The Healing Path of Yoga: Time-Honored Wisdom and Scientifically Proven Methods That Alleviate Stress, Open Your Heart, and Enrich Your Life (Paperback)

~ (Author), Dean Ornish M.D. (Foreword), Shaye Areheart (Author) "A SINGLE HEART CELL was taken from the heart of one person..." (more)
Key Phrases: send the breath, lock the thumbs, comprehensive lifestyle changes, Deep Rest, Dynamic Stillness-Meditation, Karma Yoga (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's not surprising that yoga has become a highly popular pastime in 21st-century America. "Recent medical research by well-known clinicians shows that stress is a major factor in causing heart disease, cancer, and a myriad of chronic and acute diseases of today's world," according to author and revered instructor Nischala Joy Devi, who has pioneered yoga programs for heart specialist Dean Ornish and cancer specialist Michael Lerner. "While the stressful events around us may not change, we can learn how to respond quickly to life's difficulties, maintaining our equilibrium and a sense of well-being."

Although the practice of yoga can create this well-being and has even been associated with reversing serious medical conditions such as hypertension and heart disease, Devi never makes grandiose promises. Instead, she shows readers how yoga can be realistically integrated into a contemporary lifestyle. Forget the contorted poses and mysterious religious overtones associated with yoga. Think "attitude adjustments" as Devi offers suggestions for opening the heart, achieving deeper rest and relaxation, breathing more effectively, and learning to meditate. Toward the end she addresses the physical plane with a well-illustrated routine of easy physical poses (asanas) as well as chapters on "Eating for Wholeness" and "Prelude to Sleep." Devi is indeed a masterful yoga teacher. Not only does she blend Eastern philosophy with Western living, she does it in a way that is grounded, approachable, and thoroughly welcoming for people from all walks of life. --Gail Hudson

Product Description

Stress is now considered the foremost contributor to poor health and a major factor in causing heart disease, cancer, and a myriad of chronic and acute diseases. This book will make yoga a fundamental part of your quest for wellness and well-being, whether you are a novice or a current pactitioner.

Nischala Joy Devi, a pioneer in the field of alternative healing and a renowned yoga expert, has spent years helping people realize the healthful and stress-controlling benefits of yoga. In 1982 she developed yoga-based retreats for Dr. Michael Lerner's now famous Commonweal Cancer Help Program. That same year Dr. Dean Ornish asked her to create a program of yoga practices for patients suffering from heart disease. Yoga's contribution to the success of both programs has been astounding.

Devi shares her years of experience working with the healthful benefits of yoga, teaching visualizations, breathwork, and meditation, as well as providing the classic steps and illustrated instructions for yoga's physical poses. The Healing Path of Yoga uses timeless Indian-based yoga techniques and philosophy, along with Devi's lifestyle-altering regimen, to create one extraordinary program with the power to rejuvenate and heal. The Healing Path of Yoga presents the key to:preventing disease and stress in healthy people
aiding in recovery from heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses
physical conditioning and weight loss
deep, healing relaxation techniques
heightened overall wellness of body, mind, and spirit

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (June 6, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609805029
• ISBN-13: 978-0609805022
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #55,056 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Guide To Health and Happiness, July 6, 2000

By A Customer

The Healing Path Of Yoga is exaclty what it promises, healing for mind, body and spirit. I found this book filled with practical tools that anyone can use to transform their lives. Chapters on meditation, imagery, food choices, healthy sleep, yoga postures, breathing techniques, guided relaxation, and more, are all excellent guides for rejuvenation.

Nischala Devi's extensive experience in Integral Yoga techniques and her pioneering work and teaching yoga therapy with both Dr. Dean Ornish's Reversing Heart Disease Program and Michael Lerner's Commonweal Cancer Help program clearly shines through.

A great guide for one and all and an excellent addition to the yoga literature!

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There are angels everywhere and sometimes they write books!, March 4, 2001

By	Michael G. Heitkamp (Dayton, Ohio) - See all my reviews

Nischala Joy Devi's, "The Healing Path of Yoga" is truly an inspiring and practical book which should be included in the library of anyone interested in self-healing. Devi presents ancient tantric yoga practices which are accesable to the average reader without being threatening. The book introduces eastern teachings in a very user-friendly manner. If you are new to the healing arts or a serious student of yoga, there will be something in it for you.

I do not simply believe that these techniques work, I KNOW that they work. When I was born the doctors and experts told my parents that I was not expected to live due to heart disease. I had my first open-heart surgery at the age of twelve. In 1992 I was introduced to the Dean Ornish Program to Reverse Heart Disease. This program literally changed my life. I have had an opportunity to meet Nischala Devi and practice yoga with her. She is truly an angel to me and what I find so wonderful about her book is that her gentle spirit comes across. Even if you are not interested in yoga, Nischala's personal stories are well worth the purchase price. I have gifted family members with this book and everyone has told me how much they have enjoyed reading it. In fact, my mother who thought that yoga was a religious cult, signed up for yoga classes after reading this book. I can't give this book a higher rating than that!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yoga of the heart, June 18, 2000

By	Charlotte Nuessle (Ashland, OR, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is about yoga for the heart, which is rare in our body sculpting culture, yet paradoxically heart diseases are one of the greatest risk factors for our modern health. A simple, profound gift of yoga is the recognition that the body is the temple for the indwelling spirit. Realizing this simple truth profoundly affects our relationship to the body. Through the author's lifetime committment to the teachings of yoga, we glimpse the relevance of the yogic lifestyle. This book serves as a guide in making healthier choices in everyday life. By walking for awhile with Nischala, we touch a deeper realization of the unity that yoga brings. I recommend this book to any yoga practitioner, teacher, as well as anyone who seeks greater peace of mind and physical well-being.