Boomer Yoga: Energizing the Years Ahead for Men & Women [Paperback]

Beryl Bender Birch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 27, 2009

Clearly and precisely, Boomer Yoga shows both experienced and novice yoga practitioners how to adapt yoga techniques to their age, lifestyle, and physical health. Weaving together personal experience, practical techniques, and philosophy, the illustrious Beryl Bender Birch shows how to take charge of change and create a yoga plan that works for a maturing population. She discusses the benefits of creating a yoga practice that involves a total way of being and reveals how to maintain a healthy yoga routine.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Years ago, and I don t know why, I took a yoga class. Maybe I was feeling a bit uptight, a little brittle, in need of some flexibility. If only I could put my leg behind my neck everything would be better. It wasn't. The problem was my class was right after work, across town, and taught by a woman who ran her studio like a drill sergeant,which I thought kind of defeated the whole purpose. I kept wanting to tell her to relax, which was what she should have been telling me. I had to rush to get there, was almost always late, and it took me the whole hour just to calm down. People were rolling up their mats and heading home by the time I was getting my breathing under control. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. I always left exhausted and soon became a yoga dropout. A loser in the lotus position. But now, with the world, my body and my 401(k) all crumbling, I'm thinking about returning to the mat. I read the other day that more and more of us are. Makes more sense than escaping to some mindless movie, which millions of Americans also are doing these days. The benefits of yoga, at least, stay with you long after the credits roll. Or at least I m told. As if some sort of sign from above, a yoga book even landed on my desk just this week. Boomer Yoga: Energizing the Years Ahead for Men & Women comes out this month. It's from Beryl Bender Birch, author of the best-selling Power Yoga. Her timing couldn t be better. Birch says the book is for those 78 million of us of a certain age -dare I say middle?- and it takes us through the eight yoga steps, beginning with the postures (asana) and ending with meditation (dhyana). I hardly got into position, let alone a meditative state, during my first futile foray into the world of seven chakras. Maybe things will go better this time. Maybe I ll even be able to breathe. I'm cautiously optimistic. You certainly have to be impressed by Birch's optimism. She promises if we do an easy 40 minutes of yoga a day, three or four days a week, we'll quickly move toward happiness and contentment. That's less time than happy hour takes and sounds like a better investment than anything being offered on Wall Street these days. Birch does say a few odd things, though. It's in the doing that the change happens, for instance. Where it takes you is where it takes you is another. They sound akin to things happen and it is what it is. But at this point I'm willing to take the leap. That is, if leaps are taken in yoga. I'll let you know. USA Today - March 11, 2009 Life » Books Final Word: Try yoga while we re all waiting to exhale --Final Word by Craig Wilson, USA Today - March 11, 2009

About the Author

Beryl Bender Birch is Director of The Hard & The Soft Astanga Yoga Institute (since 1981). She is one of the most highly regarded and well-known yoga authorities in the United States. Best known for bringing yoga into mainstream American society as well as the traditional athletic community, Beryl has taught Power Yoga to tens of thousands of athletes. Beryl was the Wellness Director and Yoga Teacher-in-Residence of the New York Road Runners Club from 1981 - 2004. She has been featured in nearly every national publication.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Sellers Publishing; 1 edition (March 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141620542X
• ISBN-13: 978-1416205425
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #527,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A down to earth and practical guide to yoga for boomers, March 24, 2009

By 

P. Schulte (St Louis, Missouri) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boomer Yoga: Energizing the Years Ahead for Men & Women (Paperback)

What a wonderful book..I found myself laughing out loud at some of Ms Birch's stories in the book. She is honest and inspiring. I loved the "real yoga models" instead of the cover girl types you typically see in yoga books. I am a yoga teacher and find myself teaching to lots of "boomers" these days and will use the sequence of poses and tips from Beryl's book to help my students.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for the aging newbie and the veteran, December 16, 2009

By 

L. Galloway "Starshine" (Hawaii, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boomer Yoga: Energizing the Years Ahead for Men & Women (Paperback)

A serious accident 3 years ago stopped my asana practice (after 30 years); healing took longer and all attempts to 'get back' into a regular practice kept falling flat. This book is just what so many of us need, injured, aging or looking for more, but not really knowing what we want more of. Ms. Bender Burch introduces yoga thoughtfully and thoroughly. From asana to meditation, its all here in an approachable and intelligent presentation. All postures are presented with detailed instructions, guidelines for modifications, etc. and photos, helping those with less than flexible bodies (but flexible minds) engage in a rewarding practice from the get-go. I highly recommend this book for anyone who thinks they are too old, too inflexible or too achey, sick, injured, etc. to start yoga or those that need to re-evaluate their practice and let it evolve further. This would make a great gift for any boomer that has an interest in yoga but thinks it's too late or that yoga is just about pretzel poses.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reaches all of us over a certain age, September 29, 2009

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Boomer Yoga: Energizing the Years Ahead for Men & Women (Paperback)

I met Beryl at the yoga journal conference last year and found her to be warm and real. When I saw this book, I bought it instantly and have not been disappointed. I have used it as a reference many timesin my personal practice and in my teaching.