Marjorie Jaffe

#45, 2006

I picked this up on a whim at the used book store. It’s a thin volume which didn’t take long to get through. I enjoyed it well enough, although it’s very basic. The idea is that combining a hot/warm bath with stretching, breathing exercises and meditation can be condusive to much deeper relaxation than many of us ever take the time in our busy lives to experience. There’s some nice information here – a few breathing techniques, some suggestions for easy meditations, as well as sections on asanas and stretches that can be done in the bath.

I did two practices in the tub with this book – the first, the asana series that goes through each of the chakras with very simple poses (obviously, it’s not possible to do anything strenuous, or requiring balance in the slippery environment of the bathtub); and I did a second practice with the stretches in another section. I doubt I’ll use this information much in the future, since my bathtub doesn’t really work well for many of the exercises – it’s enclosed in a small space, so there’s no room beyond the edge of the tub for me to relax my head back. I found it very hard to actually get comfortable enough to relax as they were suggesting (and Savasana in the tub? Not working for me). But that doesn’t mean that others might not have better success than I did.

LJ Discussion… (meer)