The spiritual power of yoga - from the ten million-copy bestselling author of The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success In recent years, yoga has exploded in popularity. Yet for most North Americans, yoga remains just another exercise routine - a good option if you want to increase flexibility or relieve stress.

The spiritual power of yoga - from the ten million-copy bestselling author of The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success In recent years, yoga has exploded in popularity. Yet for most North Americans, yoga remains just another exercise routine - a good option if you want to increase flexibility or relieve stress. According to Deepak Chopra and David Simon, however, this simplistic view ignores the spiritual side of yoga - its profound power to unite body, mind, and spirit and bring about enlightenment. Now, in this new book, they show how everyone can explore yoga's spiritual dimension - and integrate all the layers of their lives. Yoga means "union" in Sanskrit, and the authors begin by exploring the eight traditional yoga branches - the entry points to this union. The branches address such things as behavior, attention, awareness, the senses, and energy, and only one of them, asana, corresponds to the "positions" or poses people typically associate with yoga. Chopra and Simon then show people how to understand the seven spiritual laws that govern nature - Pure Potentiality, Giving, Karma, Least Effort, Intention and Desire, Detachment, and Dharma - and how to integrate these laws into their daily lives using meditation, breathing, asana, and other yoga practices. Complete with more than 50 photographs illustrating yoga poses, this new Chopra blockbuster is essential for anyone who wants to embrace yoga's spiritual potential - and lead a happier, more abundant, more harmonious life. Deepak Chopra, MD (San Diego, CA), is one of the bestselling authors of the last 15 years. His New York Times bestselling books include The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, which has sold more than ten million copies, How to Know God, Perfect Health, and The Path to Love. He has been interviewed widely on programs such as Oprah, Larry King Live and Good Morning America (for The Chopra Center Cookbook, 047145404-4) and featured on the cover of Time. David Simon, MD (San Diego, CA), is the Medical Director of the Chopra Center and the author of Vital Energy (0-471-39859-4) and Return to Wholeness (0-471-34964-X).

Publisher:

John Wiley & Sons

ISBN:

9780471736271

Publication date:

August 2005

Length:

217mm

Width:

141mm

Thickness:

15mm

Weight:

272g

Pages:

207

Illustrations:

Illustrated

Readership:

General

Illustrated:

Illustrated

While most current guides focus on yoga's asana (physical practice), this concise book emphasizes its spiritual aspects. Chopra (Ageless Body, Timeless Mind) and Simon (medical director, Chopra Ctr.) are both pioneers in the field of holistic health, having mixed Western medicine with natural Eastern hearing traditions. They lucidly explain the complexities of Vedic science and discuss how to apply its spiritual aspects to a yoga routine. Their overriding message is that if practitioners combine the components of a good yoga practice - breathing, meditation, postures (illustrated with photographs), bandhas (means of breath control), and Chopra's seven spiritual laws, they are promised physical, emotional, and spiritual rewards. Good for both beginners and advances students, this is an excellent choice for most yoga collections. ( Library Journal, July 2004)

Just as no one would argue that gravity applies only to England because Sir Isaac Newton was British or that Einstein's theory of relativity was relevant only in Germany...the principles of yoga are not limited by time or space, say Chopra, author of The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, and Simon, medical director for the Chopra Center. Their guide is written in such a clear, sensible way that those new to yoga will wonder why they've not tried it before. Seasoned practitioners will find themselves reinvigorated and may learn a new breathing technique or meditation. Starting with descriptions of the two most popular frameworks, Shankara and Patanjali, the authors then list the seven laws of spirituality that neatly correspond to the seven days of the week. Extensive explanations of several types ofmeditation-- chakra, so hum breath technique, awareness, attention/intention-- are followed by the most common breathing exercises and thorough instructions for a variety of asanas (poses). Photographs complete the instructional portion of the book, making it especially useful for beginners. The final pages bring the program together with a suggested routine that combines all of the above into a perfect blend of theory and practice. ( Publishers Weekly, June 28, 2004)