Joga. Visuomet jauni, visuomet sveiki

by Indra Devi

Hard back 6 3/8 X 9 1/4 174 pages.

Genres: Health

Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

Reviews

[Kumari de Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read a different paperback copy. Mine has a blue cover and dates from 1975. I really enjoyed this book. I recommend it to anyone with the least bit interest in yoga. For starters Indra Devi had a fascinating life. She influenced yoga in the West and East, teaching in China soon after she was certified to teach by her teacher, Sri Krishnamacharya.

I say "certified" but it's not like a 200 hour teacher training, I mean he taught her enough that he felt she was ready to go teach others. Sri Krishnamacharya had several other famous students who went on to shape yoga in the 20th and 21st centuries. BKS Iyengar, Patabhi Jois and Desikachar all studied under Krishnamacharya.

Indra Devi was the exception in that she was a woman, and that she started yoga relatively late in life - I believe in her 40s but maybe she was in her 50s. She lived to be 102. So, when she says "Forever young, forever healthy" I guess she was on to something. A couple of years ago I read a book about Indra Devi. I figured that author did an awful lot of research. Now I realize much of what was in that book is right here in this one. It's nice to read about someone in their own words. I get more of a sense of knowing her.

There are a few yoga exercises in the back. I like that the models look like everyday people, not like models in modern yoga books. The poses, however, are every bit as advanced. If anything modern books leave out bow pose and lotus, because they figure no one will be able to do them. But apparently yoga lovers from the 1950s were unafraid to try. I wonder if it is the advent of processed food that has made us all - collectively - more fat and less flexible than the average person back then.

Anyway, if you've always wanted to try yoga but hate the idea of pulling on spandex - read this book instead. This book and Richard Hittleman's are probably all you need. In these photos no one even uses a yoga mat. When Indra Devi asks her teacher what she should wear to class he tells her the Indian women come in a sari. I love that.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was first published in 1955 and reprinted in 1964. That's more than 50 years

As this book has been out of print for the longest time, I have looked for this book for a while, after learning that one of Singapore's oldest woman Teresa Tsu who lived till 113 started practising yoga only at 68 after she read this book.

Tao Prochon-Lynch, currently the world's oldest yoga teacher (*updated- age 100 (in 2019) also read this book and trained under Indra Devi.

Indra Devi herself lived till 102.

Now doesn't it make you want to read this too?

Indra Devi trained under T Khrisnamacharya, who was the guru or BKS Iyengar, Patabi Jois and TKV Desikachar. Using the teachings of ancient yogic science, Indra Devi was so forward looking and advanced in her approach to health and happiness.

This book was written in a personal style. Besides sharing her personal journey to learning and teaching yoga, Devi talked about the importance of breathing properly, relaxation, diet, and the usefulness of fasting and sound therapy. She displays a good understanding of yoga's relationship with the endocrine system and also share very wise views of what makes a woman beautiful.

Remember - this book was written in the 1950s yet it is has so much wisdom, so much sense, and is so forward looking. The lessons in short are:

- Deep breathing
- Relaxation
- Correct posture
- Diet & Fruit Juices
- Fasting
- Sound vibration
- You are what you think

I love this book very much and will read it again.

[Blue]

I am looking for this book. If you have it, please message me.

[Nicole Marie Story · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed my life! Having recently celebrated my thirteenth year of studying and practising yoga, this book caused me to realise that somewhere along the way, I stopped focusing on my breathing and concentrated more favourably on the physical nature of the postures and transitions (I practise Ashtanga yoga). Additionally, this book caused me to realise that I was fueling my body like a triathlete, constantly fighting to stay at a low weight. When I discovered that Greta Garbo had practised under this book's author of Indra Devi, I became fascinated to learn that Ms. Devi's teacher was the one and only Krishnamacharya who also taught Pattabhi Jois (founder of the Ashtanga system). Thusly, when I learnt that Ms. Devi wrote a book on how to live, I needed to have it. After weeks of stalking available copies of her book on eBay and Amazon, I found a second edition fairly priced. On my first reading, I was angry. I was angry that she could eat so little when I, a self-professed conquerer of an old eating disorder, was fighting with my body in a pattern of eating and excercising. My body was suddenly looking fat despite my dedicated yoga practise. Boy did her chapters on eating thusly make my head feel so hot like a habanero pepper! But at the same time, I felt enlightened by her comments on breathing which as previously mentioned I had long ago abandoned. So for the past month, I've changed my breathing. And it opened up my practise. And suddenly, a fortnight ago, I felt the desire to reduce my food intake and to intermittently fast, Monday through Friday, in the mornings. AND I HAVE BEEN GRANDLY SUCCESSFUL. I am no longer fighting with my body and with my mind. I am lighter, happier, and more focused. After two weeks of living this new refreshed eating lifestyle, I have returned for an encore reading of the chapters on eating and fasting. And they no longer make me feel as angry but rather they make me feel as inspired and successful. I am very pleased with this book and shall return to it annually for a refresh. Thank you, dear Ms. Devi for having written this amazing book.