Yoga for Beginners: Simple Yoga Poses to Calm Your Mind and Strengthen Your Body Paperback – August 10, 2015

I am just getting into yoga using an app from the Play store, and I was looking for something to supplement the exercises as I need ALL the help I can get. Since I'm trying to do this more or less on my own, I wanted something that would offer more detail and instruction to use with the app. I bought one book which was waaaaaaaay too much for me. This one, however, is fantastic. It is truly a guide for beginners.The instructions are simple and easy to understand. The way the book is organized is perfect (for me), as it goes through warm up, exercises (broken into chapters for sitting, standing, etc.), and cool down.ALSO I really like that it gives the reader the purpose for each exercise. I like to know why I'm doing something and what I'm supposed to be getting out of it. This helps me know if I'm hitting the target or not.Finally, there is a lot of great, general information about yoga. The book also provides exercises for certain ailments, like back pain, as well as meditation techniques and tips.In short, this is a good place to start and would be a great accompaniment to any beginner's yoga practice. I am extremely happy I found it!Hope this review helps!

I was hoping to start a regular yoga practice and looked for a book that would help me study and learn yoga poses. This book met the need. Chapter 1 (Basics) does just that. It defines yoga, give brief history, covers styles and explains reasons to do yoga. Chapter 2 (Practice) talks about starting yoga practice, what gear is essential and introduces daily poses. Chapter 3 (The Essential Yoga Poses) systematically goes through warm up, standing and cool-down poses. The instructions for each poses are clear as are the illustrations. Chapter 4 (Sequences) goes over common sequences and provides 10 beginner sequences. The last chapters focus on nutrition and meditation. There is a terrific library of yoga poses and a good index at the end of the chapters. It helps me identify poses I want to work to learn and helps me go back and figure out poses that went by too quickly in yoga classes. Really a terrific little book with solid content.

I recently received a free copy of this book and I've dabbled in yoga a few times over the years but just couldn't get into it so I decided to give this book a read.Wow -- there is a lot more to yoga than I had thought. This book really breaks it down and explains a lot about yoga. I had no idea there were different types of yoga, even though I have attended yoga classes in the past no one ever explained that to me. Without reading this book I would have never known that. This book really tells you about each different types of yoga and how it can be used to help you manage different aspects of your life.Do I think after reading this book I am a yoga expert or that doing yoga can take all the stress out of my life? No. But it was interesting to read and I think someone who really wants to get into yoga and practice daily would enjoy this book.I do however, like that this book has illustrations of different yoga poses as well as their purposed use. As someone who runs/cycles/lifts weights daily there are often times when I really need to stretch a certain muscle/muscle group and the stretches I know just aren't working so I am hoping some of the illustrations and directions to certain poses in this book can help with that and possibly be a new way to stretch muscle groups. So far I only used a couple hip opening poses from this book and they felt really great. The fact that all poses are labeled with purpose is a big plus.I received this book complimentary in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

This book is perfect for someone who is new to Yoga. The book has five sections. The first discusses basics and defines a lot of "yoga" words. The second section discusses the importance of practicing and having a clear space and mind for your yoga practice. The third section describes and shows illustrations of the proper poses, tells you the name of each pose, describes what benefits the pose offers, and even offers counter-poses if you are not ready for this pose yet. There are also helpful tips for each pose. Once you learn the poses the fourth section gives you lists of sequences to choose from. The fifth section discusses your diet and nutrition and how to be mindful when you eat and when making decisions of what to eat. Section six discusses the importance and types of meditation to practice. Lastly section seven discusses specialty cases like yoga over 60 and yoga while pregnant. There is also an appendix with just illustrations as a reminder and a glossary of terms in case you get confused or need to refresh your memory. A great book for someone thinking about starting a yoga regimen.I personally LOVE doing yoga and I especially love doing it in the morning so that it sets the tone of the entire day to a relaxing and thankful feeling for being alive. I always feel rejuvenated and refreshed after a yoga session and recommend it to anyone, with skills at any level. *I received a sample of this item in return for an honest and unbiased review*