20 MINUTES TO MASTER ... YOGA. Cheryl Isaacson

      

IN THE SAME SERIES

      20 Minutes to Master Buddhism

      20 Minutes to Master Feng Shui

      20 Minutes to Master Meditation

      20 Minutes to Master NLP

      20 Minutes to Master Past Life Therapy

      20 Minutes to Master Pilates

      20 Minutes to Master Stress Management

      20 Minutes to Master Wicca

      20 Minutes to Master Your Psychic Potential

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      Cheryl Isaacson is an experienced yoga practitioner and teacher. She has written extensively on health, fitness and alternative medicine and is also the author of Yoga Step by Step.

ABOUT THIS BOOK

      This book is split into two parts. The first part, First Directions: Yoga, is an original, previously published work from an expert in the field. It’s a comprehensive and insightful introduction to the subject, explaining the ideas and techniques that will allow you to develop a true understanding and practise it every day.

      The second part is 20 Minutes to Master Yoga, which you’ll find here. This is your Yoga cheat-sheet – a short and lucid look at the ideas and techniques covered in the first section, which will only take you 20 minutes to read. It’s a powerful and invaluable resource that you’ll return to again and again.

      If you want to truly master Yoga – in both the short term and the long term – look no further. The answers are here.

      

      CONTENTS

       Cover

       Title Page

       In the Same Series

       About the Author

       About this Book

       FIRST DIRECTIONS: YOGA

       YOGA

       1 What is Yoga?

       2 The Origins of Yoga

       3 What Can Yoga Do for Me?

       4 Finding a Teacher and Class

       5 Getting Physical – Doing the Postures

       6 Yoga and Meditation

       7 Yoga and Diet

       8 Yoga for Specific Problems

       Resource Guide

       20 MINUTES TO MASTER YOGA

       1 What is Yoga?

       2 Getting Physical – Doing the Postures

       Copyright

       About the Publisher

YOGA

      Yoga is a time-honoured system of balancing mind, body and spirit.

CHAPTER 1

       WHAT IS YOGA?

      NOT JUST KNOTS …

      What do you think of when someone mentions yoga? People bending and stretching, balancing and twisting, in the classic poses now familiar to the health scene? Deep relaxation and mind control? Chanting and meditating and staring into candle flames? If so, then you are right on all counts – but you are only seeing part of the whole. The practices that we call ‘yoga’ today are just one small part of what is actually a many-sided, practical, life-enhancing discipline.

      Yoga was originally part of the mystical wisdom of Indian philosophy, but today we mostly concentrate on the body postures, or asanas, with perhaps some breath control and a little meditation thrown in. The postures certainly help you to become fit and supple, but they are only one aspect of the complete way of life that yoga can bring.

      Yoga also offers:

       practical techniques for living life healthily and holistically, from following the correct diet to deep breathing and body strengthening

       a complete code of ethics for daily life

       simple methods for relaxing and meditating

       postures for a toned, supple, healthy, strong body

       tried and tested ways to find profound personal peace and stability.

      Yoga can affect your whole life and there are many different ways of applying it. It is not just for the young and