Paul Grilley

This was a nice find on the sales shelf at my public library. This describes yin yoga practices and how they are different from yang yoga which is more muscular. The postures are nicely photographed and don't necessarily need a video version as they are held for several minutes. Some postures have a different name, pentacle looks like shavasana with arms stretched flat towards the head, Butterfly is Baddha Konasana, Dragonfly seems to look upsvishta konasana. Sleeping Swan is pigeon, Square is firelog pose, Snail is plough (but the final form is ear pressure posture), Crocodile is plank, Infant is locust pose, Seal is high cobra, Dragon in its final form is hanumasana. Lotus is not mentioned as it is difficult for 80% of westerners (although I do it and the comfortable position of lotus pose seems to be pretty good for pelvic tilt). Breathing and band practices are a nice feature of this book.… (meer)

This small book is recommended for its descriptions of poses for deep muscle stretching and the accompanying photographs. I also found the suggested sequences for various types of physical conditions very useful. I'm less sanguine about Grilley's New Agey mishmash of Indian and Daoist philosophies and all the attendant talk of energy bodies and the like. I found it more hokey filler and recommend that readers interested in kundalini, acupuncture, or the like consult books dedicated to those specific topics over the Western rewrite Grilley gives them here. That said, this book is still worth checking out for anyone interested in incorporating deep, sustained stretching into their practice.… (meer)