1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book for beginners, Jun 13 2001
I have bought several yoga tapes marked as "Beginner" only to get frustrated by how quickly they go from one pose/position to another without regard for the real beginners. I thought I would never learn the terms and poses - and would have to ditch my tapes.
This book saved me!!! It provided step by step guides to each pose - visually so that you can walk yourself through the steps to acheive the position. It's a great first step to learning the basics. With this foundation I am now ready to tune into the tapes I have purchased and truly experience yoga!!!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good introduction to yoga actually intended for beginners, April 29 2002
By A Customer
I give this book 4 stars for its organization, simplicity, and attention to the needs of true beginners; I give it 3 stars for its yoga program.
This book's strength is that it is really intended for beginners. The layout of the book is easy to follow, and the focus is on the exercises, which are divided into two routines of different levels and which are actually doable. (No twisting legs behind heads here.) These routines take about 45 minutes from warm ups to relaxation if done at a brisk pace or about 1 hour if done with more resting in between asanas. The authors also give a basic and brief introduction to other aspects of the yogi life.
I am using this book as a complement to my introductory yoga class to improve my flexibility and strength to a point where I can begin a more intermediate level of yoga. The book works fairly well for that purpose, allowing me to focus on developing strength and improving flexibility in key areas for key poses. I would definitely recommend either taking a yoga class for a couple of weeks or working with someone who is more advanced in their yoga practice to see the poses in action, get feedback on posture, and hear other interpretations of the poses.
This leads me to what I feel are the book's weaknesses. The poses are adequately, even well, explained and photographed, but I find that the authors do not do as good of a job explaining how to come out of the asanas the safest way possible. (They do hint at this, but here a more experienced yoga person could help.) I find that my lower back is often stiff following workouts unless I switch the order of the last few poses, and I have to expand the warm ups and bring in cool down stretches from my class in order to prevent injury better.
Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to someone looking to get into yoga. I think that seniors especially may find this approach to yoga helpful, particularly with the recommended modifications. (Even less intimidating than this book is Yoga for Wimps, which modifies most, if not all, of the asanas; however, that book does not intend to prepare its followers to pursue more advanced levels of yoga. In contrast, Yoga for Beginners allows users to keep to its program or work towards a more difficult method.)
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Useful Book For Beginners, Jan 14 2004
If you have no prior experience and want to jump right into a routine, this is the book for you. In fact, it serves that purpose better than any other yoga book I've seen so far. It's design is simple yet clever, and allows the user to study the instructions and accompanying photos of the various poses while simultaneously attempting them. The descriptions and illustrations are understandable and well-organized.
This is strictly a beginner's book, and that point is clearly stated in the title, but for that reason it is fairly limited in scope. The authors cover several important poses in great detail, but you may want to explore further and cross-reference with other books. Another that I'd recommend highly is called Hatha Yoga Illustrated, which I've also reviewed.
Overall, Yoga For Beginners is a great starting place for those looking to dive in head first. It will give you a good sense of the time needed to learn and perform a full routine. You'll be attempting your first poses literally within minutes of cracking the book open!
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