(Part 3) Top products from r/yoga

Welcome. Namaste. My humble suggestion is in agreement with Plutoid--order the sampler box. Hot yoga certainly doesn't have a corner on the market in being the most beneficial physically. It is on the athletic side, but as is several types of hatha yoga, power yoga etc. And I've been reading that the benefits of the heat tend to be more personal/experiential than scientific.

I'm no gymnast but Vinyasa has been the perfect equilibrium of physicality in postures (asanas), paired with breath strengthening (pranayama). I'd suggest you give it a shot to perfect your breathing, and then move on to the more physically demanding versions.

Re-reading your post, you did enjoy the heat--so my suggestion is to follow that direction if you still prefer it over the other styles, having worked on breath in this evaluative period.

Sidenote, in a very un-yogi-like observation, the founder of Bikram yoga, Bikram Choudhury, has been accused of many wrongdoings over the years. Despite the help and power he's given people over the years, he actually began to copyright his sequence of poses, which amassed him billions of dollars. In addition to his materialistic (and sometimes bizarre) pursuits, he has also been accused of sexual harassment by his disciples and trainees. If I did do hot yoga, I'd rather support a local studio that's not the Bikram brand.

Good luck and enjoy!

PS If you're interested in the spirituality and contemporary history, I highly recommend Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramhansa Yogananda. He was a Shakespeare merged with a Buddha. Beautiful writing about Hindu yogic spirituality and his journey helping to bring yoga to America in the early 20th century.

I do both weightlifting 3 times a week and yoga everyday. My motivation for starting yoga is the exact same reason as yours. This is what I've learned.

Compound weightlifting exercises will fix your posture more than yoga will. Because these postural issues are usually created by lack of muscle in certain areas of your body, most likely your upper back. In order to fix this you need to build muscle. The most effective way to do that is barbell exercises because you can control and increment the load easily.

Sorry, despite what many on this subreddit think, yoga isn't very effective at building muscle or strength. It isn't a fix all solution. If you want the most bang for your buck for fixing posture then you'll need to lift. And you should want this because you're 35. You don't have time to waste when undoing years of damage.

Follow the [Starting Strength](Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0982522738/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Od2mDbPWCCCHD) method by Mark Rippetoe. It's a great novice program that teaches you correct form for the most effective barbell exercises.

Having said that, yoga will help, but it'll take months of daily practice before you notice any improvement. After that, there will be severe diminishing returns. It's a very inefficient way to achieve your goal of improving posture. I learned this the hard way.

On the other hand, you'll notice improvement from weightlifting within the first 6 workouts, and it'll compound shortly after that.

OK, so shaking when doing crunches isn't because you're stretching something, it's related to contracting muscles (ie your abdominal muscles tighten to pull your chest closer to your knees) and your muscles not being used to that movement. You can google it and see that it's a fairly common issue for people.

BUT since it aggravates your head injury, I agree with the other person - maybe ask for a referral to a physical therapist or someone else who can guide you to restoring normal physical activity safely.

I know it may sound lame, but there's some pretty good chair yoga out there for people who can't invert. Also this Iyengar book is really great, it breaks down all the common poses and has many sequences in the back for various ailments. It doesn't have one specifically for your situation but it might be useful.

6'3 here and I use a jade harmony 74" mat in hot yoga classes. I am by far one of the sweatiest people in the class and the mat holds up very well. It's $70 shipped from amazon w/ amazon prime. Fantastic reviews. Eco friendly. Amazing grip.


Get it.


http://www.amazon.com/Jade-Harmony-Professional-16-Inch-Yoga/dp/B000ECD6N2

A great book to read is Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda.

Yogananda came to America to teach advanced higher yoga techniques, and he started Self Realization Fellowship as a vehicle to teach people divine communion through higher yoga.

Check out their website for more information.

Their Kriya Yoga path of Meditation is particularly powerful.

The Self Realization lessons (which teaches how to do Kriya Yoga and other advanced techniques) comes with an app that includes video and audio lessons on how to do the techniques.

SRF also has monks and nuns who are available to answer questions, and they has many centers and local meditation groups throughout the world.

The techniques are very powerful, and the lessons give a complete and thorough explanation of how to do achieve higher states of consciousness through inner yoga.

I started with Basic Yoga Workout for Dummies in 2009. It's very good, easy to follow and the instructor didn't make me want to rip out my eyeballs or pop my eardrums. There's a workout session that takes you through the Sun Salute, and there's a section that just goes through 12 basic poses and gets you used to those.

