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Home > Archive > Yoga > May 2006 > Recommended reading?
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Recommended reading?
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| quinek 2006-04-27, 6:28 pm |
| Hi all,
I joined this group a few weeks ago and been reading here and there
when I can (I'm in nursing school right now--busy busy).
I plan to take this summer off for some much needed "me time" and self
care, and to do a lot of reading and learning. I am an avid reader and
love to educate myself in this manner. I have heard mention of the book
"Light on Yoga" a few times and I am curious:
Does anyone have any other recommended books of any depth for a
"beginner", who would like to learn much more?
Thank you,
Kylee
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| LawsonE 2006-04-28, 1:27 am |
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"quinek" <krs64@dana.ucc.nau.edu> wrote in message
news:1146175798.421219.73410@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Hi all,
>
> I joined this group a few weeks ago and been reading here and there
> when I can (I'm in nursing school right now--busy busy).
>
> I plan to take this summer off for some much needed "me time" and self
> care, and to do a lot of reading and learning. I am an avid reader and
> love to educate myself in this manner. I have heard mention of the book
> "Light on Yoga" a few times and I am curious:
>
> Does anyone have any other recommended books of any depth for a
> "beginner", who would like to learn much more?
If you don't mind its TM orientation, the first 6 chapters of the Bhagavad
Gita by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi + appendixes, is a good overview of the
philosophical system that Yoga is a part of.
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| On 2006-04-27 15:09:58 -0700, "quinek" <krs64@dana.ucc.nau.edu> said:
> Hi all,
>
> I joined this group a few weeks ago and been reading here and there
> when I can (I'm in nursing school right now--busy busy).
>
> I plan to take this summer off for some much needed "me time" and self
> care, and to do a lot of reading and learning. I am an avid reader and
> love to educate myself in this manner. I have heard mention of the book
> "Light on Yoga" a few times and I am curious:
"Light on Yoga" is for the most part an asana book. It is a list of
asanas with a description of their essential workings. Its not really
a book you sit down and read cover to cover. One uses it as a
reference when trying a new pose.
A better asana book is Iyengar's "Yoga: The path to Holistic Health".
Its a bit expensive, but it is really well illustrated, has a lot of
explanation and is comprehensive.
>
> Does anyone have any other recommended books of any depth for a
> "beginner", who would like to learn much more?
>
> Thank you,
> Kylee
Living Yoga
http://tinyurl.com/jyq8s
This is an excellent overview of the many yogic systems. It was put
together by one of the foremost scholars of yoga George Feuerstein. It
contains articles about many different facets of yoga by different
authors. This is not so much a "how to" book as general information
about the many different schools and types of yoga. This is definitely
a beginners book.
I noticed on Amazon that it can be had for 89 cents used.
Another "Overview" book that is quite nice is Iyengar's "Tree of Yoga".
--
~Stu
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| On 2006-04-27 18:36:09 -0700, "LawsonE" <nospam@nospam.com> said:
>
> "quinek" <krs64@dana.ucc.nau.edu> wrote in message
> news:1146175798.421219.73410@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>
> If you don't mind its TM orientation, the first 6 chapters of the
> Bhagavad Gita by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi + appendixes, is a good overview
> of the philosophical system that Yoga is a part of.
"TM orientation?" The book reads as an advertisement for TM. His
Holiness interprets nearly every paragraph as Krishna's call to
practice TM.
There are many excellent Bhagavad Gita interpretations. Some are
available for free on line. It is worth reading a number of
explanations and comparing the spectrum of religious readings of this
Hindu text.
--
~Stu
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| LawsonE 2006-04-28, 1:27 am |
|
"Stu" <Nospam@towel.com> wrote in message
news:2006042719162275249-Nospam@towelcom...
> On 2006-04-27 18:36:09 -0700, "LawsonE" <nospam@nospam.com> said:
>
>
> "TM orientation?" The book reads as an advertisement for TM. His
> Holiness interprets nearly every paragraph as Krishna's call to practice
> TM.
>
> There are many excellent Bhagavad Gita interpretations. Some are
> available for free on line. It is worth reading a number of explanations
> and comparing the spectrum of religious readings of this Hindu text.
Given that MMY believes that TM is the original technique discussed in the
various texts like Patanjali's yoga sutras, why wouldn't he think that
Krishna was advertising TM?
