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"If a teacher says that they teach Hatha yoga rather than Hattha yoga (phonetically spelt) they can't pronounce what they teach!!"
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As(h)tanga yoga- The practicer manual and practice cards David Swenson The definitive practice manual and DVDs for teachers and people from beginners to advanced for primary and secondary series,wherever they are on the path of asana. David Swensons website Alternatively if you are up and running on the sequence and would like another guide you can download and/or print out the whole sequence for free! This is postions only nothing instructional. ashtangayoga.info/ashtanga-yoga/index.html ________________________________________________________________________________________ |
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Stephen cope yoga and the quest for the true self/ yoga wisdom A brilliant and deep, needed and insightful bible from a man who went on a yoga retreat for 3 months and left after 10 years! A great mind blowing book if you have got the bug for yoga, for teachers and students alike, Wisdom of Yoga is another depth of knowledge and experience. These books are so needed with the huge amounts of Fluff and Crap out there considered to be "about yoga", addressing also the road of the western need to separate the sacred and the profane! Synopsis
Book Review: Kali’s Odiyya Amaranda Bhairavan Publisher Nicholas Hays This is a lovely book. A highly evocative and fascinating study of a young boy’s formative years living in Karingkalchuttor, a small, matriarchal village in “Shambu” and his partner “Sandhya” are both chosen to become servants of Kali and this book is Shambu’s memoirs of their training to become “Odiyyas”, - shamans. Odiyyas are masters of body-mind who have attained enlightenment, transcending space-time, and who freely manifest incredible powers and abilities and can move between different planes of reality. “Kali’s Odiyya” is both a fascinating record of community and social structure, spiritual practices and ancient rituals in a village which sadly no longer exists, and, at times, a quite mind-blowing exploration of spiritual experiences and metaphysical philosophy. It reads as a novel, submerging you into Karingkalchuttor culture so effectively you can smell the flowers and spices, hear the chanting and see the imagery, and it is quite a page-turner. Shambu’s descriptions of his experiences give you a first hand glimpse at what Samadhi may be like, and transition of human form to enter the astral world. He and Sandhya are guided by an aghori, a mystic and shape-shifter, and by Shambu’s aunt Preema, a sorceress-teacher who explains metaphysical principles in terminology made even more impressive when you consider it is being spoken in a remote little Indian village some time in the early-mid 20th century. (I am uncertain exactly of the time period). She discusses duality, consciousness, mystical sexuality and astral androgyny, and, at length, karma- with its inextricable links to desire, and takes the children through their initiation and the awakening of their kundalini and sexuality- encompassing rituals never described before. I must confess while I managed to follow the ideas presented for most of the book, I found the later chapters difficult to digest and comprehend. The theories here will challenge your intellect and maybe stretch your belief, and need to be gone through slowly and repeatedly to get to grips with them (not sure I have managed that yet!), and at points some of the book’s contents may upset you but I ended it feeling amazed, inspired and pretty disappointed it had finished! I would have loved to follow Shambu on his next journey and learned what happened to him as a young man and in later years with the new knowledge and karmic comprehension revealed to him in those final chapters. Is there a sequel James?? The sequel is here! Amaranda Bhairavan website
 Yoga is so prevalent in the modern world-practiced by pop stars, taught in schools, and offered in yoga centers, health clubs, and even shopping malls--that we take its presence, and its meaning, for granted. But how did the current yoga boom happen? And is it really rooted in ancient Indian practices, as many of its adherents claim? In this groundbreaking book, Mark Singleton calls into question many commonly held beliefs about the nature and origins of postural yoga (asana) and suggests a radically new way of understanding the meaning of yoga as it is practiced by millions of people across the world today. Singleton shows that, contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence in the Indian tradition for the kind of health and fitness-oriented asana practice that dominates the global yoga scene of the twenty-first century. Singleton's surprising-and surely controversial-thesis is that yoga as it is popularly practiced today owes a greater debt to modern Indian nationalism and, even more surprisingly, to the spiritual aspirations of European bodybuilding and early 20th-century women's gymnastic movements of Europe and America, than it does to any ancient Indian yoga tradition. This discovery enables Singleton to explain, as no one has done before, how the most prevalent forms of postural yoga, like Ashtanga, Bikram and "Hatha" yoga, came to be the hugely popular phenomena they are today. Drawing on a wealth of rare documents from archives in India, the UK and the USA, as well as interviews with the few remaining, now very elderly figures in the 1930s Mysore asana revival, Yoga Body turns the conventional wisdom about yoga on its head. (warning this book can really crash all you believe in asana, read the next book for salvation of that!)