When I first started, I just went through the 12 poses for a couple weeks. They're simple, well explained, and there's plenty of time to switch and rest. Then, I started with the Sun Salute part and did that for a while. I found that when I finally joined a gym and took yoga there, I had a really good start and could follow along easily.

The main part of yoga is definitely the breathing, so focus on that instead of pushing yourself into uncomfortable positions (that'll come later and you won't hurt yourself) and you should be golden!

LINKS FOR CONVENIENCE

• The Heart of Yoga; developing a personal practice by T.K.V. Desikachar.
  
  
• The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga: A Practical Guide to Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit by Deepak Chopra
  
  and in case you meant this too (but I don't think so)
  
  
• The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams by Deepak Chopra

I think Yoga Body is a great selection. Looking forward to the discussion! My book suggestion would be Yoga and the Quest for the True Self by Stephen Cope. He shares personal stories about himself, his friends, and the Kripalu community in order to illustrate the transformative power of yoga on the whole being. As a former psychotherapist, he draws many links between yoga and western psychology.

http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Quest-True-Self-Stephen/dp/055337835X

I would recommend a Yin yoga practice once or twice a week. I use this program: http://www.amazon.com/Yin-Yoga-Foundations-Quiet-Practice/dp/B000B5871I/

There is a hip series in there that works very hard on the pelvis, and a spine series that goes after the hamstrings as well. I find that these long stretches have been great for me. However, be warned that they can be quite gruelling the first few times. This work will free up your hips and teach you what are just the natural ranges of your body.

Warrior series will also be good, but you have to really work on the extension of the rear leg and the pelvis position and your alignment. Over time this will help you, especially in combination with the yin. If you're in the correct alignment you will feel a significant stretch across the front hip of the rear leg - focus on pushing through the rear heel. Crescent pose might work but you might find that without the anchored heel you cannot get the pelvis where it needs to be.

As for downward dog, it just takes a long time and you shouldn't try and force it. It's more important to have a straight back and work the pelvis than it is to have straight legs and your feet flat. Get the first part right with bent knees and then you can try to straighten your legs.

The pelvis/hips are difficult to get into. I found that a mix of deep stretching (address the symptom) combined with work to strengthen/equalize the musculature (address the cause) was the way to fix it.

This reminds of the book that I read some years ago; very enlightening book. Hope OP will also share her book with us. :)

https://www.amazon.com/Myths-Asanas-Stories-Heart-Tradition/dp/1601090579

Yea, you can buy Paul Grilleys DVDs and he guides you through a practice pretty nicely. He also explains what yin yoga is on the tutorial part. I definitely recommend it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000B5871I/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/180-4104451-2543555

Yes! Second best: Yoga and the Quest for True Self

"Knowledge is rubbish" - Osho

Yoga is primarily experiential. It's the experience of stretching what you call "hips" open. Knowledge and intellectuallism can tell us facts about our hips: they're composed of trillions of cells, they've got fascia, muscle and bone, it feels good to stretch them, push them too hard and you feel pain, etc. But that's all labelling and categorization and the assignment of words performed by the language and understanding centers of your brain. The thing itself is not the word given to it. It's the brain cells that interpret sensation talking to the cells in the hips where the magic of yoga happens. Biologically, the mind-body connection in yoga is largely about increasing activity within the central nervous system. It's about letting go of thought and experiencing your life as it is in the now.

So mostly, a person can be very intellectually "wrong", but still far, far ahead in efficacy of practice over someone who is technically and intellectually "correct".

If you're interested in the philosophical side of yoga, and how belief, religion, science and mythology factor into the practice, check out Bernie Clark's book From the Gita to the Grail. It's a tour-de-force of how the concept of myth and religion things fit into the modern world of science and technology.

As a guy who has been in rehab/PT and now an S&C program for a blown lumbar disc: Heed that advice.

However: Having a blown disc isn't the end of the world.

Get imaging and a PT assessment, and if you cleared to do strength building, I highly recommend you do some light powerlifts (squat, deadlifts, bench). Key word here is LIGHT.

This book is extremely good at getting you started on lifting properly:

http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-3rd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp/0982522738/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415384805&sr=8-1&keywords=starting+strength

I don't understand why I have to scroll to the very bottom to find mention of the yoga sutras. Thank you, these look very interesting, exactly the type of thing I myself was looking for.

EDIT: taking time to click through the links, these are all fantastic suggestions. Now the hard part is just choosing which ones to buy.

Found The Science of Yoga for a dollar + shipping (5 bucks total). Sweet

Also, interested.

I picked up a couple of books at the library that I have been meaning to get through. Only partially started one...

Genuine Happiness: Meditation as the Path to Fulfillment, I just started this one...

