Customer Reviews

Light on Pranayama: The Yogic Art of Breathing

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

 

 

There are not many sources for the westerner who wishes to explore the depths of pranayama.This book is an exhaustive look into the art of breathing.It is complete,it is detailed and technical and it comes from an acknowledged guru.It is more than any other "modern" guru or yoga organization has put out in book form about the subject.For anyone who wishes to investigate and practice pranayama this is the classic.

I teach meditation and I am educated in biology, biochemistry and psychology. I am also a student of world religions and a yoga practioner. During my graduate school years, I was also a Teaching Fellow in Physiology and I teach workshops on pranayama and biofeedback. Therefore, I think my opinion has some weight in this arena although I realize there are more serious yoga practioners who have more in-depth knowledge than me. My purpose in sharing this information is to provide context from my review. I hope this is useful.

This book is incredibly detailed and goes deeply into respiratory physiology, muscles, practices and the details of pranayama practice. There are clear explanations, however, many people may find them to technical without a biology background or the desire to take this information in slowly.

There are many good diagrams and photos in the book that any practitioner will find helpful. In some cases, they are unique in the yoga literature in some way and I can't imagine not having this book on your shelf if you are serious about the practice of pranayama.

While this is not the most colorful or modern looking text, it certainly packs a lot of information into a small space. It is also written by someone who has travelled this road and understands it both technically and from the inside. In short, it is an authoratative text on this subject.

A lighter book along the same lines which I have also read is the Science of Breath. For beginners, this title might be more appropriate. However, any practioner at any level will eventually want to own this book.

In my humble opinion, BKS Iyengar is the highest authority on Yoga of these days. You may not agree with me, no problem, but just open this book and you'll see that I might be right. Brilliant and clear explanation of Pranayama, step by step genuine method,theoretical background and a whole lot more, not even speaking about the illustrations. To be absolutly frank, this book alone is better than a semi-learned instructor, which are abundant here in the West. This book WILL change you! No gibberish of Hinduism, pure essense of Yoga!

This book deals with a very detailed and in depth description of pranayama practice. It is an invaluable document for those who are interested in learning more about yogic breathing practice. In this edition the type is really small (7pts) which is tiring to read.

No other book comes even close to this one on explanations. If one wants to know the nitty gritties of doing Pranayama. This is the book. Period!!

Being a relatively new yogi, I found this book to be extremely helpful. It'll be nice to read some other books on the subject eventually, but this book had enough detail to satisfy me for the first year of beginning practice. It was required reading for the yoga teacher training and it made a nice addition to the lessons that we received. Even though pranayama is traditionally taught one on one, having written material to refer to was very helpful. After watching BKS Iyengar on youtube, what was described in the book and what he did on video were very different things. Much like anytime you read something and the see it.

I think you must think of this book as almost like a cook book. Just because you read the recipe, doesn't mean you truly know what the food is supposed to taste like. The recipe book helps, but it isn't a true representation.

This book is a treasure to me. It teaches a safe means of progressing through all of the variations of pranayamas. If all of the advice is taken, there will be no problems in this area of your personal practice.

This is only one part of the yogic path, though. The rest needs to be in place for this to be effective. For that I rely on Yogani's Advanced Yoga Practices book. It gives step by step, safe instructions utilizing the techniques of the Gheranda Samhita, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, as well as other great works. I highly recommend it to any serious yoga student.

I am so glad to have found "Light on Pranayama". I am somewhat of a beginner to the serious practice I've undertaken, but with this book I feel confident that I will succeed. Thank you BKS Iyengar.

This classics together with "Light on Yoga" from the guru need no introduction. Essential guide to anyone studying pranayama and great reference for practitioners of other life-force disciplines (like Taoist Yoga that use the word chi instead of prana).

This book, however, has nothing to do with DIY breathing exercise books (like the popular "The Little Book of Yoga Breathing: Pranayama Made Easy"). The DIY books essentially are books on how to expand and increase the capacity of your lungs so that you are able to breath deeply and calmly (BTW, these are all good side-effect of the real-stuff). These DIY books are certainly useful to promote good lungs, which benefits however can also be have simply by putting on your Rockport (no commercial intended) and to do some fitness walking at your nearby mall. So, if the DIY books are reference books for making toy-cars, the book on hand is a (if not THE) instruction book for making a Ferrari. For folks looking for the real-stuff, below are some guidelines to navigate you through this highly complex book.

Before starting pranayama, one has to learn the asanas, as the guru said, to tamper the body so that prana can flow and be received. More specifically, some essential bandhas in pranayama are learned through the asanas, for example "(jalandhara Banda) is mastered while performing sarvangasana and its cycle, during which the sternum is kept pressed against the chin." (chapter 13). And it is essential to perfect the bandhas for important safety reasons, for example, failure to lock the chin to the sternum in a relaxed manner (hence has to be practiced in sarvangasana), the prana (or chi, to use a Taoist term) will rush to the head causing all sorts of problem, not to mention the famous or infamous side-effect of some folks reaching kundalini awakening.

What is the ultimate objective of practising pranyama? The guru says through pranayama a yogi shall arouse the latent energy of the kundalini and made it ascend the main spinal channel, the susumna piercing the chakras right up to the sahasrara in the head. In short, kundalini awakening in a controlled and safe manner.

Technique-wise this book is exhaustive and with warning and hints in appropriate places to guide a practitioner through. Here, we can also compare this book with the many DIY books. True pranayama is to use outside-breathing (lung breathing) to drive inner-breathing (generation and movement of prana to serve certain objectives). Nose (nostril) blocking is an important technique of pranayama practice, a yogi will use different blocking to facilitate his mind to drive the (inner) prana to certain defined channels (e.g. "In surya bhedana pranayama all inhalations are done through the right nostril and all exhalations through the left. Prana energy in all inhalations is channelled through the pingala or surya nadi and in all exhalations throught the ida or chandra nadi" chapter 27). In DIY books, prana is not activated, it will be quite futile to to inhale or exhale through one nostril because all air goes through the same lungs irrespective of which nostril it comes from!

As the guru said pranayama cannot and should not be learned through reading a book. This book therefore is meant for reference and guidance. It is however an essential buy for any serious practitioner who mostly like will need to refer to the book for further study or enlightenment from time to time in his or her practice.

As far as I know, it is the only work that gives such complete instructions for this very important aspect of yoga. It deserves more attention.

What an excellent book on the art of pranayama, a skill which requires respect and conscienciousness. I have read the "Light on Yoga," another book yogis should not be without. Both books offer an avenue into the vast Hindu pantheon. To the reviewer who thinks Hinduism is gibberish, you are truly missing the point of yoga. Yoga and Hinduism cannot be separated. If you want a practice devoid of sprituality do pilates or aerobics. Yoga is designed to prepare the body for a spiritual practice, whether you want it or not.