Yoga is everywhere these days: Hollywood stars take their personal instructors with them on location; newspapers and magazines hail yoga as the answer to the unrelenting stress in our society; and gyms everywhere are now offering a dizzying array of classes. The yoga we practice today in the West bears little resemblance to the yoga that began humbly almost 5,000 years ago, but in its rich and varied history, yoga has always evolved to meet the needs of the culture it serves. But what distinguishes this publication are the 400 poses, or asanas, illustrated by artful black-and-white photographs taken especially for this book, that demonstrate the physical postures derived from an ancient Indian tradition. With dozens of stunning foldouts, this book beautifully explores a wide range of yoga with an emphasis on how it touches more than the physical body; the flexibility and stamina achieved on the yoga mat will doubtless transcend to more important aspects of everyday life. Linda Sparrowe’s introduction traces the evolution of yoga, rooted in the devotional and metaphysical teachings of the sacred yoga texts including the Vedas, Upanishads, and the Bhagavad-Gita, and progressing to an in-depth look at the philosophy of Patanjali, the father of modern yoga. Included are brief introductions to the twentieth-century yogis who were influential in making yoga a Western, and indeed a worldwide, obsession.

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If that isn't stunning enough, wait until you open it. The pictures are *GORGEOUS* and truly amazing. I read elsewhere that there are ~375 photos in this book, and all but a few photos in the beginning are full-page photos. The poses they demonstrate are breathtaking and people doing the poses are equally so! The book begins with 60 pages of a remarkably complete and concise background of yoga - very informative. The rest of the book is the pictures and they are broken down into general genre of poses: inverted, seated, backbends, etc.

Believe me, this book will not teach anyone yoga, nor does it suggest that it will. What it does do is INSPIRE. This book is thoroughly fascinating and I cannot recommend it highly enough. If you are interested in yoga at all or in the potential of the human body I believe you will find this book a treasure. It is actually quite a bargain for the price, I feel, given the quality of the book and the volume of material contained within.

50 of 51 found the following review helpful:

FINALLY, THE DEFINITIVE YOGA BOOKNov 27, 2002
By adam david
First of all, if you're moving anytime soon, don't purchase this book quite yet. It is ENORMOUS. You'll have an easier time getting the sofa out of a bay window.

Or, for that matter, getting into some of the asanas displayed herein. Up through now, I have been disappointed by the photography in most yoga books: either the constrast is poor, the pictures too dark, the subject's posture is off, or the background is some cliched, cheesy setting, like a beach or whatever, taking the focus off the subject. (Another mistake is when a book tries to do a two-page spread, and the subject's center winds up lost in the book's fold)

Here, the photography is absolutely stunning, and the quality of the paper it's printed on allows the beauty of the prints to shine. Subjects include David Life, Richard Freeman, Sharon Gannem, Rodney Yee, and many more of today's most respected yoga professionals.

The book also includes essays on the history of yoga, yogic philosophy, and diet.

Yoga Journal has created the ultimate tome on yoga. I do not read the magazine: to my taste, many of the articles are either sappy or exercises in public relations and attempts to create as commerial a magazine as possible with the highest subscription circulation (Fran Leibowitz once said that any special interest magainze that turns a profit is probably not so special or so interesting).

But here they have spared no expense - either financially or creatively - trading what could have been yet another title on yoga in an already over-saturated market, and decided to make a book strictly to satisfy a deep, committed passion for the practice.

18 of 19 found the following review helpful:

Breathtaking!Jan 03, 2003
By L G P
Well, like the other reviewers said, this book is beautiful. I was also surprised at how heavy it is. The poses are shot in front of simple black and white backgrounds, save for a handful of color photos, one at the beginning of each section. The book is split up into types of poses, eg. standing, backbends, balance etc. The models all do a splendid job. Only the names of the poses, not the models, are listed with the photos, so there are no stars in this book. Well known gifted teachers such as Rodney Yee and Patricia Walden share pages with the equally impressive Darhma Mittra (The creator of the unbelievable 908 pose poster often seen in yoga studios. He's still got it!), Lauren Peterson (perfect, beautiful line and grace!) Maia Heiss(amazing flexibility, lovely!) Ana Forest (intense stregnth and suppleness. Great character!) David Life and Richard Freeman (Feet and knees don't bend like that! Here you see poses you don't get in a yoga class) Chris Hoskins (Powerful, beautiful body, strong, long lines) and others. The age ranges of the models looked to be early 20's into probably the 60's. Bios of the models are added to the back, which I liked. I know I will spend a lot of time, devouring this book. It is also a great gift for artists and photographers. It is a tribute to what the human body is capable of. The text by Linda Sparrowe is thorough and fascinating. What can I say. I felt it was well worth the money spent. Bravo!

13 of 13 found the following review helpful:

simply beautifulMar 29, 2004
By William Kostenko
As a student of both art and yoga, I really like the work done in this book on a number of levels. The poses are mostly well executed (there are exceptions, albeit very few) and the photographs themselves are very well composed (lighting, deciding which angle to take of the pose, etc.). It truly is both amazing and inspiring to see both yoga and photography performed at this level. What seems underrated even in these reviews is the outstanding introduction by Linda Sparrowe. After having read "Light on Yoga" by B.K.S. Iyengar and Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, as well as other texts, this book has probably the most balanced and concise history of the development of yoga philosophy and practice that I have come across. Although Iyengar is more thorough on the philosophy, he is also convinced of his own interpretation of both Patanjali and his own teacher, Krishnamacharya. The text here is less concerned with the "rightness" of any one approach, and places each in its proper perspective. You could read the 60 pages of introduction and have a completely sound, although somewhat basic, understanding of where yoga came from, what it's all about, and what the major schools of practice currently are.

My only complaint is that there are several editorial errors that haven't been corrected in the new paperback edition and I don't know if anyone will be bothered to fix them in the future, which would be a shame. Given the nature of the work, it's natural that there would be some mistakes, but that is what second editions are for. This paperback edition leaves the errors intact, which concerns me for future editions, if there will ever be any. For example, Indra Devi died in 2001 at the age of 102, but someone apparently didn't tell Ms. Sparrowe, who claims that she's 104 (which she would have been at the time of publication) and makes no reference to her passing. Some of the poses are incorrectly titled as well, and given the stunning and thorough nature of the rest of the book, it seems a shame to leave such small but glaring errors uncorrected.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

Graceful & ArtisticApr 18, 2004
By A. Vegan
This is one of the best "coffee table" yoga books out there. The pictures are done in black and white which make the postures look graceful. If you do display it on your coffee table, it makes for a great conversation piece, especially if you practice yoga.

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