Customer Reviews

15 Minute Yoga

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although I usually practice ashtanga yoga, I find this book perfect for the occasions when I'm pushed for time or too tired to face sun salutations, but don't want to miss out on at least some practice. I find the sequence of small pictures to illustrate each routine, similar to those in David Swenson's book, particularly convenient. It might not be ideal for a beginner, but I would definitely recommend it for someone already familiar with yoga who is looking for some short practices.

This book is a good read for those interested in yoga and its practices and postures are intelligently organised and described in excellent detail. It beats the majority of yoga books out there as it as been "dumbed down" less than most.

There is a good section on meditation, breaking the process down into eight simple steps for entering and coming out of meditation.

It breaks down postures into a number of practices, including the "energising practice", the "grounding practice", the "opening practice", the "rejuvenating practice". Devereux indicates when each might be an appropriate practice (e.g. the energising or grounding practice first thing in the morning).

Unfortunately, of these practices I find I can only really do the "energising" and "grounding" practices. The others include postures I can not nearly achieve, judging by the photographs.

That said the author recommends the reader to gradually create practices from based on intuition, rather than follow the practices religiously.

In summary this book is perhaps suitable for those who have some prior experience of yoga and are looking for some short practices. But some of the postures do require a high level of flexibility.

As a beginner at yoga, and a person who has a long way to go on her flexibility, I can say that I have found this book to be helpful. I have used it in addition to a class I'm taking. I think that the first section of the book, an overview of yoga, is extremely informative and fun to read. Also, it's an attractive book, with glossy pages and a bold font. I do not think it is suitable for a beginner as the ONLY book. A video, or ideally, a teacher, is necessary to benifit from this book.

I only gave this book 4 stars because I thought that the written descriptions of the postures could be more clear and less abstract. I also felt that the author should have included more modifications of poses for us less-flexible folks.

author communicates the spirit, attitude, purpose, philosphy and techniques of yoga. I have read several yoga books and this is by far my favorite. The cover and title make it look suitable for a supermarket check out stand but I assure you this is a very serious and insightful work. That cover-title thing is distressing. It's like the publisher never read the book.

Perhaps the title misled me (and certainly the cover on an earlier edition which pictures a woman doing upward facing dog pose--which is not even mentioned in the book), but this book was a real disappointment. Much of the text (granted, I read it briefly) seemed rather "cold" and the illustrations as well. It is NOT for beginners as many of the poses are rather difficult, and the routines do not really have a flow to them. Definitely not a "user-friendly" introduction to yoga!