Yoga of Heart: The Healing Power of Intimate Connection (Paperback)

~ Mark Whitwell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Truth is not something we have to seek out. It is not something that is absent and far away, requiring great effort to find. Truth is present within you as the Life that is you. In Yoga of Heart, Los Angeles-based yoga instructor Mark Whitwell takes us back to the time when yoga was first developed—to the shamanic past of the Upanishads, when yoga was practiced as a means of acknowledging, enjoying, and participating in the very source of Life.

Whitwell explores the deeper tantric dimensions of hatha yoga—how yoga’s purpose is to link the mind to the wonder of our own condition. He shows how hatha yoga is participation in life’s polarities already in union—through the male surrender to the female principle. Yoga of Heart shows how we can forge that union of polarities within our body: above and below, front and back, left and right, male and female.

Yoga of Heart focuses especially on clearing the energy centers and meridians, fostering dynamic health and allowing practitioners to create a deeper intimacy with both their partners and the energetic life forces in the universe.

About the Author

Mark Whitwell has enjoyed a life long relationship with the yoga teachings of T. Krishnamacharya, and with his son and primary disciple T.K.V. Desikachar, whose students have had a major impact on yoga in the West. Whitwell was editor and contributor to Desikachar’s classic book, The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Lantern Books (December 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159056068X
• ISBN-13: 978-1590560686
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #193,899 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have, September 22, 2004

By	Kate Rabinowitz (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having studied, practiced and taught yoga for thirty years, I have finally touched in with the essential yoga through this book and this teacher. Whitwell brings the inspiration from Krishnamacharya and Desikachar, the teacher of the teachers. This is yoga before all the systems, and the reader has immediate access to the missing link of it all, the simplicity of breath. What happens when we really inhale, and really exhale. These tools can be put into any other kind of yoga, or any other practice in life. It is life itself.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a teacher that takes us beyond the "hype"., October 22, 2004

By	Diane E. Rabinowitz "truth seeker" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've taught yoga for 8 years and practiced for many more. I've become disillusioned in recent years, however, with the direction that "marketing" yoga has taken the teachings. Ironically, what started out as a miraculously healing practice has become yet another vehicle for business, competition, games, and unfortunately, just a tiny degree off its healing capacity.
Enter Mark Whitwell. Quietly studying, practicing and teaching; informed by some of the most respected authorities in yoga, Mark gently and sincerely conveys the simplest truths in his teachings and in this book. I find myself trusting his authenticity and returning to that place of who I am, only this time, fully accepting.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surrender to wholeness, February 4, 2006

By	Lulu-Guru (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

Too often we feel pulled apart, fragmented, dis-intergrated by the admirable goals we have set, the competing roles we fill, the tensions of our every day lives. To ease the pain of this fragmentation many have embarked on a journey or spiritual path only to find that this seeking fails to provide the comfort they desire. In "Yoga of Heart," Mark Whitwell offers a simple solution to this quest for wholeness: Stop struggling, do your yoga, and be receptive to the strength and wisdom that rests, too often hidden, in each of our hearts. In this exploration of the ancient origins of yoga and contemporary practices, Mr. Whitwell demonstrates a remarkably nuanced understanding of the challenges of modern life and relationships, and a sophisticated interpretation of the wisdom cultures that gave rise to yoga. He knits these valuable lessons together and offers a simple practice designed to open your heart to the miracle of your daily life. I have found these lessons and a gentle daily yoga practice to be life altering and now offer them to patients and students when I see them struggle with the sense of emptiness that comes from fragmentation. Lou Lukas, MD