No OM Zone: A No-Chanting, No-Granola, No-Sanskrit Practical Guide to Yoga [Paperback]

Kimberly Fowler (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 6, 2010

If you’ve ever wanted to try yoga but felt intimidated to walk into a class—or maybe tried  it but were put off by complicated poses, foreign terminology, or chanting—The No OM Zone is for you.  The No OM Zone, a practical guide designed to make yoga accessible to everyone, is  based on the pioneering program by former professional triathlete, Kimberley Fowler  whose pioneering Yoga for Athletes® Workout and DVD introduced everyday people to yoga with a fun and fulfilling approach.

 

The No OM Zone offers a range of yoga workouts as well as excellent information on:
*The benefits of yoga, from improved posture   to increased energy and lower stress
*Injury prevention and rehabilitation through yoga
*Types of yoga and yoga styles, from Kundalini to Power Yoga, and which one is right for you
*Breath work and meditation
*Poses that target specific muscle groups and areas of the body
*Sports-related benefits and sports-specific poses to help you excel at your favorite event or pastime

 

Designed to get you off the couch and onto the mat,  The No OM Zone can help you enjoy the amazing, lifelong benefits of the ancient practice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you've been hesitant to try yoga...pick up The No OM Zone. No chanting required."
-- Real Simple

 

"Conventional athletes put off by chanting and foreign terminology will enjoy hitting the mat with this no-nonsense manual from the fitness maven."
-- Los Angeles magazine

 

"A good book for those who want workouts targeted to individual body parts..."
- The Los Angeles Times

About the Author

KIMBERLY FOWLER is founder of YAS Fitness Centers, a fast-growing, LA-based yoga
and indoor cycling workout empire. She has certified over 1,000 instructors in her own
style of yoga, called Yoga for Athletes.® Fowler’s clients include Olympic athletes, high-
profile celebrities, and lots of everyday people. As a longtime cancer survivor, Fowler has
spoken on behalf of Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong organization. Her DVDs include: Yoga for
Athletes,® The No OM Zone Yoga Workouts, and Overcoming Obstacles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books; 1 Original edition (July 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1605296740
• ISBN-13: 978-1605296746
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.6 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #789,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kimberly Fowler isn't your typical yogi. "Irreverent" is how CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta described Fowler's popular approach to yoga in his June '09 feature on her fun and unpretentious classes. But innovative may be a more apt description for the Fowler phenomena. Since opening her first YAS Fitness Center in Venice, California in 2001 Fowler has regularly shaken up the yoga and fitness worlds with fresh, no-nonsense workouts designed for everyone from elite athletes to, well, everyone...

It started with the original YAS Fitness Center: No one had ever combined yoga with indoor cycling before--let alone built a studio dedicated to the combination. Mixing hard-charging cardio with straightforward yoga was ridiculed by some yoga purists. But it didn't stop imitators at gyms around the world from jumping on the bandwagon with yoga and spinning classes of their own. The copycats didn't surprise Fowler, whose experience as a professional triathlete had taught her the value of combining yoga with athletics. They only encouraged her to create Yoga for Athletes®, her next workout to rock the fitness world.

Yoga for Athletes® jump-started the yoga-as-cross-training craze that has swept the planet. The Yoga for Athletes® DVD is so popular that students around the world have taken to posting 
photos on Facebook of themselves holding it up at famous locales. That and winning titles with its help: The Santa Monica Rugby Club won the'06 national championship--a first--and proclaimed the workout "the athlete's secret weapon." British track star Tasha Danvers won the '08 Beijing Olympics 400m Hurdles bronze with the help of Yoga for Athletes®, overcoming a host of personal and professional hurdles along the way.

Fowler understands a thing or two about hurdles. While still a twenty-something triathlete, she was diagnosed with brain cancer. Like Lance Armstrong a decade later, Fowler battled back from her death sentence to return to competition as an elite athlete. She credits yoga as central to her 
recovery and comeback. Going stronger than ever nearly three decades later, she's spoken repeatedly on behalf of Livestrong, Armstrong's foundation dedicated to helping people fight cancer. She's also spoken much on behalf of Nike, having served for years as the company's Yoga Athlete/Spokesperson.

With so many yoga-related accomplishments, it's tempting to view Fowler as some kind of power yogi--that is, if such words and hero worship didn't make her cringe. "I'm not your guru, you are," is a common Fowlerism. Open and accessible, Fowler means no disrespect for yoga traditions and their spiritual components. She just doesn't cram dogma down peoples' throats. And while happily forgoing Sanskrit and chanting hasn't always endeared her to the yoga establishment, that's never been her goal. Fowler wants to change the minds of everyday people about yoga. She wants to make yoga accessible to the masses, not just the chosen few.

And she's getting there...If you've cracked a magazine or newspaper over the last decade, chances are you've read about Fowler, her original DVDs or YAS Fitness Centers. New franchise locations have sprung up across Southern California and will soon open across the country. "I want to get people off the couch and onto the mat," Fowler says of her ongoing agenda and new book The No OM Zone No Chanting, No Granola, No Sanskrit. Coming soon from Rodale Books, The No OM Zone continues Fowler's mission to take the mystery and intimidation out of yoga, to welcome newcomers and to introduce them to a fun and fulfilling practice.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT Practical Guide to Yoga July 6, 2010

By Joan

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a relatively new Yogi, reading "The No Om Zone" has really helped to improve my practice. It provides a level of instruction that can often be hard to get in a packed yoga class. It is chockfull of photos that have been very useful in understanding the exact positioning of each body part during a pose. I feel my alignment has definitely improved since reading the book. Also, anatomy and physiology are discussed in a very useful, easy-to-understand manner, not in the cumbersome, overwhelming way of many fitness books. Lastly, as an Executive with a very hectic schedule, the 8 minute workout routines are a godsend!

