Yoga for the Three Stages of Life: Developing Your Practice As an Art Form, a Physical Therapy, and a Guiding PhilosophyEssential 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
My Studies with Śri T Kriṣṇamācārya and Others | 8 |
The Story of Patañjali | 21 |
3 What is Yoga? | 30 |
4 Advanced Yoga | 36 |
5 Mantrayoga | 62 |
6 The EightPart Yoga and Its Ten Commandments | 87 |
Yoga Sādhana or Practice | 93 |
Standing Postures | 94 |
Paścimatānam | 156 |
Padmāsana and Other Postures for Yoga Sādhana | 165 |
Yogic Breathing Exercises and Their Health Benefits | 189 |
Yoga for Woment | 212 |
Yoga Texts | 227 |
Freed0k | 236 |
Glossar7 | 242 |
Glossary | 246 |
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Common terms and phrases
abdominal achieve ankles apāna arms overhead āsana asanas aśvamedha attain balance bend benefits big toe body Brahman called chanting chapter chest citta daṇḍāsana darśana deity devas devotee dhyāna exercise exhalation feet fingers floor hands hathayoga heels helps hips holding the breath Inhale and raise jalandhara bandha japa kaivalya kapālabhāti karma karmāśayas keep your palms kleśa knees known kriyayoga kumbhaka Lord Siva lower Mahābhāṣya mantras meditation mental mind movement muscles nāḍīs neck nirodha one's padmāsana Patanjali pelvic position posture prakṛti prāṇa prāṇāyāma press your palms pūjā Purāņas purușa raise your arms recitation right leg sadhana sage Salabhasana samadhi samasthiti Samkhya samskāras samyama Sankara Sanskrit sarvāngāsana śāstras sattvic shoulders siddhis side śīrṣāsana sitting Śiva slowly spine Śrī Kriṣṇamācārya stages Stay sthiti stretch suryanamaskāra sūtra svādhyāya tāḍāsana tapas tattvas teacher thigh tion trikoṇāsana ujjāyī Upanisad utkaṭāsana vairagya variations Vedic vinyāsas vṛtti Yajur Veda yoga yoga practice Yogasūtras yogi yogic