Yoga for the Three Stages of Life: Developing Your Practice as an Art Form, a Physical Therapy and a Guiding Philosophy »

Srivatsa Ramaswami has taught yoga in universities, hospitals, and schools in India for more than twenty years. A familiar figure on Indian radio and television, he now teaches workshops throughout the United States as well.

Essential reading for those looking to customize their practice to life's changing needs.

• Includes sections on vedic chanting, throat breathing, and exercises for women.

• Presents a unique portrait of T. Krishnamacharya and his teachings.

For 33 years Ramaswami studied with the legendary T. Krishnamacharya, teacher of B.K.S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and T.K.V. Desikachar and perhaps the most influential figure in the field of yoga in the last 100 years. Since that time he has developed Krishnamacharya's teaching into what may be the most highly evolved program available for making yoga a way of life, rather than simply a routine. In seventeen chapters Ramaswami lays out the whole philosophy of yoga, including principles for right living, postures, breathing practices, meditation practices, and mental disciplines.

Key to Ramaswami's teaching is the focus on adapting yoga to individual needs and to different stages of life. During the early part of life, learning yoga as a physical art form is most beneficial for the self-confidence and discipline it instills. In middle age, yoga should focus on physical therapy and maintaining optimum health as far into life as possible. In the last stages of life, the practitioner will be ready to focus on the ultimate goal of yoga--true understanding of the philosophy behind it and the realization of truth.

Srivatsa Ramaswami has taught yoga in universities, hospitals, and schools in India for more than twenty years. A familiar figure on Indian radio and television, he now teaches workshops throughout the United States as well.

Internet Book Watch

Individuals ready to devote their lives to the field of yoga will find Yoga For The Three Stages Of Life an excellent introduction which blends the usual guide to postures and meditation practices with insights on adapting yoga to individual needs and different stages of life. Young and old receive appropriate discussions of yoga techniques geared to age, sex and ability.

Yoga for the Three Stages of Life
Developing Your Practice As an Art Form, a Physical Therapy, and a Guiding Philosophy

Acknowledgments Introduction
Part One: Yoga Siddhanta, or Theory
1. My Studies with Sri T. Krisnamacarya and Others
2. The Story of Patanjali
3. What Is Yoga?
4. Advanced Yoga
5. Mantrayoga
6. The Eight-Part Yoga and Its Ten Commandments
Part Two: Yoga Sadhana, or Practice
7. Standing Postures
8. Supine Postures
9. Sarvangasana and Sirsasana
10. Prone Postures and the Spine
11. Pascimatanam
12. Padmasana and Other Postures for Yoga Sadhana
13. Yogic Breathing Exercises and Their Health Benefits
14. Yoga for Women
15. Yoga Texts
16. Antaranga Sadhana
17. Freedom

Glossary Index