13 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Yoga you will actually do July 6, 2010

By thebradmiskell

Format:Paperback

The fact that I regularly take class with Kimberly will, I trust, demonstrate that I not only talk the talk about her wonderful new book, but I walk the walk, as well. Kimberly's approach to yoga, which The No OM Zone is steeped in, really works for me. And I've taken yoga (on and off) since 1977. You do the math, I'll do The No OM Zone. Why? Because Kimberly's approach to yoga--straightforward, unpretentious and rock-solid technically--is the only one that's kept me practicing consistently. And the book makes it easy for those of you who can't make it to her classes regularly to benefit from that same accessible, no-BS style. The No OM Zone, with its short and targeted sessions and thorough-yet-concise insights into alignment and anatomy, is the perfect yoga primer for today. It moves along nicely...to get you moving. And though it's perfect for newcomers to yoga, it's a great reference, period. Kimberly demonstrates in The No OM Zone how yoga can help keep active people injury-free. As someone who for many years had to be intact physically to make a living (I was a longtime professional dancer then taught for years), I know when someone is guiding me properly in terms of injury-prevention, strength and flexibility, working safely and realistically. That's exactly what Kimberly does in The No OM Zone. And she's not at all precious about it. Such a breath of fresh air. The book and the author. Yoga skeptics take note: No gongs and whistle here, just accessible, practical fitness.

37 of 58 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Should not exist August 7, 2011

By M. Linden

Format:Paperback

The very title of this book is completely ignorant and disrespectful of the entire yoga practice. To be "anti-OM" is to be anti-Yoga. The whole point of yoga is to mentally and physically healthy and "one,", and to be at peace with life, the universe, and that which some call God (some call consciousness, some call the universe, some call intelligence, etc.) Picking and choosing what you will appreciate of a whole cultural/religious practice and disrespecting the rest is unacceptable, and these folks earn a living off of it. I do not at all recommend this dime-a-dozen collection of empty modern gimmicks (like the lose-weight-fast-while-catching-onto-the-environmentalist-bandwagon gimmick), and instead recommend those interested in personal betterment (physical and mental, for the two are closely intertwined) to read a book which balances practicality and honest, earnest open-mindedness. "Yoga, Mastering the Basics" isn't bad, and "Light on Yoga" is a little more traditional, so to speak.

8 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The most practical guide to yoga has FINALLY arrived! July 6, 2010

By Kendra Arnold

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The No OM Zone is an amazing guide to practical, yet most useful yoga poses that anyone can do either in a yoga room, or in the comfort of your own home. From the creator of Yoga For Athletes, Kimberly Fowler aims at making yoga a non-intimidating practice, and proves her point! Inside of this book you will not find Fowler preaching the traditional yogi practices of chanting, or pretzel poses. As a former triathlete, Fowler explains that her yoga practice can help anyone who has suffered any sort of trauma in their lives. This down to earth guide is helpful for anyone and everyone, ranging from someone new to yoga, to an experienced yogi who wishes to gain insight on a practical way to practice the 5,000 year old tradition of yoga.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Me me Me me.. not Yoga... look at me me me .... boring October 19, 2012

By S. K. Sharma

Format:Paperback

yet another silly little girl wanting to grab attention by defrauding an ancient sacred heritage created for Self Realization as a means for tight butt sculpting, and to make a quick buck at the same time... selling fools gold to innocent twits ..... yet another snake oil salesgirl from the land that exported sub prime, beefburgers and now noga.... giving it one star is a crime against stars!

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars For any who have wanted to try yoga but were put off by complicated poses or chanting October 18, 2010

By Midwest Book Review

Format:Paperback

THE NO OM ZONE is for any who have wanted to try yoga but were put off by complicated poses or chanting. Its intention is to make yoga accessible to non-yoga audiences and is based on triathelete author Kimberly Fowler's program. Yoga workouts are accompanied by insights on different yoga styles, meditation, poses that target specific muscle groups, and more.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A fresh approach to yoga February 7, 2011

By Patrick Gresham

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a refreshing approach to yoga book compared to some that are so repetitive. The anatomical breakdown on benefits for different poses is helpful for teachers and students.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Neck saver! July 20, 2010

By K. Fisher

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Just received this book in the mail. Thank God! It came just in time. I had been on a retreat over the weekend and came home stiff as a board after an overnight adventure sleeping on a floor mat. Couldn't move my neck. I'm an experienced Massage Therapist and know the body very well so I knew what was happening anatomically. I used Ms. Fowler's section on the neck (chapter two) to help relieve my tension and pain. Honestly I wasn't expecting such a nice set of illustrations and I was thrilled to see such clear and accessible pics of the yoga positions. I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in yoga and it's benefits to long term healthcare. Also her tip about keeping animals in a separate room made me laugh until my cat decided to plop down next to me and spread her fur. Wise words. I look forward to using this book as a resource for clients and friends...hope you do too!