BTW:
http://www.mum.edu/TheReview/#1
Dr. Travis Presents Paper Comparing Forms of Meditation
Faculty researcher Fred Travis recently presented a paper showing that
different forms of meditation have much different neurophysiological
characteristics and that the Transcendental Meditation® technique is
distinguished by being effortless.
Speaking at the annual conference on the science of consciousness in Tucson,
Dr. Travis spoke on the topic "Are all Meditations the Same?" He compared
Tibetan Buddhist meditation, mindfulness meditation, and the Transcendental
Meditation technique using neural imaging and EEG data.
He showed that Tibetan meditation is strenuous, with EEG readings in the 40
Hz range, or otherwise known as gamma waves. In addition, neural imaging
shows that the brain is very active.
In mindfulness meditation, the brain appears to be imbalanced, with
considerable activity in the left front cortex - the part of the brain
associated with evaluating.
In contrast, EEG patterns during the Transcendental Meditation technique
characteristically show global coherent alpha waves, which are correlated
with the simplest form of awareness or pure consciousness. This EEG pattern
isn't seen in other practices of meditation.
Neural imaging of the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique
shows that the front and back of the brain, the attentional system, are more
awake and active than when one is just sitting with one's eyes closed, while
the thalamus, which is the gateway of experience, is less active.
In other words, this indicates an experience of restful alertness. The
attentional system is alert, while the mental experience is inward rather
than outward.
"The response of the audience was very positive," Dr. Travis said. "They saw
the necessity to differentiate the various forms of meditation."
He said the most difficult concept for them to understand was that the
Transcendental Meditation technique is effortless. They had assumed it
entailed concentration, but the EEG and neural imaging made clear that the
mind was in a restfully alert state, especially as compared to the other
forms of meditation.
Dr. Travis explained that the practice can be effortless because it is based
on the natural tendency of the mind to go in a direction of greater charm.
And because it is natural and effortless, the characteristic EEG patterns
are seen within two months of an individual's first beginning the practice.
"We need to continue to clarify this critical point that the Transcendental
Meditation technique is effortless and uses the natural tendency of the
mind," Dr. Travis said.
Also, faculty member David Scharf gave a poster presentation at the
conference titled "A New Angle on the Neural Correlates of Consciousness:
Insights from Maharishi Vedic Science." He said that the foundational
importance of Maharishi's programs and knowledge are increasingly being
recognized.
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| omjaroo 2006-04-28, 11:23 am |
| Kylee,
Hi, and welcome to alt.yoga :-)
In my opinion the quickest way to get up to speed about yoga is to
read,
Yoga: The 8 steps to health and peace, by Richard L Hittleman
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/09...ng=UTF8&s=books
I have found this book to be well written, easy to read and accessible
to my western sensibilities. In this book Hittleman introduces yogic
philosophy, the major paths/techniques and basic hatha and meditation
practice. A great introduction to the width and breath of yoga.
Jared
o
^
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| howdydave 2006-04-28, 6:22 pm |
| Howdy Kylee!
I would recommend the writings of Swami Vivekananda.
He is the man (or one of the men) who first introduced
yoga to the west from India between 1893 and 1902..
If you would like to focus on a specific discipline, try one
of these three:
Raja-Yoga
Jnana-Yoga
Karma-Yoga and Bhakti-Yoga
or you can get all 3 in one book:
Vivekananda: The Yogas and Other Works
They are published by The Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center.
Dave
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| howdydave 2006-04-28, 6:22 pm |
| Howdy Kylee!
I would recommend the writings of Swami Vivekananda.
He is the man (or one of the men) who first introduced
yoga to the west from India between 1893 and 1902.
If you would like to focus on a specific discipline, try one
of these three:
Raja-Yoga
Jnana-Yoga
Karma-Yoga and Bhakti-Yoga
or you can get all 3 in one book:
Vivekananda: The Yogas and Other Works
The book I have contains a series of lectures he gave in
London and the USA. They were all designed to introduce
people to yoga.
I assume that all of the Yoga books are introductory lectures.
They are published by:
The Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center.
http://www.ramakrishna.org/
Dave
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| howdydave 2006-05-01, 6:24 pm |
| Howdy Kylee!
I just purchased
Vivekananda: The Yogas and Other Works
for approx. $35.
If you are an avid reader, this is definately the one to get.
900+ pages.
It looks like Vivekananda's Jnana-Yoga is the only
"Yoga book" presented as a series of lectures.
Dave
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