ReviewPanning the one-dimensional keep-fit view of yoga in the west and advocating a return to the depth and breadth of yoga s true roots, yogi manmoyanand s controversial new book exceeded all expectations and will become an instant bestseller not only at Watkins, but across the globe. --Watkins Books, London This book is like a light, if you stand behind it, it will illuminate your path as far as you can see, but if you confront it, it will surely blind you. --Swami Achutanand, Ashram at Kamet, Himalayas Product DescriptionWhy have the yoga teachers of the modern world chosen to reduce yoga to a system of gymnastic fitness and compromised its true essence by completely distorting it to fit into the modern lifestyle? Is asana all about physical exercises? Is pranayama all about curing diseases? Is meditation all about stress management? After practising many years of the modern therapeutic styles of yoga with some of the most renowned contemporary teachers with their numerous claims of authenticity, the author s incessant desire for spiritual-awareness was never addressed. Until, one day an old ascetic perceived the urgency of his quest and took him to the remote caves of the Himalayas. Sivananda Buried Yoga is about personal journey of the author & the discoveries of the stunning realities of yoga.
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To his devotees, Shiva is the entire universe and the core of all beings. Hindu myth shows him appearing at the beginning of creation as a giant pillar of fire from which this world sprang forth. Yet he is, also, the most approachable of gods, for he is the lover of lovers and the devotee of his devotees. Of the 1,008 names of Shiva, Pashupati, Lord of Animals is one of the most common. His special relation to animals, along with his trickster nature, reveal the deep connection of Shiva to shamanism and other gods such as the Norse Odin and the Celtic Cernunnos that came out of the Palaeolithic traditions. Shiva first captivated ethnologist, Wolf-Dieter Storl, when he was in India as a visiting scholar at Benares Hindu University. In this book, he invites readers to join in the lively and mythical world of Shiva or Mahadev, God of all Gods. Shiva is a study in contrasts: As the lord of the dance he loses himself in ecstatic abandon; with his consort Parvati he can make love for 10,000 years. Both men and women worship him for his ability to unite and balance masculine and feminine energies. But as the ascetic Shankar, he sits in deep meditation, shunning women and none dare disturb him lest he open his third eye and immolate the entire universe. Lord of intoxicants and poisons, he is the keeper of secret occult knowledge and powers, for which he is worshipped by yogis and demons alike. Shiva dances both the joy of being and the dance of doom - but in every aspect he breaks through the false ego to reveal the true self lying within. This is his true power. english.storl.de/ for more information on this author.
This is a very dense, brilliant, real history of yoga, through time in the context of where it came from and more. For those who want the proper history from a good source on an academic level then this is one to read. In this landmark book the renowned scholar of religion Mircea Eliade lays the groundwork for a Western understanding of Yoga, exploring how its guiding principle, that of freedom, involves remaining in the world without letting oneself be exhausted by such "conditionings" as time and history. Drawing on years of study and experience in
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful: Best book on tantra, 27 Oct 2005 By A Customer I think this is the best book on tantra written. A note to non-hindus- The author uses very heavy duty sanskrit words, and though he explains their meaning, you might forget it next time around.
