting task. Gates, along with gifted writer/editor Katrina Kenison, simplifies these lessons by presenting them through examples of his own life experiences and discoveries.
What I like best about this book is that it's simple and it's Real. Anybody can relate to these stories of suffering, joy, tragedy, and love, regardless of whether they practice yoga. So with each daily reading, we begin to realize that yoga is not some esoteric, mountain-top guru thing, but a means of meeting ourselves and learning our truth -- simply by showing up on our mats and in our lives.
Gates doesn't claim to have answers. He gives us what he has to give: the lessons he has learned through the erratic, grace-filled ride he's had so far. As the essays gradually build on one another, we begin to understand that amid our suffering, fear, and doubt, we can "experience a visceral sense of belonging in a universe held together by love."
If you take in one of these essays each day, you will nourish your soul. No doubt about it. I'm only on Day 31 and I feel the difference already!

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Go In and In: Poems From the Heart of Yoga Review

Go In and In: Poems From the Heart of Yoga
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I first heard these poems read aloud in my yoga class at the start of meditation, but they are applicable to everyone who yearns for the "still point" inside themselves and who searches for connection to Spirit. They are for everyone who sometimes tries too hard, who has to learn again and again to be gentle with themselves. They are for everyone who feels a connection in Nature; says Danna, "I will worship /where the broad /arc of sky bends/to hear the bird song." This lovely unpretentious collection of poems - average length 3/4 of a page - is organized in: Gifts of Practice, Gifts of Life, Gifts of Nature, and Gifts of Union. Danna shares her own journey's challenges and lessons with honesty, wit, and beautifully chosen words. Over and over I had the "YES, that is exactly what it feels like" moment, as this work speaks directly to my heart. This is spirit-centered writing which is firmly grounded in the real world; take "This body is not flowing/with liquid energy, no,/and this mind is not/awash with peace. I/ fight myself in every posture, muscles shriek,/ fear freezes bones and a / sure sense of failure grows. / This too is practice, / this ground where grief / gains the upper hand, / and anger casts dark / shadows." Danna has dealt with depression and other challenges (described in the interesting Introduction) and has been a yoga teacher at Kripalu Center in Massachusetts, and these experiences are brought to her work. My copy of this book is full of post-it arrows and is always near my bed, as is her second book, One Soul. I am about to purchase her third. I have shared two of these poems with a TaiChi class I took, and I even brought one of the poems into therapy to read and discuss because it so expressed what I wanted to say. Honor your own journey with this poetry, worthy of reading over and over.

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Sayings of Swami Kripalu: Inspiring Quotes from a Contemporary Yoga Master Review

Sayings of Swami Kripalu: Inspiring Quotes from a Contemporary Yoga Master
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This book is timeless inspiring reading. Just the book to have on your bedside table, always delivers that important message to help us cope.

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1,001 Pearls of Yoga Wisdom: Take Your Practice Beyond the Mat Review

1,001 Pearls of Yoga Wisdom: Take Your Practice Beyond the Mat
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This book is AWESOME!!! Not only is the information in it diverse and inspiring, 1,001 Pearls of Yoga Wisdom is great to read in any situation. It can be read the whole way through, section by section, or opened to a random page for one 'pearl' paragraph at a time. It contains yoga poses, quotes, insights, visualizations, advice, mantras, mudras, and much more. I am a yoga teacher, and I've used it in my classes. The students seem to really enjoy it as well. If you like yoga, or even if you don't know much about it yet, this book is an excellent buy.

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This chunky, richly colorful volume takes yoga "beyond the mat" to reveal classic yogic wisdom pertaining to the mind,emotions, spirit, and of course, the body. Drawing from such classical texts as the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, as well as modern Indian and Western teachers, this treasure trove of yoga knowledge defines key terms and highlights important themes. It's also a helpful supplement to yoga classes, offering asanas, meditations, breathingexercises, mantras, and mudras for every occasion and skill level. Just the right size to pop into a yoga bag, here's a guide to the practical and philosophical aspects of yoga that complements any spiritual practice.

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