The Pocket Idiot's Guide to 108 Yoga Poses [Mass Market Paperback]

Ami Jayaprada Hirschstein RYT (Author), Hrana Janto (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: The Pocket Idiot's Guide | Publication Date: May 2, 2006

Yoga can be practiced anywhere, but no one wants to lug around a full-sized, soup-to-nuts book. The solution: a book of poses and a few routines to enable one to practice at work, on a business trip, or while vacationing.

• Includes more than 108 illustrated yoga poses for home, office, and travel, with concise explanations for what each pose achieves
• In India, 108 is considered a sacred number
• Features routines that utilize the poses
• ABC News reports that 16.5 million Americans practice yoga—an increase of 43% since 2002
• Medical practitioners are now using yoga as a therapeutic tool to deal with carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive stress injuries

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ami Jayaprada Hirschstein, RYT, is a certified Anusara Yoga teacher, a certifi ed Kripalu Yoga instructor, a certified Phoenix Rising Yoga therapist, an adjunct faculty member at SUNY Ulster, and co-director of Jai Ma Yoga Center.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Alpha (May 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592574939
• ISBN-13: 978-1592574933
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take this along on your next trip, June 19, 2006

By 

H. Grove "Errant Dreams Reviews" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Pocket Idiot's Guide to 108 Yoga Poses (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is not intended as an instructional book for beginners, nor as your sole source of yoga instruction. It is meant as a reference guide for those who are already studying yoga in some capacity (you'll find it useful whether you're taking your first class or your twentieth) and who would like a guide to the poses, or asanas, for use when they aren't at class and don't have an instructor to guide them. This little book is also perfect for taking along to the office or on a trip.

While yoga is an extremely gentle form of exercise, doing it wrong (like any exercise) can be dangerous. So if you want to continue your practice away from home or class, it can be invaluable to have a guide to remind you of how exactly to do it. Also, with such a guide you won't be limited to the five or ten poses you can most easily remember. This book has a total of 108, and includes the Sun Salutation and several practices (series of poses to use as a single workout).

Each chapter (chapters are divided by type of pose, such as inverted poses or backbends) starts off with general alignment instructions and cautions; be certain to read these even if you're sure you know what you're doing. Additional cautions are sometimes included in small boxes next to individual poses. This to me is always a sign of a good yoga instructor who is mindful of the possible difficulties and medical issues of her charges.

This book gets into some very difficult poses, which makes it a reference you'll be able to use throughout your yoga experience. I do wish it had included more indication of which poses were more advanced and should wait until later, although if you assume that you should not practice any pose in this book until you've done it at least once in a class, then you'll be fine--and again, since this book is meant as a companion and reference guide, that would be appropriate.

One particularly useful aspect to this book is that it includes "preparation" poses for some of the more difficult postures, which can also be used as substitution poses if you don't yet possess the physical capability to perform a posture.

Despite some very minor imperfections (I prefer photos to drawings, although these are good drawings), this book serves as an excellent reference work. It's perfect for those who are at any stage of their yoga practice, and want a simple guide to the asanas to take with them wherever they might need it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tiny, but chock-full!, September 27, 2006

By 

LZ "LZ" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pocket Idiot's Guide to 108 Yoga Poses (Mass Market Paperback)

I've found this very useful: for travel, for a quick reminder of a pose, for inspiration. In addition to being a great How-To, it gives loads of information that I haven't gotten in classes, including wonderful explanations for physical and inner effects of, and safety precautions for, poses.

The "Yoga Speak" and "Be Mindful" sidebars are wonderful bite-sized bits of information. And the illustrations are the clearest, most elegant I've ever seen!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book !, October 1, 2009

By 

Elder Statesman Doctor "doctordavid911" (KS, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Pocket Idiot's Guide to 108 Yoga Poses (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was a real surprise and delight to me. I figured it would just be a quick review / summary of the most basic asanas in yoga. It turns out to not only be that but to also have excellent drawings showing the postures, excellent descriptions of the postures, and a review of the basics that most yoga styles do not teach you. Namely, the rules of bodily mechanics taught to Osteopathic Physicians and used to heal people with Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, and which are integrated into the style of yoga called Anusara Yoga, are taught in this book. This of course makes this one of the best possible yoga books out there! And probably one of the cheapest also due to its small size. Buy it! Read It, Enjoy It!