The Jesus mysteries and Jesus and the lost goddess is the first place you should start when coming towards yoga philosophy if you come from a Christan background. By understanding your own foundations you can expand out to understand all. The two books break down the original teachings of what is effectively a Roman Cult, finding its original meanings and breaking down all the reasons to avoid Christianity! The reader then understands that the illiterate literists take over and the whole deeper level is forgotten or lost! Very profound books that moves you to understand and accept into your life the real truth!
An absorbing journey into religion in the pre-Christian West
For nearly two millennia, Christianity has been the dominant religion of Western civilization. Built on the belief that the Son of God was crucified and resurrected in order to redeem mankind of its sins, the Christian Church's system of belief, in turn, focuses upon the crucial relationship between God the Father and his son, Jesus Christ. Society naturally seeks to pattern itself in the image of the heavens and their gods. Thus a patriarchal society based on the figure of an all-powerful male god and the relationship between father and son grew and prospered. It is interesting to note, however, that the culture which emerged from this historic occurrence and so ingrained itself upon Western civilisation stands in sharp contrast with the religion and order of society which dominated Europe and In Goddess on the Cross, I examine Western religion before the rise of Christianity and discover a fascinating culture in which people worshipped not a male god of the skies, but a female goddess of the earth. My study reveals, in an intriguing parallel with Christianity, that the central rite of this religion involved the death and resurrection of the daughter of the goddess, where the resurrection was meant to reaffirm the attachment of humankind to the earth. The critical link in this act of affirmation was between not father and son but between mother and daughter, which in turn reflected a matriarchal society in which women held power, and property was passed through the female line. The overturning of this ancient order and the growing predominance of men ultimately led to the rise of Christianity, and the mother goddess of the earth was displaced by the father god of the heavens and the son of this god replaced the goddess' daughter in the resurrection drama. The keys to reconstructing the belief system of this ancient goddess cult and tracing the processes by which Christianity rose from the ashes of its destruction lie in the absorbing studies of Goddess on the Cross. Meticulous in its research and enlightening in its conclusions, this book is a revealing probe of marked significance into the mysteries of history, sociology and religion in the pre-Christian west. Synopsis Shiva: Destroyer and Protector, Supreme Ascetic and Lord of the Universe. He is Ardhanarishwara, half-man and half-woman; he is Neelakantha, who drank poison to save the three worlds--and yet, when crazed with grief at the death of Sati, set about destroying them. Shiva holds within him the answers to some of the greatest dilemmas that have perplexed mankind. Who is Shiva? Why does he roam the world as a naked ascetic covered with ash? What was the tandava? What is the story behind the worship of the linga and what vision of the world does it signify? Namita Gokhale examines these questions and many others that lie within the myriad of stories about Shiva. Even as she unravels his complexities, she finds a philosophy and worldview that is terrifying and yet life affirming--an outlook that is, to many, the essence of Indian thought. Synopsis It is this evolution of Kali, from her origin as a Tantric Goddess to her metamorphosis into a divinity in maistream religion, that the author captures brilliantly in this book.
