Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice [Paperback]

Ganga White (Author), Mark Schlenz Ph.D. (Introduction), Sting (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2007

Yoga Beyond Belief offers a unique vision of contemporary yoga. It integrates scientific and practical approaches providing a much-needed integrative perspective that complements existing yoga books for all levels and styles of yoga students. Serving up a collection of valuable insights gleaned from a lifetime of exploration, practice, study, and teaching by one of America’s pioneering and leading teachers of yoga, the book assists readers in making sense of the many discordant claims and teaching techniques that currently exist in the yoga world, freeing readers to pursue their own individual paths of yoga and personal practice. This is an essential text and reference for all yoga practitioners.The book first sets a context for an open-minded and evolutionary approach to yoga practice, and then explains the core principles of the many branches of yoga. A clear foundation is given for how the physical practices of yoga work to produce remarkable results of health and well being. The chapter Injury, Pain, and Healing shows how to prevent injuries and how to heal injuries should they occur. The reader is given a wealth of sophisticated of tools, insights, and anecdotes gleaned from a lifetime of practice and teaching to develop, hone, and tune his or her personal yoga approach. This book makes yoga come alive for the reader.The book concludes by going beyond the physical aspects to the heart of yoga. It illuminates and gives insight into the discovery of non-dogmatic forms and evolutionary approaches to meditation and spirituality. It presents a clear argument showing the pitfalls of regimented systems and how to make everything in daily life part of yoga practice and spiritual development.Ganga White gives us his unique and creative perspectives on a time-tested discipline for a healthy and vital life. Entertaining and thoroughly readable, this book offers a coherent explication of yoga, its philosophy and practice. White’s integrative views will inspire beginners and accomplished yogis to trust their inner wisdom and creatively reassess their practice. He is a great storyteller and gives us his personal and creative perspective, breathing fresh air into an ancient discipline. Yoga Beyond Belief offers an original, integrative approach to body, mind, and spirit that is practical, inspiring, and full of valuable insights to enliven and inform anyone’s yoga practice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book takes you into the mind of a noted renegade yogi. With humor and disarming honesty, Ganga explains the history and philosophy of yoga, and guides you with his own original and innovative approach to this ancient discipline. Yoga Beyond Belief is a unique, integrative approach to body, mind and spirit. It is practical, inspiring and full of valuable insights to enliven and inform the practice of both beginning and experienced students. I recommend it highly."—Andrew Weil, MD"Yoga Beyond Belief will strike a chord with anyone seeking a new level of awakening and freedom in yoga and in their lives. This book offers a flexible and modern perspective that is needed more than ever to meet and live in these times of accelerating change."—Sting, from the Foreword“This is a rich, wide-ranging work of great sensitivity and eloquence, a guided journey through the world of yoga by a master whose wisdom is matched by his humility—a rare and precious commodity in the modern yoga scene of massive egos, glitz, and hype.”—David Gordon White, PhD, author of Kiss of the Yogini: “Tantric Sex” in its South Asian Contexts and professor of Hinduism, UCSB“In Yoga Beyond Belief, Ganga has done an outstanding job.... This is the clear voice of a modern yogi. Ganga is living proof that the real tradition of yoga is still very much alive and well.”—Erich Schiffmann, author of Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness“Yoga Beyond Belief weaves together science, spiritual inquiry, personal stories, and yoga practices into a tapestry that will serve students of self-discovery in navigating their own unique path.”—Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul ® “Ganga is the spearhead of a revolutionary evolution in the field of yoga. His endeavor has been: How to retain the old form and put new spirit into it? It also implies: How not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”—Swami Venkatesa“This book can make yoga meaningful to people who never imagined it. It is a tour de force of deconstructing tradition and making yoga a powerful, exploratory vehicle for modern times.”—Joel Kramer, author of The Guru Papers and A Passionate Mind

