Hatha Yoga: The Yogi Philosophy of Physical Well-Being

The Yoga Series

by Yogi Ramacharaka

Followers of the early-20th-century "New Age" philosophy of New Thought believed they could learn the secrets of mind over matter. In "Hatha Yoga" (AKA "The Yogi Philosophy of Physical Well-Being") written in 1904 using the pseudonym Yogi Ramacharaka, one of their most influential teachers and enormously popular writer and editor William Walker Atkinson revealed to them the teachings of Hatha Yoga, a complete manual of the Great Oriental Yogi System of physical well-being, health, strength and vigour. This work preaches a sane, normal, simple theory of physical health, and tells how to put the theory into practice. It teaches that the Body is the Temple of the Soul, and should be kept clean and in good order. Its purpose, the instruction and mankind to conform to the standard of that healthy man or woman.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Self Help, Health

235 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1904

Reviews

[Ania · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's amazing how much this guy knew about stuff back in the day. Not much I can say about this book other than it made me consciously realize the importance of drinking water and paying attention to thirst.

[Georgie Milton Galbally · Rating 5 out of 5]

common sense is not that common :)

[Kay Halsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapter 5, page 29 and 30 speak volumes to some very simple principles.

[Elizabeth Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

Difficult to read, but I like it!

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this after reading 'The Science of Breathing' by the same author. Both books are full of useful information and ideas that can help one improve the quality of his or her well-being. There are many chapters in this book. It is very interesting to get a detailed description of many of the systems, functions of the body. I was pretty bored with my high school science classes, but this book makes it interesting and it is very practical.

This is really a textbook to refer to again and again. There are so many benefits to adopting even just a few of the principles in this book. Definitely recommended by me.

[Juan Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ho sempre pensato che l’Hatha Yoga fosse soltanto stretching o esercizi ginnici, e per questo non mi aveva mai attirato. Questo libro mi ha cambiato la prospettiva: solo un 10% parla di posizioni fisiche, mentre il resto affronta temi molto più ampi e profondi.

Tra gli argomenti che mi hanno colpito di più: la respirazione, l’alimentazione, il ruolo del tratto digestivo, la pace della mente, il vivere il momento presente e l’importanza dello stretching nella vita quotidiana.

Non ho intenzione di seguire corsi di Hatha Yoga, ma molte di queste riflessioni voglio provarle e portarle nella mia vita. 🌿✨

[Francisca Martins Gonzales · Rating 2 out of 5]

No me ha gustado la postura de este libro. Hay un tono de superioridad atacando siempre el estilo de vida occidental de una manera muy poco respetuosa.
Además, dice cosas muy falsas y sin sentido sobre la salud de cada uno casi culpando a una persona por enfermarse.
Bastante mal, la verdad.

[Simona · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book so badly, I really did hope that it would be my guide or something like that in the future but I have to admit that I‘m quite disappointed after finishing it. What I liked about that book was the fact that there were tons of things which I already knew as the authors promised at the beginning and yet I learned a few new interesting or at least educational facts. What I found terrible was the structure of the book or let‘s face it – its absence and the authors’ style of writing. There were some things which in my opinion should‘ve been introduced a lot earlier and it felt like the authors were repeatedly interrupting themselves and therefore the readers so one could not simply follow the flow of thought. Furthermore, I think one of the most important aspects of Hatha yoga is the concept of prana so I was kind of surprised that it was placed in the second part of the book. I mean, yeah, the authors say a few words about prana in almost every chapter but the whole concept in detail is missing at first. Also the assuring that the authors didn’t wanna change the readers' worldviews or whatsoever were quite irritating while they kind of constantly required that we did what they said. Besides, the continuous repeating of the same facts was totally annoying.

[Manish Kanodia · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is good to read and clear many doubt and teaches also

[David]

I felt completely tricked by this book. I did not realize this was written by a Euro-American because of the author's misleading pseudonym Yogi Ramacharaka. I was hoping for a book that would deepen my knowledge of yoga philosophy and practice but got a very basic book with A LOT of filler. The most intriguing aspect was that the author was so far ahead of the yoga craze- he wrote the book in 1904! I think this could be extremely illuminating for Westerners in that time period but now we have much more access to other authors who site the lineage of their yoga practice and the sources, where this book hides behind a fake name for its authenticity and makes no reference to sources.

PS- I found the following quote to have a parable quality from page 53: "It is not what a man eats, but the amount that he assimilates, that nourishes him."

[Awisemantoldme · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always these yogi teachings are great, I learned a lot about optimal health in such simple principles, everybody should read this.