What if someone could strip you naked and could tell you all that has happened to you throughout your life? Even the sexual abuse you never told a soul? From the way the body is constructed by our very lives, to the places that are affected by certain emotions, and situations and the shadow of that that we keep, this is alive in our practice and helpful to know. __________________________________________________________________________________ |
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This is also a major book to read on the shamanic side of yoga, not so much about yoga or India, but still of the alternate realities and attainments on the lines of yoga. For all other information on shamanism Simon Buxtons courses and education contact |
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We live in an era where image is nearly everything, where the proliferation of brand-name culture has created, to take one hyperbolic example from Naomi Klein's No Logo, "walking, talking, life-sized Tommy [Hilfiger] dolls, mummified in fully branded Tommy worlds". Brand identities are even flourishing online, she notes--and for some retailers, perhaps best of all online: "Liberated from the real-world burdens of stores and product manufacturing, these brands are free to soar, less as the disseminators of goods or services than as collective hallucinations". In No Logo, Klein patiently demonstrates, step by step, how brands have become ubiquitous, not just in media and on the street but increasingly in the schools as well. The global companies claim to support diversity but their version of "corporate multiculturalism" is merely intended to create more buying options for consumers. When Klein talks about how easy it is for retailers like Wal-Mart and Blockbuster to "censor" the contents of videotapes and albums, she also considers the role corporate conglomeration plays in the process. How much would one expect Paramount Pictures, for example, to protest against Blockbuster's policies, given that they are both divisions of Viacom? Klein also looks at the workers who keep these companies running, most of whom never share in any of the great rewards. The president of Borders, when asked whether the bookstore chain could pay its clerks a "living wage" wrote that "while the concept is romantically appealing, it ignores the practicalities and realities of our business environment". Those clerks should probably just be grateful they're not stuck in an Asian sweatshop, making pennies an hour to produce Nike sneakers or other must-have fashion items. Klein also discusses at some length the tactic of hiring "permatemps" who can do most of the work and receive few, if any, benefits like health care, paid vacations or stock options. While many workers are glad to be part of the "Free Agent Nation" observers note that, particularly in the high-tech industry, such policies make it increasingly difficult to organise workers and advocate for change. But resistance is growing and the backlash against the brands has set in. Street-level education programmes have taught kids in the inner cities, for example, not only about Nike's abusive labour practices but about the astronomical mark-up in their prices. Boycotts have commenced: as one urban teen put it, "Nike, we made you. We can break you". But there's more to the revolution, as Klein optimistically recounts: "Ethical shareholders, culture jammers, street reclaimers, McUnion organisers, human-rights hacktivists, school-logo fighters and Internet corporate watchdogs are at the early stages of demanding a citizen-centred alternative to the international rule of the brands ... as global, and as capable of co-ordinated action, as the multinational corporations it seeks to subvert". No Logo is a comprehensive account of what the global economy has wrought and the actions taking place to thwart it. --Ron Hogan
Review
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser's disturbing and timely exploration of one of the world's most controversial industries, has become a massive bestseller in America and rightly deserves to be so this side of the pond. On any given day, one out of four Americans opts for a quick and cheap meal at a fast-food restaurant, without giving either its speed or its cheapness a second thought. Fast food is so ubiquitous that it now seems harmless. But the industry's drive for consolidation, homogenisation and speediness has radically transformed the West's diet, landscape, economy and workforce, often in insidiously destructive ways. Eric Schlosser, an award-winning journalist, opens his ambitious and ultimately devastating exposé with an introduction to the iconoclasts and high school dropouts, such as Harlan Sanders and the McDonald brothers, who first applied the principles of a factory assembly line to a commercial kitchen. However, he rapidly moves behind the counter to the overworked and underpaid teenage workers, onto the factory farms where the potatoes and beef are grown, and into the slaughterhouses run by giant meatpacking corporations. Schlosser wants you to know why those French fries taste so good (with a visit to the world's largest flavour company) and "what really lurks between those sesame-seed buns". Eater beware: forget your concerns about cholesterol, there is--literally--faeces in your meat. Schlosser's investigation reaches its frightening peak in the meatpacking plants as he reveals the almost complete lack of regulation. His searing portrayal of the industry is disturbingly similar to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, written in 1906: nightmare working conditions, union busting and unsanitary practices that introduced E.coli and other pathogens into restaurants, schools and homes. Almost as disturbing is his description of how the industry "both feeds and feeds off the young", insinuating itself into all aspects of children's lives, even the pages of their school books, while leaving them prone to obesity and disease. Fortunately, Schlosser offers some eminently practical remedies. "Eating in the
