Customer Reviews

Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice

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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.

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!

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.

I highly recommend this book. It encapsulates Ganga's wisdom and exemplifies the approach he and Tracey take with the White Lotus Foundation. His words cut through to the true heart of yoga....the deep philosophical underpinnings of a practice meant to open us to life....to open us to love...to allow us to think for ourselves and truly make Yoga our own. It is clear...and fresh....and much needed in this time of yoga-hype.
Thank you Ganga..it was worth the wait. :)

I love this book. I have done some training from Ganga and listened to his many dharma talks. This book is the next best thing to having him chat with you about some aspect of yoga. Ganga has seen, experienced, witnessed and been in the midst of just about every major movement in yoga in California for over 30 years. It is hard to find a teacher in California who has not been influenced by Ganga. I encourage anyone who finds yoga as one of their many life tools to pick up this book and enjoy! It is not heavy on New Age blah blah. It is honest. It is frank. It is delightful. It is to the point. It is logically arranged. It is one of my favorite books on yoga.

All I can say is that this book rings with authenticity and is utterly lacking in the hype, pretension and arrogance often found in so-called "new age" books. He really knows his stuff, encourages experimentation as being the key to personal growth, and never sets himself up as a "guru" per se. My deepest respect for a great approach to yoga and to life in general.

I have been teaching yoga for more than 33 years and have known Ganga White for most of that time. This much-awaited book shows clearly why he has had such a universal influence on so many. Dr. Andrew Weil referred to him as a "noted renegade yogi" and I agree that Ganga has been a frontrunner in questioning and challenging old traditions. I have always seen him as stating the obvious that others have not dared to vocalize. In statements such as "our understanding of spirituality needs to grow and evolve beyond the limits of tradition and ancient mappings" (page 204) Ganga tries to tell us to "grow outside the box" at a time when so many are now trying to emulate the East. For those new to yoga, he explains in clear, easy-to-understand language about many of the ancient concepts and aspects of yoga. An example is in his discussion of meditation. It is commonly thought that to meditate, one needs to learn how to sit for long periods and "empty the mind" or focus on a mantra. But Ganga frees the reader from these boundaries by explaining that "...innner silence is still only one petal of the flowering mind...a questioning mind, an intelligent mind,a flexible mind, an open mind...these are just a few of the myriad valuable capacities of the mind" (page 172-3)and he suggests sometimes walking out in a forest to appreciate nature instead of just sitting. Simple. Obvious. Along with his charming stories, Ganga makes this book not only thought-provoking but also fun to read.I encourage all my students to read it and hope that others will do the same. This book is a gem and I recommend it to anyone who wants to "stand on the shoulders of the past to find out how we can see a bit farther." (page 11)

This is an excellent book, the fruit of over four decades of experience in yoga -- studying, practicing, teaching. Everyone I have given this book to has loved it, and I am using it now in my Yoga Teacher Trainings in Florida. I do highly recommend it for yoga students of all levels, because there is something in it for everyone. Ganga doesn't settle for easy answers -- any answers, really -- it's all about the quest, the questions. The idea is that, as the saying goes, it's better to question our answers than answer our questions. Yoga, after all, is all about experimenting and observing, like a scientist; it's about knowing through lived experience, not through belief, dogma, or any secondary source. This book fulfills the highest purpose of any book, which is to assist you in better reading your own book, which is your life.

I had problems understanding what was so spiritual about yoga, until I read this book. It has helped me understand the connection with the breath and postures. I want to recommend to everyone to read this, it will change your life!

This book takes you outside of the classroom (or living room) to help you understand yoga and its many benefits. It compares tradition with science and experience, and encourages the reader to take a fresh look at his or her own experience. Rather than pushing a specific set of beliefs and requirements, each individual is given tools to identify his or her own.