Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Essential Yoga is an excellent guide to the novice student looking to expand their yoga practice. This book covers the Pranayama (Breathing Ch.1), Asanas (Warm ups Ch.2 Poses Ch.3), Dhyana (Meditations Ch.4) and Vinyasas (Flowing Poses Ch. 5) as well as Recommend Sequences (Ch. 6 & 7). It omits other stages of yoga such as Yamas and Niyamas, Pratyahara, Dharana, and Samadhi which would give the beginner a fuller picture of yoga. However, the authors state this book is for "someone who wants to do yoga and not just read about it".
Overall, I really enjoyed the graphics, general appearance, and construction of the book. This one seems to be well built in its lay-flat format which is good when you find yourself on the mat. The choice of yellow header may be hard for some readers since it does not reflect strongly against the white pages. The red text and graphics do appear well but the text might be small for some readers.
There are some very good breathing exercises (Ch.1) for more advance students of yoga. Usually, advance techniques like these are introduced to the novice student after becoming well versed in poses and basic breathing techniques.
The Asanas (Ch.2 & 3) have nice graphics of the postures with modifications. I liked the Sanskrit Names under the English Names of the poses. The benefits of each pose are presented in the beginning but no warnings which should have been included. The descriptions for getting into the posture are minimal which is nice since you want the basics to spend more time doing them, which is fine for the more advance yoga practioner but beginners might feel somewhat lost.
The Meditations (Ch. 4) were wonderful. The explanations were fantastic and the descriptions were very solid. It really allows the reader to visualize and affirm the thoughts during the meditation. I really enjoyed them.
The Vinyasas (Ch. 5) are described very well and the artwork was clean and crisp. It is nice to see a yoga book include more than the basic Sun Salutation. However, the poses didn't have their page numbers next to them to help the user reference them which seems odd because later in the book they are there for the Chapters Yoga Sessions and Recommended Sequences. No big deal, but the omissions itself is quirky.
The Yoga Sessions and Recommended Sequences (Ch. 6 & 7) are basically designed for students that allow them to work on specific conditions, goals, such as athletic improvements or time constraints. The poses do have corresponding page numbers for quick reference if you are rusty on certain poses. Beginners might be discouraged by this since they would be flipping back and forth too many times.
Beginners should always find a good teacher to start learning yoga. This allows the teacher to answer questions and make adjustments for them to get the maximum benefit from their yoga practice, then progress to books, videos, and retreats as ways to supplement their yoga practice.
Bottom line, this book would make a nice addition to your yoga library and give you some nice inspiration to help expand your yoga practice.
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