This volume contains information about living a vegetarian lifestyle. It gives advice on helping others to come to terms with a family member's decision to life the meat-free way, and gives suggestions on how to "convert" reluctant carnivores. It also provides details on how a vegetarian diet can help to control medical problems such as eczema, asthma and migraine. The special nutritional needs of children, pregnant women, the elderly and mothers-to-be are also covered comprehensively. The book provides information on living as a vegetarian as easily as possible. It advises on choosing a restaurant, buying cruelty-free products, feeding your pets, buying non-leather shoes and planning a children's party. The hundreds of vegetarian recipes from around the world range from simple and nutritious dhals to elaborate dinner-party dishes. The author's other books include "Now Why You Don't Need Meat", and is the co-author of "Lifepoints" and "Linda McCartney's New Home Cooking". _______________________________________________________
Amazon.co.uk Review
If you have ever wondered why the latest fad diet doesn't work for you ... well, there are lots of reasons, mostly the fact that it's a fad diet. But it could also be that you are the wrong blood type for the kinds of foods the diet recommends. Peter D'Adamo makes a persuasive argument that your blood type is an evolutionary marker that tells you which foods you will process best, and which will be useless calories. He covers the entire range for each of the four blood types, from entrees to condiments and seasonings, and also makes type-specific exercise and lifestyle recommendations. --Jill Wagner --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Product Description It has now been established that a person's blood type plays a part in losing weight, avoiding disease and promoting fitness and longevity. Based on that knowledge, this book provides a set of blood type-specific diets. |
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With more than five million copies sold, "Prescription for Nutritional Healing" is the most trusted, comprehensive source on dietary supplements, vitamins, minerals and herbs. A pioneer in the field of nutritional healing, Phyllis Balch passionately and meticulously researched and compiled this groundbreaking book. Now a generation later, her message has more relevance than ever: consume fresh foods, avoid processed foods and those high in fat, and optimise your intake of essential nutrients with the right supplements. Today's well-stocked vitamin and natural health stores can be confusing, and people need Balch's clear, concise, landmark guide. Prescription for herbal healing The popularity of herbal medicine has exploded during the past decade, with herbal remedies becoming increasingly available in drugstores and even supermarkets. Prescription for Herbal Healing brings to herbal medicine the same in-depth, easy-to-understand information and accessible style that Prescription for Nutritional Healing successfully brought to diet and nutritional supplements. The book is divided into 3 parts for easy reference. Part 1 discusses the basic principles of herbal medicine and outlines the properties and characteristics of some 160 single herbs and 60 herbal combination formulas. Part 2 describes more than 150 common disorders from acne to yeast infection, conveniently arranged in alphabetical order, and names the herbal therapies that can be used in the treatment of those conditions. Part 3 is a guide to using various kinds of herbal and other alternative therapies. It includes self-diagnostic tests and boxed insets that offer detailed information on a wide variety of topics. Complete coverage of Chinese and ayurvedic herbs makes this volume comprehensive, and thorough scientific references lend it an authority not found in other herbal books. It is the definitive herbal resource, a necessity for any health-conscious consumer.
Product Description Climate change, sweatshops, fair-trade, ethical investment, organic food...life can sometimes seem like a moral minefield. Which products and companies should we support or avoid? And which "ethical" claims can we trust? The Rough Guide to Ethical Living cuts through the greenwash to answer these and many other questions. From tea to trainers and pensions to plane-tickets the guide looks at all the problems and ethical options. With recommended websites, books and magazines plus tips on reducing your carbon footprint at home and on the road, this book is the essential handbook for responsible consumers. About the Author Duncan Clark has worked at Rough Guide for eight years. In 2004, he wrote the well-received The Rough Guide to Ethical Shopping, and is currently in the process of editing The Rough Guide to Climate Change.He has been central to Rough Guides' widely reported climate-changeinitiative, encouraging travellers to fly less often and stay longer,and is a founder member of the Penguin Group's environmental committee.Duncan has also co-written a number of bestselling technology titles,including The Rough Guide to the Internet and The Rough Guide to iPods, iTune & music online.
