Forty Days of Yoga

by Kara-Leah Grant

Forty Days of Yoga is a powerful resource for anyone interested in committing to a home yoga practice. Drawing on her years of home practice experience, yoga teacher and writer Kara-Leah Grant examines many of the obstacles - both internal and external - that one can face when undertaking a self-directed practice, especially while living an ordinary life in the busy, modern world. Packed full of ingeniously practical worksheets and examples from Kara-Leah's own life, this book invites readers to reflect honestly and creatively on their own process and aspirations for a home yoga practice. In this way, Kara-Leah helps readers see that their life - obstacles and all - can become part of the solution, rather than being seen as a 'problem'. For more than a how-to yoga book, Forty Days of Yoga takes readers on a journey into their psyche and helps them design strategies to make daily practice possible in their life - no matter what that life is like. Kara-Leah has a no-nonsense approach that is practical, down-to-earth and also light-hearted. She's encouraging and supportive but leaves no excuses left standing. By the end of the book, you'll know what supports your practice, what undermines your practice, and exactly what you need to do about it. In addition to helping readers assess their lives and design their own personal home yoga practice, Kara-Leah also takes a closer look at yoga. She asks readers to broaden their definition of yoga and to understand that it's both a process and a practice. She teaches yoga as a personal practice - something that supports the needs of the individual and meets them where they are, as they are. If you're struggling with committing to a regular home yoga practice, this is the book for you.

Genres: Nonfiction

194 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2013

About the author

Kara-Leah is a writer and yoga teacher, and publisher of The Yoga Lunchbox.

Reviews

[Ane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring book about creating and keeping habits, struggles and rewards, in this case specifically about yoga

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the 'voice' of Kara Leah-Grant. It was her blog Yoga Lunchbox that felt very welcoming, especially for a beginner yogi like me. When most of what's out there focuses on people in very tight yoga clothes, chiseled bodies, and suspended in gravity-defying asanas, Kara's the one who brings us back to a more grounded practice. Naturally, when she released Forty Days of Yoga, I bought it. It's been an enlightening read. She truly understands the barriers that could plague our practice and gently guides us to how we can go back to the mat day in and day out. This one deserves a spot in my bookshelf.

[Ashley Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this was like sitting down and having a 100 page conversation with both a close friend and therapist. Kara-Leah is very insightful into what someone needs to build a practice and helps you work out all of your barriers to achieve your goals. The worksheets were so helpful. I've already recommended this book to others, because it is a valuable resource when working towards bringing yourself to the mat every day.

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book immensely helpful in creating a daily home yoga practice for myself. I pushed myself to complete all of the exercises, which I think will come in handy as I move through my first "forty days". Right now, I'm on day 3 and have already looked back at some of the worksheets I completed. If you want to make yoga a daily (or close to daily) part of your life, this is an excellent resource.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the second book about Yoga I found and read. It's about how to create a home practice and it talks about what a home practice is and it also gets you to think about how you can create a home practice. I think it's definitely a good resource to provide a person with the tools to start and maintain a home Yoga practice.

One thing I really like about this book is that it isn't just a book you read, there are also activities to fill out and it really gets you thinking. I love her idea of starting out slowly and just practicing Yoga for 40 consecutive days. I actually followed this plan and have been practicing Yoga every day since.

The back of the book has a lot of resources to books and videos and all sorts of Yoga related things and I found that to be really helpful as in the beginning it was pretty hard for me to find more Yoga related resources.

Now, I am just starting out on my Yoga journey and am nowhere near the point of starting a home practice even though I do see that happening somewhere down the track. I do think this book is a really good resource and I'll be keeping a hold of this so that I can go back to it in the future.

[Priscilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Between the time I started reading this book to when I finished it, I went from someone who took teacher training for my own enrichment to actually teaching yoga. To me the book is more for someone who wishes to supplement group or individual classes with a home practice so they don't lose momentum between classes as well as learn more about their own body. At one point in time I must have been concerned I wouldn't keep up the commitment, hence the purchase of the book. Although I can honestly say the book had no impact on my home practice. The author has several passages in the book which I found particularly well worded. But for me much of the book felt repetitive. I just wanted to get to the finish line so I could put it away. Although if you're someone who needs a lot of encouragement to practice yoga then this is definitely a book for you.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super super helpful. Rather than being a prescriptive just add water 40 days of yoga sequences, this book takes you through everything you need to consider, BEFORE you begin your 40 day challenge so that it will actually stick and you will get to the end.

Stacks of practical worksheets that really made me think about why I wanted a self practice and what I wanted to get out of it and what had stopped me from doing it in the past. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to create their own custom designed personal home practice.

[Amanda McKeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a find! I have been practicing yoga on and off for years and just needed a helping hand to establish a home yoga practice. Kara-Leah has a very lively, engaging, manner and she makes showing up on your mat for just seven minutes a day (though you'll probably stay for longer) very manageable.
I have applied this approach to other things in my life too-- the possibilities are endless!

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent tool to support a regular home practice. Even as a yoga teacher, I found committing to yoga every single day, without fail, difficult. The worksheets, which enable you to examine your motivations and blocks, free-up the headspace. For me, it allowed for an effortless transition to daily practice - not just asana - but living yoga, daily. Highly recommended for any yoga practitioner.

[Nymphadora Remus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a support for getting and keeping my yoga practice going,

[Yvonne Raphael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a support for getting and keeping my yoga practice going,