How I got hold of it?
I have a Kwench membership (through my office, and you can get it here) and while browsing their store online I bumped across this book. Since I’m practicing Yoga these days anyways, I thought of giving the book a try. Free stuff doesn’t hurt 🙂
The Good Stuff
The book is huge repository of Yoga poses. It has pictures, of each pose which makes it a pretty good watch. The poses are inspiring, as they are challenging.
The Poor Stuff
But the book looked more like a self-publicity for Mr. Iyengar rather than being useful. Primarily because:
- There are no thoughts on categorizing the Asanas as being in basic, advanced or expert category. I wanted to use the book so that it helped me practiced Yoga, not just look at the various postures of Mr. Iyengar
- No thoughts on what posture has what benefits, or prohibitions. A Diabetic person shouldn’t do these Asanas, or this Asana will tone your abs, or a combination of this and this Asana is beneficial for ……
Conclusion
If you are a beginner and want to get started with Yoga, DONT pick this book. Even if you are at an advanced level, you would find plenty of Asanas very difficult.
If you want to look at the various poses, you may pick the book though, and marvel at how BKS Iyengar could have such flexibility.
Thus spake Kalyan 