Product Description A box set containing three of Esther and Jerry's bestselling books based on the teachings of the Non-Physical consciousness Abraham. The box set contains 3 hardbacks: "Ask & It is Given" - In this book you'll come to understand how your relationships, health issues, finances, career concerns, and more are all influenced by this Universal Law; and you'll realize that it's your birthright to live a life filled with everything that is good! "The Law of Attraction" - In this book you'll see how all things, wanted and unwanted, are brought to you by the Law of Attraction. "The Astonishing Power of Emotions" - This book will help you understand the emotions that you've been experiencing all of your life. You'll come to understand what emotions are, what each of them means, and how to effectively utilize your new awareness of them. About the Author Esther and Jerry Hicks produce and present the leading-edge Abraham-Hicks teachings on the art of allowing our natural Well-Being to come forth. While presenting open workshops in up to 60 cities a year, they've created more than 700 books, audios, CDs, and videos.
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One of the most Cathartic and Spiritual cds released that helps move you into merging with the universal one! Reading t his can cause profound, evocative and moving experiences I rarely experience from music anymore!! Description
Clint Mansell has a very simular but original way to music as Philip Glass, a repeating but different, explosive, hypnotic, and gives a level of depth a wall of music. The Soundtrack to The Fountain is an intense, emotional but rewarding experience, but be warned! this is not the run of the mill, orchestral style that seems to permeate movies these days, in an all too predictable way. This is more a case of The kronos Quartet meets Mogwai in a dark alley for a good dust-up. If you are familiar with God Speed You Black Emperor/ A Silver Mnt Zion's anthemic post rock orchestrations for guitar and strings you will no doubt love whats on offer here.
CD Description One Raga 55 minutes - The music of Monsoon Point is the music of divine grace. Al Gromer Khan and Amelia Cuni have created a soundscape that is at once spiritual and deeply intoxicating. It is full of passion and raw power, committed in its celebration of the fundamental beauty of humanity. About the Artist Al Gromer Khan is the best European member of the legendary Khani-Gharana lineage of sitarists, a tradition that considers melodic beauty to be the highest musical virtue.
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Album Description
AAmazon.co.uk ReviewThe title track itself opens up Love Trap, singer Susheela Raman's follow-up to her Mercury Prize-nominated Salt Rain debut. It's a highly commercial introduction, with a surprisingly obscure background, based around a 1970s tune from Mahmoud Ahmed. Raman even visited Ethiopia to unearth the song's authentic roots, submersing it in an alluring, abandoned eroticism. This blending of various folk musics with her own Tamil roots is one of Susheela Raman's strongest suits, and one she revisits often on Love Trap, with guests including jazz saxophonist Iain Ballamy, members of Yat-Kha (the Tuvan throat-singing heavy rock combo) and Fela Kuti's old drummer Tony Allen. It even has some occasional flamenco touches (no doubt a product of the environment, as the album was recorded in southern Spain). Guitarist and producer Sam Mills remains Raman's crucial musical partner, along with regular live band members Aref Durvesh (percussion) and Hilaire Penda (bass). The mood is seductively swaying for most of the album's journey, filled with instrumental colours during its varied run of solo showcases. Raman's material ranges from Joan Armatrading's "Save Me" right through to a selection of ancient hymns and devotional songs. Whichever direction she takes, Raman's meditational vocals impose a distinctly individual character to all of this exotic dipping and picking. --Martin Longley
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Brilliant music that seems to span the world, creating moments that are profound, one of the only ones I teach with, although now I find I have edited out the Rasa tracks, as mantra's and chanting in the west sounds like new age-fluffy-hippy-music, not as the beauty it really is.
The Lord of the rings trilogy would be a supprise to most, but the change-ability, from a beautiful etheral to the choral bombastic, as it has made the movies it can make a practice!
These chants not sung by westerners will show the difference! The energy they have, they instill, the expression of the very experience of what the power of chants do! Also to the God of yoga, not a fluffy bunny in a flakey yoga class, but a god covered in burnt people ashes, circled by snakes in deep meditation! |
