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yoga in the city of York

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"Stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are the creator of your own destiny. All the strength and succor you want is within yourselves. Therefore, make your own future". -Vivekananda

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RECOMMENDED BOOKS FOR HOME PRACTICE

Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual: An Illustrated Guide to Personal Practice.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description
This is the most user-friendly yoga book available! It contains the entire Primary and Intermediate series of Ashtanga Yoga with three options for every asana. It is spiral bound to easily remain open while practicing. It contains over 650 photos with clear instructions and commentary. It is a great book for all levels of practitioners to enjoy and teachers will find it to be an invaluable tool for teaching their students.

John Scott's Ashtanga Yoga

Editorial Reviews

Book Description
John Scott's Ashtanga Yoga draws on his expertise as a teacher of this most energetic form of yoga. An easy-to-use guide, it features color photographs and a series of step-by-step exercise sessions -- starting with a simple sequence designed for beginners that, once mastered, provides the foundation for moving to the next cycle.

John Scott is the yoga teacher who helped Madonna sculpt her body to its high level of fitness and toned physique. He is also personal yoga teacher to Sting and Trudi Styler. With this book, Scott introduces the principles of ashtanga yoga to a wider audience. Ashtanga is one of the more dynamic forms of yoga, as powerful an exercise as doing an aerobic class. However, the benefits go far deeper than a fitter body. Ashtanga yoga is a movement meditation, where the breath is the key to focusing the mind, balancing the emotions and strengthening the spirit, while toning the muscles and building stamina. Yoga is also a philosophy and discipline for developing patience, inner strength and heightened concentration. Ashtanga literally means "eight stages" - abstinence, observance, posture, breath control, sense withdrawal, concentration, meditation and contemplation. The book's sequence of practice sessions provides the foundations which should allow the practitioner to achieve his or her physical and psychological peak. It starts with a simple sequence for beginners, moving on to breath-synchronized "asanas" that massage inner organs to purify the body. The structured course develops the strength, stamina and flexibility, which should provide progressively deeper therapeutic benefits.

Power Yoga: The Total Strength and Flexibility Workout

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Tens of thousands of athletes know Beryl Bender Birch, Wellness Director for the New York Road Runners Club, as the teacher who showed them that yoga could protect them from injuries and improve their athletic performance. In Power Yoga, the first book on astanga yoga, a unique form of hatha yoga designed to build strength and stamina, Birch brings the ancient spiritual and physical practice to the West. Through anecdotes, detailed instructions, and hundreds of illustrations, Birch provides a total workout plan that's perfect for elite athletes, weekend warriors, and people just starting a fitness program. The Power Yoga workout combines dynamic breathing with a series of strong, flowing movements that create a high-heat, high-energy workout. "It (Power Yoga) will work on your body, your mind, your whole self," says Birch. The end result is a stronger, more flexible body; increased endurance, discipline, and self-awareness; and better overall health and fitness. -- Ellen Albertson

From Publishers Weekly
This book is intended for people who seek or possess a vigorous, disciplined approach to physical conditioning and mind-body integration. Birch, wellness director and yoga teacher-in-residence of the New York Road Runners Club, is an athlete and a teacher of athletes. "Sports," she says, "don't get us into shape. In fact, sports get us out of shape." Birch teaches astanga yoga, a rigorous series of positions that flow into one another in a prescribed order, linked by breath and awareness; the author claims that athletes can counteract, heal and prevent injury, tightness and misalignment through committed astanga yoga practice. Here she also introduces the philosophy of yoga to newcomers. She has a light touch, and treats us to autobiographical narrative, as well. Birch offers detailed cautions and adaptations for various levels of strength and flexibility. Both she and the yoga tradition speak to the importance of being yourself. Nonetheless, some readers may find Power Yoga narrowly prescriptive or severe. However, Birch's credibility supports her passionate advocacy. This is an important book for the yoga community, as well: a thoughtful exposition of one of several major yoga movements that have developed from the work of Krishnamacharya, one of this century's great yogis. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

THE OFFICIAL YOGA PROGRAM OF THE NEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS CLUB

Power Yoga is a unique combination of dynamic breathing and strong, flowing movement, which creates a high-heat, high-energy workout. Unlike any other yoga program, Power Yoga is a choreographed sequence of postures that flow into one another, building strength, unwinding tight joints, and loosening muscles. Beautiful photographs and clear instructions guide you through this effective and popular routine.

Based on the classical and original yoga system called astanga, Power Yoga is a complete mind and body workout that develops concentration and reduces stress. With its focus on mindful breathing and body heat, Power Yoga goes beyond the relaxation benefits of traditional yoga to offer a route to health and fitness that athletes of all levels will embrace.

About the Author
Beryl Bender Birch is the Wellness Director and Yoga Teacher-in-Residence of the New York Road Runners Club. She is one of the most highly regarded and well-known teachers in the United States, and one of the few qualified teachers of the astanga yoga method. Best known for bringing yoga into not only mainstream American society but the traditional athletic community as well, Beryl brings to you with Power Yoga the unique and noted practice that she has taught to tens of thousands of athletes.