Journey Into Power: Journey Into Power

by Baron Baptiste

Whether you are looking to lose weight, trying to increase your strength and stamina, hoping to sharpen your mental edge, or seeking to go deeper within, Baron Baptiste can take you there. Baptiste Power Yoga isn't just the ultimate workout, it's the ultimate life transformation program. In this unique and inspiring book, one of the world's most dynamic and sought-after master yoga teachers brings us the same revolutionary program for body, mind, and spirit that has changed the bodies and lives of Hollywood celebrities, all-star athletes, and millions of people just like you. In his refreshing and iconoclastic style, Baron Baptiste shows us that the key to true power is not to chase an ideal version of ourselves but to reveal the perfect self already within. Here are just some of the benefits you can expect from using this book:

• Strong, lean muscles and a shedding of unwanted pounds

• Laserlike mental clarity and focus

• An easy release of the beliefs and habits that hold you back

• An inner oasis of calm and composure

• Inspiration to live authentically every day of your life

Baptiste Power Yoga is the ultimate commitment that yields the ultimate transformation, as Baron's millions of students have discovered. It heals, detoxifies, and electrifies body and mind at their deepest levels. You will find your true strength, your real self, and a new way to live that is both authentic and joyful!

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Self Help, Spirituality, Personal Development, Mental Health, Sports

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1902

Reviews

[Dez the Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently started doing yoga and wanted to fully understand this practice and how it effects my body. This book really helped to enlighten me in so many ways!

This book is enriched with pictures of each pose to include modifications. Each pose has a detailed description broken into separate sections for what it does for you spiritually, physically, emotionally as well as common mistakes or risks of injury and step by step positioning.

Beyond that, I learned about the overall yoga culture, good and bad.

It details a cleansing diet and how that sets your body up to be a metabolic burning machine. YES PLEASE!

There is a section about meditation that helped me to understand the how and why. It’s actually helped me to be less reactive!!

Lastly, this book tells you how to incorporate it into your everyday life and the benefits of doing so. After doing yoga for a month, I can see how this would be beneficial as a long term practice.

Highly recommend this book if you are a newbie to yoga and want to do it at home or even intermediate and want more details to round out your knowledge. I go to a yoga studio and am so glad I read this.

[Rosanna Y. de la Cruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book would be better if Baron was not so full of himself.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

THis book has been calling my name for a while. Baron Baptiste has a powerful, yet gentle approach to yoga which I really appreciate. His explanations of poses and the philosophy behind them are honest and straight-forward; they were very helpful to me. The real gem in this book for me was his discussion of quieting the mind and considering the universal truths that help us overcome the barriers we face. I know this will be a reference book for me for a long time to come

[Melissa Fish · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book begins with a no nonsense woo-woo free explanation of the benefits of a daily yoga practice, and specifically a very physically challenging yoga practice. Mr Baptiste has been a lifelong student and has developed his own series of sequences that work your entire being, body, mind, and soul. The bulk of the book explains the poses and sequences in detail. Not gonna lie, it looks harder than the yoga I’ve been doing or ever have done but still seems accessible. The full practice integrating over 50 poses and connected with vinyasas takes approximately 90 minutes, but can be adjusted according to your needs and time constraints. For example, I’m having thoracic spine issues, so I’m going to skip backbends and twisting abdominal moves until such a time I feel strong enough to add them. I’m going to try it out for the next 40 days as recommended and see if I can’t have my own journey into power. He also discusses diet and meditation. Those chapters are smaller, but equally impressive. In general Baptiste doesn’t impose any dogma and instead encourages the reader to find their own path.

[Marquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Information was good if you can get past Baptiste who I felt was a little arrogant and vain. It was clear and easy to read and I liked his functional approach to yoga with creating real life flexibility and strength.

[Claire Ruben]

Author is problematic and can he please stop saying "sculpt your ideal body" but helpful for learning the poses and I like his overall approach to yoga

[Ari 🦋🌙🧚🏻‍♀️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this book to help build my poses, I am currently doing my 200-hr YTT, it was very helpful for this matter.

[Caroline Lougee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book for my yoga training!

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an instructional book on the components of power yoga, this is thorough and articulate. As an inspirational book, it's also pretty good. I've used several of his aphorisms and teachings as themes for my classes. I get skeptical anytime I see someone who's not a trained nutritionist give dietary advice, but nothing he recommends is too extreme, so it's not a deal breaker. The section on meditation at the end is simple and good. "Meditation is an unending process of beginning again." That's it - being your attention to one thing in the present moment. When your mind wanders, try again. Love that simplicity. I also found it interesting how he said meditating every morning is like putting on your spiritual armor. It centers you and keeps you from being influenced by every situation, person, or attitude you encounter.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this mostly because the yoga studio I attend requires you read it before completing their teacher training course. I'm no where near ready to be a teacher but I am interested in improving my form with yoga and I really like the style detailed in this book. The poses are explained really well and have pictures with modifications. Just reading through a few of the poses has deepened by understanding of how they are done well which is giving me motivation to keep up with yoga. There's also information on meditation, which I enjoyed and some on nutrition. If you're already eating a healthy diet, however, you won't find anything you didn't already know.

