Book Review of Yoga; the Iyengar Way by Silva, Mira and Shyam Mehta
This is a wonderful book to add to your yoga library. It is well put together with expressive photographs and explanations that create a clear understanding. This is a great book for a beginner, but it also offers solid information for someone who has been practicing for a while. What I appreciate about this book is that most of it is comprised of floor postures. If I’m really tired, I can simply move from page to page without even once being asked to stand up. There is a good balance between a variety of ways you can bend or twist or pose your body in order to feel looser in limb and joint, fresher in muscle, and more relaxed, as well as centered and peaceful.
When you end up with a decent collection of yoga books, you can often find yourself picking one up, starting a series, and then grabbing another book as what you need that day isn’t offered in the first book. When you find a book that works for you more than most, it becomes a good friend. This book is such a thing to me. Mine is so worn, the pages flip easily and feel like fine leather as it is one of my top two books that I reach for more than most.
The authors are family to each other and all three became students of B.K. Iyengar at a young age. Silva was in an accident when she was 25 in which she sustained a crush fracture of the spine. She was in tremendous pain, in a few years developed osteoarthritis, and was told that she would end up in a wheelchair by the time she was fifty. For her, yoga gave her periodic, almost miraculous lifting of pain, and with time escape from the depression caused by physical agony. Her physical health has improved and she is now far from being in a wheelchair. Mira was brought up with yoga and took classes with Mr. Iyengar from early childhood as she was stiff and weak, suffering from a curvature of the spine and painful headaches and leg aches. In her late teens, she developed chronic backache, which in turn affected her stamina and concentration. She has gained health and strength, as well as flexibility. Her early problems have virtually disappeared, and the postures are no longer unattainable. Shyam has always been healthy. So for him, his practice brings focus and calm of mind. He also uses it for the occasional headache and tiredness from having done too much. The sisters’ vision with this book shows as this is something that people with illness and injury can approach.
Obviously, you must tailor it to your own specific needs and abilities, but each pose is so clearly explained that with understanding what you are aiming for, you can create a movement within what you know you are able to do that will provide a similar function. This book can empower you to do that for yourself. It has for me, and I am very grateful to the authors for having created such a solid resource.
Article written by Juanita Marshall, © 2007 butyoudontlooksick.com
