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

Front Cover
Simon and Schuster, Jan 1, 2001 - Health & Fitness - 272 pages
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.
 

Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction
Yoga Siddhānta or Theory
My Studies with Śrī T Kriṣṇamācārya and Others 2 The Story of Patañjali
What Is Yoga?
Advanced Yoga
Mantrayoga
The EightPart Yoga and Its Ten Commandments
Standing Postures
Sarvāṅgāsana and Śīrṣāsana
Prone Postures and the Spine
Paścimatānam
Padmāsana and Other Postures for Yoga Sādhana
Yogic Breathing Exercises and Their Health Benefits
Yoga for Women
Yoga Texts
Antaraṅga Sādhana

Supine Postures

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2001)

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.

Bibliographic information