Description

4.5 stars on Amazon by 7 reviewers. This book has alot of pictures, very colorful and easy on the eyes…. tells you step by step how to do yoga.. from easy to advanced. Even has workouts.. 321 pages – Produced by the award-winning maranGraphics Group, Maran Illustrated Guide to Yoga is a valuable resource for all readers, regardless of age or fitness level. Instead of describing the myriad ways to perform each pose, Maran Illustrated Guide to Yoga shows you the best way, while the full-color photographs and clear, step-by-step instructions walk the reader through each pose from beginning to end. Thorough topic introductions and useful tips provide additional information and advice to enhance your yoga experience and help meet your individual needs. Maran Illustrated Guide to Yoga is packed with essential information including warm-up poses, breathing exercises, seated poses, chair poses, standing poses, bends, relaxation poses, practice sequences and much more. This book is an invaluable guide for beginners who wish to familiarize themselves with the basics of yoga without having to participate in classes, or as a refresher course for individuals wishing to become reacquainted with yoga. Maran Illustrated Guide to Yoga costs less than the price of one private yoga lesson and will be a permanent resource that can be accessed at any time.Sample page “Windmill Pose”Amazon ReviewsI’ve been looking for the perfect book on yoga to give to my mother, who after a stroke finds herself able to navigate about quite well, but unable to do any kind of exercises besides walking and swimming.After looking at a variety of yoga books (see my other reviews), this clearly is the one. I’ve been using it myself (just testing it out!) and want to keep one for myself – and recommend it to friends.Why is it so good?It is designed for all users – beginners, seniors, children and off and on yoga folks like myself.There are full color illustrations for every move – arrows show how to get into different positions and how to get out.Sections are divided by sitting, reclining, standing — very nice for those who only want to do one kind of pre-stretch or yoga program (sitting, for my mother)The front has detailed explanations and photos of each stand, divided into sections. Easy to read, great photos again with the little arrows telling users how to get from one pose to the next.After this, there are beginner and intermediate practices using the photos. If you are supposed to be doing a Little Boat pose as part of a program, you have a little picture and an easy cross references if you need to be reminded of the details.Nice index in the back. I’d love to see either a second version with more programs (I’m way too lazy to make my own) or a set of cards with the photos for those who travel (I’d be more likely to make out my own program with a deck of cards!) I am very pleased with my purchase. I am new to yoga and found that videos go too fast for me and don’t explain the postures and purpose of the poses enough. I can’t afford continual classes (which would be great), so instead I took a 2 week series of 10 EASY classes and then bought this book. And I understand yoga poses, finally.I recommend the classes first because the book doesn’t use the same Sanskrit names for poses as they did in class (or even all the same English translations). However, the book thoroughly explains each posture and even has arrows over the photos to show which body parts should be pushing (EXTREMELY helpful for me!!). And each pose gets 3-4 photos detailing the progression of the body. Some Photoshop work also shows movement. The photos are wonderfully easy to understand.The front section of the book has some brief historical and breathing info- not great but better than nothing. The back has some very useful sequences to follow that continually reference page numbers for correct pose posture (another stellar feature). I follow these sequences at my own painfully slow pace, constantly referencing posture pages for when to exhale and when to inhale and how to hold my shoulders, etc. Its great to have all that info in one place. This is a great way to learn yoga without being rushed.I also looked at “Hatha Yoga Illustrated” in the store and while it had names I recognized and some basic poses, I determined much of it was too advanced for me. I think the Maran book does a better job covering a ton of poses and correct posturing and breathing, even if it doesn’t names all the poses right.