Customer Reviews

The Runner's Yoga Book: A Balanced Approach to Fitness

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Other books on Hatha Yoga in the Iyengar style have prettier pictures, but this one is extraordinary in describing the essential poses clearly and precisely, with careful instructions on how to enter and maintain the pose, and with suggestions on how to modify the poses in the beginning, before you are flexible and strong enough to perform them in the ideal form. It also outlines suggestions for anyone pursuing other sports besides running, but that is a bonus.

I have gone overboard on buying instructional books about Iyengar yoga, since I live in a small town with no easy access to trained teachers, but this is the single best one I have (until I get to the point in a few years when I can understand Light on Yoga). Other supplementary resources I have found valuable are The New Yoga for People over 50 (by S. Francina - and for beginners of any age), and the Yoga Journal videotapes, especially the ones with Patricia Walden.

Jean Couch gets you off of the mat and into the tight spaces of your body in a way that really works. This book was first published in 1979 and later revised in 1990 to incorporate additional insights Ms Couch had gathered after practicing Iyengar yoga for another decade. I found the informaton timeless and believe the book to be useful for all active people, not just runners. As a serious practitioner and a teacher of yoga, this book has become an important reference guide to help me release the tightness in my and my students' bodies in a safe and effective way. I highly recommend it to students of all levels as a must have for their yoga reference library.

an excellent introduction to yoga asanas... i always find myself going back to this book when i am trying a new pose and want to learn the basics of the pose... a must for anyone who has a yoga library...

This is a must book for all runners who seek an understanding of safe, quality running. The information is very easy to understand and use. The key here is "use", and that is just what I did. I am very happy with the results and I share this book with all my runner friends. If you run regularly, GET this book. It has helped me improve and get more joy from running.

After reading this book I was spiritually up-lifted.I improve my timre for the 5k by 6 seconds.I owe it to this book.It has changed the way at which I look at running.

This book gave me the pragmatic and necessary anatomical reasoning behind yoga and its uses in training for; not only running, but other sports as well. As a yoga instructor, this is a great resource.

Great guide to Iyengar style and prevention plus therapeutical in its use. Before and after the practice it suggests , you'll find yourself running better and better... and then you know you can always get back to your mat! TITE, Brescia, Italy , an Iyengar Yoga Instructor and...runner!www.tite.it

When I ordered this book, I thought I would be getting a concise and practical guide to yoga for general fitness. The opposite turned out to be the case. Hatha yoga is not rocket science. It's timeless appeal lies in it's simplicity, beauty, and effectiveness. Runners Yoga slices, dices, and analyzes hatha yoga down to the smallest bit, but completely misses the bigger picture. Think of cutting the Mona Lisa up on a perfect grid of 1" squares and spending a page analyzing each as a separate unit. Yoga is about unifying the body and should be presented in a unified way. I'm not some idealist, but from a purely pragmatic perspective, this book takes forever to get you to square one, if you don't quit first. One of the more basic yoga poses is the Sun Salutation- if you can run 100 yards you can do this. This book takes 160 out of 200 excessively detailed pages to get there. If you know nothing about yoga and want to approach it in a straight forward and effective manner, get Integral Hatha Yoga by Satchidananda, the 1970 classic that is unsurpassed in clarity, completeness, and simplicity. ISBN13# 978-0932040428

Do not get fool by the title. There is absolutely nothing new on this book except the title which is aiming to take advantage of runners who may think this book can give us that extra edge in improving our skill.
If indeed any one of our fellow runners who are interested in yoga, check out the book of "Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class" instead. It outlines very clear pose by pose, classroom teaching, lecture type of instruction.