About the Author

Ganga White, referred to as a “pioneer of yoga” by Yoga Journal, has been teaching, innovating, and promulgating yoga since 1967–nearly forty years. He has led international yoga organizations, established yoga centers in major cities that have been emulated the world over, and he is a leader on the forefront of the wave of yoga in America. White is founder of the world renowned White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, California, which offers programs internationally. Situated on forty acres, the residential retreat and primary teaching institute offers yoga workshops, teacher training, and advanced study to students and teachers from around the world. White has extensive training and experience in the field of yoga combined with education in science, physics, and electronics. He brings a unique, East/West perspective to yoga, meditation, and spirituality.Ganga White introduced Flow Yoga in the 1970’s and it is now one of the most popular forms practiced around the world. In 1980, his text Double Yoga introduced his innovation of partner yoga, now practiced worldwide. With his wife, Tracey Rich, he co-created Total Yoga–The Flow Series videos, which are international #1 best sellers with sales of over 1.8 million copies.White brings a broad, modern perspective to the teachings of yoga. Although he is extensively trained in traditional yoga and has a Sanskrit name and titles, White is an evolutionary and critical thinker who shows his students how to grow beyond tradition into their own freedom and understanding making their yoga, practice, and their spirituality uniquely their own. He and his wife currently direct the renowned White Lotus Foundation and lecture and teach internationally.Foreword by Sting:World renowned musician Sting has been practicing yoga for more than 15 years. He and his wife, Trudie Styler, rely on yoga to help maintain their well-being and the high energy pace of their lives. Along with Trudie and a Brazilian Indian, Sting started the Rainforest Foundation in 1989 to help save the rainforests. He lives in England.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books (January 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556436467
• ISBN-13: 978-1556436468
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #79 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > Yoga

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All depth and no fluff, January 11, 2007

By 

Theresa Reed "The Tarot Lady" (MILWAUKEE, WI USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice (Paperback)

This eloquent book has been a wonderful inspiration for me. Due to yoga's popularity, there are many books on the shelves these days. Yet most of these books tend to be 'how to' books, focusing on the physical aspect (hatha) of yoga. Ganga White has written a book that focuses on the internal practice of yoga. This is not a glossy star struck ego trip book (even though Sting writes the foreword.). White's book is simple, deep and profound. If you are looking for something more than a manual with spandex clad people contorting into various asanas, then you will be ecstatic with this offering.

This timely book addresses many parts of the yoga journey that modern classes tend to overlook - spirituality, the chakras, history, branches of yoga, and more. A valuable section on injuries is worth the price of the book alone. White shares his own personal story of his serious back injury and how he was able to deal without resorting to surgery or drugs.

Readers will appreciate White's candid and sincere insights. After reading this book, I felt I was re-energized and more inquisitive about my own practice. If that was White's intent, he succeeded with me.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The 'missing' link in my yoga practice....., April 14, 2007

By 

Ms. Mary S. Massung "melodic wind" (San Marcos, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice (Paperback)

I have many yoga books which I have read in the 4 years I have been doing yoga. I have benefitted much from some and only a little from others. I also have MANY dvds to help me practice my yoga (as I do not have access to a yoga teacher). Realizing that I was now an 'advanced beginner' in yoga, I began searching for dvds to help my practice advance to the next level. One of my purchases was Ganga White's Flow series. It seemed only reasonable to get his book also. I was in for an unexpected present!

I have also been doing Qigong for about 18 months and was wondering if yoga operated on energy flow also. It seemed reasonable to assume it would but I could not figure out how to draw upon and utilize it. I was also wondering how I could develop a personalized yoga practice..one that would meet my unique needs (senior citizen with Pulmonary Fibrosis). This book addressed both of my personal questions.

Mr. White explained yoga from a totally unique and personal perspective. As he did so, I suddenly understood that yoga 'flow' sequences promote the flow of prana (qi) through the body. I also began to understand how to gradually develop my own program. When about 1/2 through the book, I decided to experiment. I simply stood up. Naturally, as usual, I was stiff from sitting and reading. I did a forward bend only till my hands touched my knees and then did a jacknife with my hands on my knees. I repeated a flow between these two asanas until my muscles were no longer stiff. Then I began doing the 1/2 sun salutation until this was easy. I continued 'developing' the remainder of sun salutation A until each portion felt good. Then I stopped. I felt wonderful. The whole program had taken about 15 minutes. I had done mini-flows, felt energy flow, and was able to stand up (from my knees) with ease. I also did some modified back/forward bends (on my knees) until I could do a camel asana with ease several times....feeling my WHOLE chest expand....a real accomplishment with PF!

With the understandings gained from this book, I have a much better understanding of how to meet my unique health needs. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to make yoga more than just a cardio/aerobic/exercise program. I cannot thank Mr White enough for taking the time to share what he has learned!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It really is Beyond Belief!, January 14, 2007

By 

Hyla Cass "Holistic Physician & Author" (Pacific Palisades, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice (Paperback)

Beyond Belief is an apt description! Inspiring and enlightening as well as beautifully written, this book takes us beyond yoga as we generally define it. A consummate teacher, Ganga White shares with us his own journey of many years of study, introspection and practice. He shares his moment-to-moment self-discovery, showing us by example how to find our own way, our personal practice. We discover that there is no one way to think, experience, or to do - there is only finding the elegant integrity of our body, our being, and our connectedness to all that is, in each moment. This book is a gift, and one that will continue to give you new insights with every reading.