And this is the other I am going to be getting to: Wherever You Go, There You Are

You should pick up Light on Yoga
http://www.amazon.com/Light-Yoga-B-K-Iyengar/dp/0007107005
It's a great guide for helping you get into posses.

Right now I'm reading Swami Vivekananda's transliteration of the yoga sutras and I highly recommend it. He wrote his version of the translation over 100+yrs ago and I'm fascinated by the way he worded things because they feel so relevant to today. 'Relevant' even beyond the fact the yoga sutras are a "How to Human" guide, Vivekananda spent time in Europe studying Western philosophy and in his introduction he very effectively lays out the differences between the logic systems of Western philosophy and Yogic philosophy as described in the sutras.

It's in Google Books for $.99 as "The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" but from what I've seen in the Amazon comments, this version is an excerpt from a book he wrote called Raja Yoga (link to it on Amazon) where he translates the sutras and then also talks further about Raja yoga.

You might frame it in terms of other fitness. Ask what movements specifically you should avoid, and that will help you on the mat. The biggest consideration right off the bat will be to avoid hot yoga. If you're already practicing though, continuing to do so is fine. You might snag a book or two. Here's one reference: http://www.amazon.com/Iyengar-Yoga-Motherhood-Practice-Expectant/dp/1402726899 and I'm reasonably sure others have resources they trust.

This is a great book if you want to be able to relate them to the asana.

https://www.amazon.ca/Myths-Asanas-Stories-Heart-Tradition/dp/1601090579

I have the Jade Harmony and I love it.

If you want to cope with anxiety, then you should really look into meditation. I meditate and do yoga, and the meditation does much more for anxiety. And both of them need to be done more regularly than once or twice a week. Regular practice will make you more calm the rest of the time, so that your anxiety will not be triggered so often. It's better used as a preventative than a treatment.

I and many others highly recommend The Mind Illuminated as a starting point for meditation.

I like most of Donna Farhi's books, especially Bringing Yoga to Life where she talks about how she made it a daily practice and incorporated yogic mindset into everyday life.

For really getting into each pose, Iyengar's book Yoga is pretty detailed pose by pose, how to get in and out of each one, plus it has sequences for many common ailments, from depression to varicose veins. I'd suggest attending a few Iyengar classes just to get a better understanding of Iyengar yoga because it's quite different from standard hatha/vinyasa classes.

[Genuine Happiness: Meditation as the Path to Fulfillment] (http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Happiness-Meditation-Path-Fulfillment/dp/047146984X) by B. Alan Wallace

I really liked "The Harvard Medical School Guide to Yoga" by Marlynn Wei.


https://www.amazon.com/Harvard-Medical-School-Guide-Yoga/dp/0738219363/

I'd suggest an experienced teacher or a good book for suggestions
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1402726899?keywords=geeta%20iyengar&qid=1453947839&ref_=sr_1_4&s=books&sr=1-4

When I was first starting out I received this book as a gift. (Light on Yoga by B. K. S. Iyengar) It is still one of my favs.

Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:

Link: From the Gita to the Grail


|Country|Link|
|:-----------|:------------|
|UK|amazon.co.uk|
|Spain|amazon.es|
|France|amazon.fr|
|Germany|amazon.de|
|Japan|amazon.co.jp|
|Canada|amazon.ca|
|Italy|amazon.it|
|China|amazon.cn|




This bot is currently in testing so let me know what you think by voting (or commenting).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/091120623X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1394128027&sr=1-1

This book has pictures and descriptions of 2100 poses https://www.amazon.com/100-Asanas-Complete-Yoga-Poses/dp/1631910108

Autobiography of a Yogi - Paramahansa Yogananda

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Swami Satchidananda

The Yoga Teachers' Toolbox - Le Page

The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita: Explained by Paramhansa Yogananda, As Remembered By His Disciple, Swami Kriyananda

Try I.K. Taimni's The Science of Yoga and/or Swami Satchidananda's The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Deepak Chopra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga

• https://www.amazon.com/Harvard-Medical-School-Guide-Yoga/dp/0738219363
  
  
• Yoga Journal, I think back issues are online.
  
  
• Iyengar's Light on Yoga is the classic.

this is a classic? http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Yogi-Paramahansa-Yogananda/dp/0876120834

I was originally doing Zazen (Soto style Shikantaza). Now I am working through the book "The Mind Illuminated"

(So it's more buddhism style).

Check out the book linked below. I just pick up a copy. My only criticism is they just show the final pose, not how to get into it or transitions, but if they did, it would be a five volume encyclopaedia.

https://www.amazon.com/100-Asanas-Complete-Yoga-Poses/dp/1631910108