Beth Shaw's Yogafit [Paperback]

Beth Shaw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2000

Whether you're a fitness buff searching for a new challenge or a yoga enthusiast looking for a way to balance your exercise routine, Beth Shaw's YogaFit® will help you reach your ultimate physical potential!

Yes, physical! That's because YogaFit combines tough aerobic exercise with strength- and flexibility-building yoga to create a total body workout. Sweat—not meditation—is the key. And that's exactly what makes this cutting-edge fitness program different from all the rest.

"YogaFit is about exploring your limits, physically and mentally," says Shaw. "It's the ultimate mind working with muscle challenge. With regular YogaFit workouts, you'll not only experience increased overall health, energy, and vitality, but also a stronger and leaner body, natural weight loss, reduced stress and tension, better posture, improved concentration and a higher level of fitness."

Tens of thousands of fitness buffs have already tried the program, which was created and developed exclusively by Shaw. Now, Shaw shares her secrets with you in her new book.

Featuring more than 50 YogaFit poses, the book teaches you everything you need to know about breathing and warm-up, forward bends and backbends, twists, inversions, and cool-down. To make it as simple as possible, Shaw organizes the poses into well-rounded workout routines that mirror those offered at her signature studio in Hermosa Beach.

Workouts include Power YogaFit, YogaFit Lite, and YogaFit Classic. There's even information about how to create your own personalized routines to meet your own needs and how YogaFit can be used as a training tool for sports.

Editorial Reviews

Review

""Beth Shaw's YogaFit" represents the fusion of the ancient practice of yoga with cutting-edge exercise physiology. It is a program that will benefit everyone regardless of their athletic skill level."
Barry Sears, PhD
Author of The Zone

Review

“Beth Shaw's YogaFit represents the fusion of the ancient practice of yoga with cutting-edge exercise physiology. It is a program that will benefit everyone regardless of their athletic skill level.”

Barry Sears, PhD
Author of The Zone

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Human Kinetics (September 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0736033378
• ISBN-13: 978-0736033374
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,236,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"If you can breathe, you can practice yoga."
- Beth Shaw

Beth Shaw, E-RYT, BS, CMT, is the president and founder of YogaFit Training Systems Inc. The leader in mind-body education, YogaFit has trained more than 200,000 fitness instructors on six continents.

Beth Shaw was born and raised in New York City, Shaw never planned on becoming a yoga instructor, however in her last year of study at Long Island University, she had a psychic flash during a yoga pose. The message received was that she was destined to be in the health and fitness industry, and that she would be very successful. She describes the moment as if it were yesterday. "I was doing a standing forward fold in the stretch room of the health club, and this message came to me in a bright white light... like the sky parted and I received this incredible insight. It was a life-changing moment," Shaw recalls.

After graduating with a B.S. in Marketing from Long Island University, Shaw headed west and began seriously studying yoga and earning certifications in fitness, Hatha yoga and yoga therapy. In 1993, she began teaching yoga and quickly discovered that traditional methods didn't meet the needs of the fitness club clientele. YogaFit® was born. Again, on a bike ride in early 1994, Shaw got another message as the name "YogaFit" spontaneously came to her in a vision.

Now Shaw is an internationally known fitness expert and the author of Beth Shaw's YogaFit (Human Kinetics, 2009, $17.95) and the publisher of Angles magazine, which is distributed to yoga fitness enthusiasts and instructors. Shaw and her company have been showcased in numerous fitness magazines as well as Oprah's O magazine, Time, More, Entrepreneur, Yoga Journal, Glamour, Self and USA Today. She has also been featured on CNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS, E Style, Channel, Showtime, and Donny Deutsch's Big Idea.

Ms. Shaw is the innovative educator, entrepreneur, and visionary responsible for YogaFit as well as YogaButt, YogaStrength, YogaCore, YogaLean, and countless other yoga fitness combinations. She has more than 30 DVD's and CD's on the market and is widely recognized as the premier yoga fitness trainer in the industry.

She is also known for her community service initiatives. As an animal rights activist, Shaw serves on the National Council for the Humane Society and is involved in Animal Alliance, Downtown Dog Rescue and supports Spay/Neuter initiatives. Her nonprofit organization, Visionary Women in Fitness, awards scholarships and grants women in need. She is responsible for over one million hours of Community Service given by over 50,000 Instructors worldwide. She lives in Beverly Hills, California.

