Living Yoga: A Comprehensive Guide for Daily Life

by Georg Feuerstein (Editor), Stephan Bodian (Editor)

A masterful exploration of the major schools of yoga, published on the 100th anniversary of yoga in America. With this book, readers will discover the wisdom of the millennia—and learn to live yoga. Topics include the yoga approach to diet and nutrition, meditation as an antidote to stress, the yoga of love and devotion, and more. Photographs and illustrations.

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published March 24, 1993

About the author

Georg A. Feuerstein was an Indologist and, according to his associate Ken Wilber, among the foremost Westerns scholar-practitioners of yoga. After doing his postgraduate research at Durham University in England, he moved to the United States, eventually settling in Canada with his wife and sometime co-author Brenda.

Reviews

[Cassandra Carico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was actually a great deal better than I expected. I had it given to me many years ago, and only recently got around to reading it. Much of the information is the same as in other yoga books, yet this one expresses them in a way I prefer.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I've had trouble finding a good comprehensive book that gives an overview and a history of yoga that is enjoyable to read. This was a collection of articles and some were helpful, but many of the articles were dense and some were a little too hippy-dippy.

[Em]

Great book to learn more about yoga. Published before social media, so there's an authenticity in it that's hard to find these days. This was edited by Yoga Journal before it was bought out by Outside Magazine. Good stuff.

[Emma Sager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good guide summarizing different types of yoga, practices, and tips of Hatha yoga exercise for health and wellbeing. Mostly essays, a few poems. Helpful.

[Craig Shoemake · Rating 2 out of 5]

I confess I’m not sure why I bought this book. It’s not like I didn’t check out the table of contents on Amazon. So, before I bought it I knew it consisted of a selection of journal articles previously published in Yoga Journal. And I know such books, even with a good editor–Georg Feuerstein, in this case–are rarely first-rate. Plus, being a not overly enthused subscriber to Yoga Journal, I should have known what I was getting into. Well, now you can benefit from my experience and know what you’ll be getting into if you buy this book.

First, concerning Yoga Journal, the source for every article. I realize there’s a market for everything. In other words, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. So no doubt there are hundreds of thousands of people who subscribe to YJ and have a spiritual orgasm every time they read it. I am not one of them. I find YJ hyper flashy, heavily commercial, its articles often saccharine to the point of inducing nausea. Sometimes I wonder if I read it for the models. That said, I am sure that with discrimination and a willingness to wade through hundreds of back issues you could find some worthy articles and that, no doubt, is what Feuerstein and Co. were trying to do.

They were successful on some counts. The problem is there aren’t enough high quality pieces to make a solid book. Plus, their rather heterogeneous subjects give the book a grab bag feeling. Consider this diversity of topics:

■Jacob Needleman on money
■An earth-based poem by Gary Snyder
■Thoughts on celebration by Carolyn Shaffer
■Reflections on mother’s love by Ken Keyes
■Gretchen Newmark on how to overcome eating disorders
■A history of transpersonal psychology
■Six illusions (or random observations) about the body by Larry Dossey

These kinds of very peripheral topics intersperse some fine and useful articles on:

■sequencing postures
■how to master the lotus
■an essay by Ken Wilber on what meditation can’t do for you
■methods of relaxation, etc

I think you can see what I mean. There are jewels among the debris, but the overall effect is frustrating, out of focus, and a sense you are constantly starting over on page one. Plus, even Georg Feuerstein’s introductory essays became kind of annoying after a while.

These are the pieces that stood out to me as particularly interesting (I’m sure you’ll have your own list of favorites). All are examples of good thinking and good writing:

■Developing Your Own Yoga Practice by Hart Lazer
■A Nonviolent Approach to Extending Your Limits by Ken Dychtwald
■Working With the Breath by Richard Miller
■Asana: Basic Movement Toward Health by Judith Lasater
■How to Grow A Lotus by Donna Farhi (the model could be my mother as a young woman!)
■The Buddhist Yoga of Mindfulness by Stephan Bodian
■The Power and Limits of Meditation by Ken Wilber
■Beyond Ego by Bryan Wittine
■What Makes Spiritual Teachers Go Astray by Diana Leafe Christian
■Tantric Celibacy and the Mystery of Eros by Stuart Sovatsky
■Life As Service: An Interview with Ram Das by Stephan Bodian
■Be Who You Are: An Interview with Jean Klein by Stpehan Bodian (even though I find this kind of perspective incredibly frustrating–see Daniel Ingram on this in my review of his book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha)
■Who Am I? by Ramana Maharshi
■The Timeless Wisdom of Nonduality: Sayings of Nisargadatta

Now I have to gripe about the second or third-rate production value of the book. The text, including the cover and internal photos, all look like someone took the original volume and popped off a copy down at their local Kinkos. Actually, no–that’s an insult to Kinkos. Kinkos would do a much better reproduction job than this. The pictures are grainy, like something off a Xerox machine from the ’70s. (Yeah, I remember those!) The cover, as you can see, is denuded of life and color. Shame on Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam for turning out something old man Gutenberg would have been embarrassed by!

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this collection of articles from Yoga Journal is very good. Though the book is older, it doesn't seem to be too dated (due, I guess, to the timelessness of yoga itself). That said, some of the articles were a little too "cosmic granola" for me. I am all about the practice of yoga and the inner peace and centeredness it cultivates, but some of this stuff is a little too spiritual for my tastes. Nevertheless,it is definitely designed to speak to everyone's interests by introducing many different types of yoga and practice.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection of essays about the yoga traditions (hatha, raja, karma, bhakti, etc.) from well-known teachers and gurus of Buddhism and Hinduism (Ram Dass, Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Pilgrim, etc.). I have my favorites and it is interested to see the different and sometimes contrasting approaches to meditation among even experts.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for yoga beginners. Discusses some history of yoga and all the poses and what the pose is designed to accomplish.

[Maria Castaño · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do yoga at least three times a week in the gym, but this book gives you the spiritual part of it that the yoga teachers don't have the time to show you. Really deep!

[alia · Rating 3 out of 5]

at the time in my life that i stumbled upon this- it was a wealth of exploration. parts were a little out there, but several intriguing concepts

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply put - amazing book!

[Rhonda Hankins]

thought-provoking book, very worthwhile if you're in the mood for this kind of read

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of dated and not the greatest source.

[Blair · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book hoping to learn more about the history and practice of yoga, and it was somewhat helpful. I think calling it a "comprehensive guide" is misleading though. Although it does include a general introduction to the different branches of yoga, the topics of the individual essays themselves are so scattered it was hard for me to really get a sense of what each of the branches was about. A lot of the essays were not engaging, but there were also some that I enjoyed and found thought-provoking. The ones that interested me were: Coming to Terms With Embodiment, Dancing on the Razor's Edge: The Yoga of Relationship (John Welwood), Think Like A Mountain (John Seed), and The Creative Spirit (Anne Cushman).