The Women's Health Big Book of Yoga: The Essential Guide to Complete Mind/Body Fitness

This is absolutely one of my favorite Yoga overview books. And I have read a lot of them!Kathryn Budig happens to be one of my FAVORITE instructors. I have taken dozens of classes from her on YogaGlo. She has a bright, engaging and fun personality. Her classes are challenging! But she approaches them in such a way that it all seems possible if you're willing to take it at your own pace.Now onto the book, Kathryn Budig gives an introduction on the history of yoga which is approachable. A lot of the terms can be hard to grasp but she teaches you about them in a relatable way. She talks about the different types, what you might need to start a practice and why it's good for you. She answers many of the most asked questions by new yoga students.She gives a chapter on mindful eating and a three day cleanse. Very worth it and not filled with crazy ingredients. Most ingredients you can find at major grocery stores.She walks readers through many of the essential poses and sequences in a very readable way with excellent cues. She then goes onto give readers a large number of sequences geared towards a specific improvement you'd like to see. She does Total Body, Yoga for Health, Yoga for Athletes, Yoga and your hormones, Yoga for Moms, Yoga for Sex and Yoga for life.If you are a new student, or even a seasoned yogi I can't recommend this book highly enough. It never hurts to get back to the basics.

I just got this book today, so I haven't had a chance to go through every single page, but I am so impressed! It includes:* a brief overview of the history of yoga* language of yoga* benefits of yoga* answers to common questions on yoga* touches on some of the deeper spiritual aspects of yoga (enough to give a taste of it, but not to overwhelm)* how yoga keeps you fit* conscious eating and even includes a sample meal plan with a few recipes!That's just the first 40 pages :) THEN the book goes onto:* a thorough break down of every essential yoga pose with beautiful photographic spreads that have anatomical cues* fun 15 minute sequences you can do at home to target different parts of the body (ie.legs, arms, butt, etc...), special health-focused sequences (ie. pms, hangover, carpal tunnel, back pain, etc...), performance sequences (ie. basketball, golf, climbing, etc.), emotional health (ie. anxiety, relaxation, broken heart, etc...) and much MORE!I am a yoga teacher and I would recommend this to any student seeking to perfect their asanas and gain a general understanding of yogic philosophy. However, if you're looking to get deep into the philosophy of yoga, this would not be the book I recommend. There are many other yoga books on anatomy and philosophy. However, I found this book to be very user friendly and well thought out guide to deepening your yogic practice! I believe that every yogi and/or yogini would benefit from having this book in their library.

I purchased the Yoga and Pilates exercise books. I have noted that I already do some of the exercises in my exercise routines. I like the detailed presentations of each exercise, and having each exercise in color is a plus. The Big Books of Yoga and Pilates are worth the price.

I'm not a beginner to yoga, so I already know a lot of poses but wanted to broaden and deepen my knowledge. The book is useful in that it details lots of poses in nice big pictures accompanied by explanations, and divided into categories like standing poses, seated poses, arm poses, etc. What is missing for me here that I was hoping to find is a little more information on the benefits of the different poses. There's just a picture and a description of how to do it. I guess I was looking to get a better understanding of poses, especially the ones I already know, by learning how they are useful and effect my body. For example, most yogis will tell you that hip openers are great for relieving stress. Something along the lines of that is what I wanted to find about various poses and didn't. Many poses in the book also offer variations (some harder, some easier), but again there is no description of the benefits. In fact, it doesn't even specify which are modifications and which are more challenging variations. I think most people will be able to figure that out though, it just seems like an easy and obvious thing to include. Overall, I'm happy with the purchase. Like I said, it's a good reference for a lot of poses, but don't expect to learn about the benefits of the poses (though she does spend a bit of time at the beginning on the benefits of yoga, which I didn't really need because I already do it!) or anything on how to select poses for a sequence (I know there are other books on this topic, just pointing out it isn't covered in this one).In addition to the pictures and descriptions of how to get into the poses, there is a wide assortment of routines you can do in 15 minutes or less, also divided into categories. There's an AM routine, a PM routine, a routine for energy, routines for athletes of various sports, and even routines for your sex life ;) Again, it would have been nice to learn about the individual poses so that maybe I could choose specific poses for my needs but I think a lot of the routines she included will be very useful for me, especially given that I am making it a goal to get more yoga into my everyday schedule. Being able to get 15 minutes into a busy day is great!I do really like the book and think it's going to serve as a great reference for me currently. Beginners CANNOT skip attending classes though, at least for a while until you learn the proper way to execute poses. This book does not provide enough detail on alignment for those new to yoga, and it is important to have a teacher help you learn what the alignment feels like because you just can't see yourself while all twisted up!Lastly, I do really like the description at the beginning of the book on the 8 limbs of yoga. This is something that WILL help to increase my knowledge and understanding of yoga, and she puts things in very easy-to-understand terms. Really helpful. I like how she relates it to a modern, "normal" life. For example, she discusses how some yogis feel that you shouldn't eat meat as an extension of the non-violence tenet, but emphasizes that there are other options including sustainable and/or local meats and eating it in moderation. This portion of the book also includes a bit on diet like a 3-day cleanse. As someone with a good understanding of nutrition (studied it at University) who eats a "clean" diet already and doesn't struggle with weight issues I don't find this very useful. Others might be interested to try it, though, and the recipes looked reasonably easy and the diet seems safe.All in all I think there is enough here that I consider this a useful purchase that I will enjoy learning from for a while as I try incorporating more yoga into my week with her short routines.