[Kari Ann Ebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though Baron grew up surrounded by yoga, he still struggled with the inner practice. I appreciated his take on the spirituality of yoga and the emotional/mental benefits. "Do not despise the days of small beginnings." This I take to heart as I am a beginner, and people like Baron look like they have arrived. This book takes you inside his journey and helps you realize why it is called "practicing" yoga. You have never truly arrived, but grow in the moment. If you love lots of pictures and detailed breakdown of poses, this book is great as well!

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This book covers the actual physical practice behind Baptiste Hot Power Yoga, and it teaches the basics of a yogic lifestyle. The diet section was not nearly as “preachy” as I was prepared for, and I found the meditation section to be extremely helpful. It’s not a book I would suggest starting with if you are just getting into the ideals behind yoga, but it is definitely one that provides ideas to improve your lifestyle.

[Jehnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate understanding the foundations of the kind of yoga I practice. And in the first third of the book I learned a fair amount. But I can't get past the hippy dippy way of talking. "Breathe love into your hamstrings" does nothing for me.

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Baron Baptiste a lot.

The book verged on the preachy though.

But it's a heck of a lot cheaper than one of his yoga bootcamps.

[Steph Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great reference book for anyone interested in Vinyasa Yoga and something to refer back to over and over if you teach. He goes pose by pose through the sequence starting with Sun As and Bs and finishes with Savasana with great cues for each pose and photos of each pose with a photo of the modification. If you have read Baron before, you will know his style is very much how he speaks: informal, intuitive and silly at times (but, in a good way). Good for the home practitioner and teacher alike.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I appreciate his background and knowledge of yoga- I don’t know if it’s in “true north alignment” with his “way of being”. Some of the “transformation questions” are intentionally triggering to make you question yourself and your reality. Which all in all isn’t always a bad thing but in the wrong hands it can be used to manipulate and gaslight you. I do appreciate the breakdown of how each segment effect the appropriate systems of the body.

[Emily Rose Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book to use as a teaching reference, although some of Baron's alignment cues could be updated. The pose breakdowns are particularly helpful. Can't speak to using it as an actual workout program/guide. Like any teacher's interpretation of the spiritual practice, take what speaks to you and make the rest your own.

[Savsandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Journey into Power: How to Sculpt Your Ideal Body" is a required text for the SPY and SPRY Teacher/Leadership Training Curriculum T Savannah Power Yoga in Savannah, Georgia, a Baptiste affiliate studio. JIP is one of our yoga bibles, authored by fhe man himself Baron Baptiste, today's modern yoga guru.Another essential text that is part of my permanent library.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd rather do yoga than read a book about yoga, so...

Baron clearly believes in what he is doing. Some parts of this book are super loosey-goosey-airy-fairy, but others are grounded and clear. Even though I was really judgy the whole time I was reading this book, I know I benefited from it. There were some beautifully inspiring turns of phrase and perspectives in the opening chapters.

[Jessica Harvell-haessly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent deep dive into power yoga, including poses and proper alignment, guided meditation, and clear and focused guidance on yoga as not only a physical, but also a spiritual practice to be incorporated in all aspects of daily living. I read this book as part of my 200 hr teacher training in 2016.

[Maria Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read to better understand the history of Baptise yoga and the practice itself (mind, body, spirit). The descriptions and pictures were so helpful as I was going through YTT 100. However, Baron Baptise does come off a bit arrogant throughout the text. Baptise yoga isn’t my personal choice of practice, but it was incredibly helpful to better harness the fundamentals of flow.

[Audrey Janssen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will be extremely helpful with posture and correct form in yoga poses, but I disagree with the spiritual aspects of the book. It has me curious to read and think more about how yoga can be a tool for connecting to God, not merely a tool for connecting to our “authentic” selves and finding our own truths.

[Kelly Rexroat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a problem with a yoga book that tells you how to sculpt the “perfect body”, lose weight, and diet. Other than that it does a good job of teaching the basics of poses and yoga philosophy. Maybe lose the fatphobia and promote yoga for every body next time. Yoga is obviously not about what your body looks like…

[Kellyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

For any want-to-be yoga instructor or someone looking to deepen their practice, this is the book for you. I read it during my yoga teacher training and found it super helpful as he broke down poses both in how to cue as well as the benefits of each. This is a great foundation for your practice.

[Jessica Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast read that explains the fundamentals of Baptiste Power Yoga. Very good introduction to the sequencing and the overall philosophy. Not for someone looking for a deep dive into yoga philosophy - it's meant to make yoga accessible, which I think it does very well.

[SAMANTHA HUBBELL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for anyone pursuing training. The second half of the book outlines positions with tips and tricks. I find this part of the book better for reference than reading straight through. Really enjoyed the honest first half about the meaning of yoga.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I am a yoga teacher who has been teaching for some time, I have never read this book until now. I think it should’ve been required reading for the yoga teacher training. Very informative.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best yoga book I’ve read so far.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this one because my neighbor is teaching this kind of yoga. Good book, and my neighbor is a good teacher too! ;)

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reference for learning yoga poses and the Baptiste methodology. Had to read for my yoga teacher training.