Happy Yoga: 7 Reasons Why There’s Nothing to Worry About
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Loading ...Happy Yoga: 7 Reasons Why There’s Nothing to Worry About
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. Det
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Yoga: Mastering the Secrets of Matter and the Universe
Based on original Sanskrit sources, this book gives an authentic account of the methods of yoga in its different forms, including the challenging “left-hand” paths, as well as practices best suited to Western students.
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O. Brown "Ms. O. Khannah-Brown" Says: October 27th, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Read this book and get happy…really!,
****
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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|Rebecca Besbris "Homeschooling mom, avid read... Says: October 27th, 2011 at 6:49 pm
There really is nothing to worry about!,
I discovered Steve Ross on the Oxygen network’s morning yoga program, “Inhale.” I had been cruising along with my light and lovely Suzanne Deason, the strong and gentle Rodney Yee, and the soothing tones of Patricia Walden–all happy members of my video and DVD yoga collection. While surfing through the TiVo listings one day, I came across Steve’s yoga program, and my life hasn’t been the same since.How happy I was to find Steve’s book, Happy Yoga: 7 Reasons Why There’s Nothing to Worry About! I happened across it before going on a plane trip, and practically devoured the whole book on the to and from flights, using the yoga sequences listed in the book while on the ground. This book is not a yoga how-to manual–it’s a yoga why-to manual. Yes, the poses are there, but this is not a book about getting the poses just so. The yoga Steve shows you is the essence of yoga, the essence of Self, and the finding of joy.The book gives you just what it says: seven reasons why there’s nothing to worry about. The chapter on food alone makes the book worth buying, even if you never decide to be a raw foodie vegan (I’m not, but it sure was great, enlightening reading). In each chapter, Steve connects to yogic wisdom, real-world examples, and just plain common sense to give you a true guide to living a yogi’s life, even in the hustle and bustle of 21st century America. As he says, anyone can be a deeply connected yogi in a cave in India. It takes talent to do it in the midst of our every day lives.Steve Ross is an irreverent yoga instructor and life guide–just what the “yoga industry” needs, IMO. Try the book, do the Inner Yoga exercises, and watch your life come more into focus. And don’t forget to try the playlist selections conveniently provided at the end of each chapter. You’ll never do yoga to New Age chanting CDs again!
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|Anonymous Says: October 27th, 2011 at 6:58 pm
Just Plain Happy,
I’ve been reading this book for the past 3 weeks along with practicing yoga using Steve’s program and I do feel calmer and more at peace, as well as stronger and more comfortable in my body.
The book features lessons followed by suggested exercises (mental as well as physical) that can guide you on your journey. I’ve been to many yoga classes and found that they can be indimitading and pretentious to newcomers. This book explains the principles of yoga in a way that beginners can understand and feel in sync when practicing with more experienced others.
Every lesson had has inspired me – I can already tell that this will be a book that I pick up time & again.
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|William Courson "William Courson" Says: October 27th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
One of the best accounts of yoga written in English …,
Alain Daniélou (1907-1994) spent nearly two decades immersed in the traditional society of India. Using only the Sanskrit and Hindi languages he had mastered to fluency, he studied music, philosophy and yoga with eminent scholars and practitioners, ultimately becoming a professor at Benares Hindu University and director of its College of Indian Music. He was in the course of his sojourn in India duly initiated into an esoteric lineage of Shaivism – to which he was an enthusiastic convert – which gave him unimpeded access to authentic texts transmitted through the oral tradition alone for countless generations, an access unique for a Westerner. He was the author of more than thirty books on the religion, history, society, culture and arts of India and while calling Alain Danielou one of the twentieth century’s greatest Orientalists says says something about the man, it falls far short of encompassing the breadth and depth of his knowledge and vision.
Based on original Sanskrit sources, “Yoga: Mastering the Secrets of Matter and the Universe” gives an authentic account of the scope and methods of yoga in its different forms, including the challenging “left-hand” paths, as well as practices best suited to Western students.
Hatha yoga is the name given to the technical practices and disciplines by which the body and the vital energies can be brought under control. Far from being a simple system for the promotion of physical fitness, yoga is a complete system of self-development, embracing the body, mind, spirit and beyond. It is exhaustive in its elaboration, owing this to meticulous research into the ancient texts such as the Upanishads. On the macrocosmic level of conception, yoga is alchemy, pure if not simple: that is, the means by which matter can be trained to run in harness controlled by the will of the practitioner via the cultivation of “Siddhis,” or mental powers of special potency and efficacy.
First published in 1949 under the title “Yoga: The Method of Reintegration,” this is one of the first detailed texts that outlines the purpose and practice of all aspects of yoga for the Western reader. “Yoga: Mastering the Secrets of Matter and the Universe” brings this very ancient and important science to a level that is easier for the Westerner who has not grown up in the presence of the thinking that characterizes yoga’s practice to understand. Translations of original Sanskrit texts, a bibliography, and useful illustrations are included in the book which further clarify its subject.
This small volume (192 pages) is arranged into an introduction and three main sections with appendices that provide superlative references. The Introduction leads into the historical and philosophical underpinnings and practical applications of yoga. This is not the yoga that Westerners tend to substitute for jogging or visits to the gym, but the fruit of ancient knowledge gleaned from the Vedas and their expositors. Danielou provides a sketch of the cosmology of the ages, or Yugas, and a detailed explanation of the current age – the Kali Yuga, or the “Age of Conflicts.” Yoga – as it is understood by its revelators and by the author – is that which allows the individual to comprehend and control his being and his world – a special knowledge required in this current age.
The book’s first part deals with the aims and objectives of Hatha Yoga, the yoga most familiar to the West.. There are eight steps in its goal of mastering the physical body and these include the postures (asanas), muscular contractions (bandhas), and gestures (mudras). The critically important techniques of breathing (pranayama) are described here as well as acts of purification (kriyas). Advanced steps include withdrawal of sensory awareness from external stimuli, intensely focused concentration, contemplation and identification. Also described are the other main methods of yoga including Raja Yoga, Mantra Yoga in an especially excellent chapter (“Reintegration through Hermetic Formulae”), Laya Yoga and Shiva Yoga. These all have the same general introductory steps and practices, but diverge into distinctiveness in their later, more advanced practices.
Part Two explains forms of yoga apart from hatha yoga that also promote mastery and integration: karma yoga is integration through action (i.e., right action without thought of merit as outlined in the Bhagavad Gita), jnana yoga (integration through knowledge, study and reflection), and bhakti yoga (integration through loving devotion). These different forms of yoga (along with many others) reveal that even in the remotest past, the goal of self-development and mastery was unity with the absolute, as reflected in the concept of Satchitananda (Sat-chit-ananda, Being-Consciousness-Bliss). The diverse forms of yoga provide the aspirant of any given temperament a path that suits her or him.
Part Three…
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|maya lalvani Says: October 27th, 2011 at 7:49 pm
in depth and clear introduction into all aspects of yoga,
Brings this very ancient and important subject to a level that is easier to understand. The author has an in depth knowledge of all things related to the traditions of India.
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