For more information on Beth Shaw and Yogafit® please visit www.yogafit.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Emphasis on the postures, but inadequate explanations, June 10, 2004

By 

dnk "dnkboston" (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Beth Shaw's Yogafit (Paperback)

As someone who has been practicing yoga for years and teaching for almost two years, I can sympathize with a lot of the issues that Shaw surfaces in her book. In a nutshell, many people who are curious about yoga and want to take advantage of its physical benefits are either intimidated or turned off by what they perceive to be the rest of the "yoga lifestyle" and feel as if Yoga with a capital Y is an all-or-nothing proposition. To the extent that Shaw's book opens the door for those people, I applaud her. I also find her statement that she feels she has a mission to contribute to society by sharing yoga admirable.

However, I feel like she unnecessarily insults "traditional yoga" several times in the course of the book. For instance, she writes in her preface, "What separates YogaFit from other forms of yoga is that YogaFit speaks directly and without pretensiousness to everyone, but especially to the needs of amateur and professional athletes." And later in the same paragraph, "...YogaFit holds the answers to all of these [sports-training] problems without boring you to death." Reading these words, I can't help but get the impression that Shaw is convinced that she is the only one who can deliver the goods to athletes and fitness enthusiasts; Baron Baptiste will be interested to hear that.

One of the other notable aspects of the book is that Shaw can't seem to decide whether YogaFit is a form of yoga or something else altogether. She refers to it as an accessible, demystified form of yoga, then later has a full page chart contrasting the difference between YogaFit and yoga. Curious, since she went to great pains several years ago to have her training program recognized by Yoga Alliance, a registering body of yoga instructors and schools.

The most glaring inconsistency presented by the book is that while Shaw's focus is clearly on the postures, her instructions are lacking. While I don't think one needs to spend paragraphs describing how to enter and hold a pose, some things are worth mentioning, like hip placement in the warriors and not locking your elbows in postures such as Tabletop and Upward Dog. Finally, the instructions that she gives for some of the sequences are difficult to understand in some places, and she appears to work sides unevenly (for example, in the YogaFit Classic sequence, you're doing more Pyramids on one side than another).

Having said all of that, I do like the postures that she chose- most of them are basic and appropriate enough for both beginners and more advanced students.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yoga for real people, February 20, 2001

By 

N. Norman "got2readit" (Fuquay-Varina, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beth Shaw's Yogafit (Paperback)

A few years ago, I was at my local gym when I noticed a group of people practicing yoga on the aerobics floor. I wandered over and asked what they were doing, and Beth Shaw looked up at me and said, "I am teaching these people how to instruct Yogafit classes Do you want to join us?" I'm not a fitness proffessional, but It looked like fun. I filled an empty space in the class, and for the next two days I was emmersed in Yogafit. Initially, I worried about not being as "in shape" as everyone there, but Beth explained that everyone regardless of fitness level, or age could benifit from Yogafit. She was right. It was a great workout and for the first time in years, my back stopped hurting. I had been seeing a chiropractor for low back pain for years, but I didn't go back after my Yogafit weekend.

I didn't end up teaching Yoga, but I assist at a local martial arts academy and use many of the stretches and poses to warm up the class. Yogafit is wonderful for preparing your body for higher impact activities. When I saw Beth Shaw's book in the store, I bought it immediately even though I already have her training materials. The photos are great and she explains the poses really well. It is a great tool. Beth Shaw is the real deal and Yogofit is an awesome way to take care of yourself.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YogaFit Book 2nd Edition, January 17, 2009

By 

C. C. Kub "YoginiPhysicalTherapist" (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beth Shaw's Yogafit - 2nd Edition (Paperback)

Beth's Shaw's YogaFit 2nd edition is a refreshing guide to yoga for the masses. I truly enjoyed the clear cut and comprehensive way she helps the reader learn how to incorporate all the aspects of the yoga lifestyle into their practice. This book will speak to the new yoga practitioner, clearly, but also is a great tool for the experienced practitioner and yoga teacher. The sequences for various sports are unique and effective. There is also an introduction to other aspects of yoga practice, from nutrition, to meditation, yoga philosophy and the chakras. This book uses exercise science and the ancient teachings of yoga as its foundation.