Transformative yoga reveals the key transforative process embedded within the yoga tradition.

Queering and Cripping the “Yoga Body” deconstructs the power relations and dominant discourses that shape the image of a healthy, natural, gendered body performing a postural yoga practice. This book examines empirical yoga research, yoga-related media, and yoga teacher training materials to critique how yoga becomes a manageable, predictable intervention that individuals can and should undertake in order to create healthy, manageable, non-burdensome bodies. It argues that when yoga is positioned as a natural intervention, discourses of morality and purity become intertwined with those of measurability, responsibility, control, health, and gender. It also considers the author’s own embodied experience, as well as those of other queer and disabled yoga teachers and practitioners, and how such experiences can open up possibilities for the teaching and practice of yoga. Queering and Cripping the “Yoga Body” will be of interest to graduate students and researchers studying embodiment, health and mindfulness practices, poststructuralism, queer theory, or disability studies, as well as researchers, teachers, and practitioners of yoga.

It's no secret that yoga increases muscular flexibility and strength, but you may not know that yoga is a proven treatment for back pain, knee pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other chronic pain conditions. Yoga also helps to ease the stress, anxiety, and depression that can create and reinforce pain, making you feel more comfortable in both your mind and your body. Written by a yoga instructor and former chronic pain sufferer, Yoga for Pain Relief is packed with gentle postures and practical strategies for ending pain. This complete mind-body tool kit for healing also includes deep relaxation practices drawn from the yogic tradition and psychological techniques for helping you make peace with your body and dissolve pain. As the ancient practice of yoga releases the hold that chronic pain has over your life, you will begin to feel more like yourself again.

From the perspective of yoga psychology the view from infinity even our basest instincts, our most mundane acts, and our greatest follies can be understood as the limited or distorted expressions of a purposeful, compassionate and infinite intelligence. Yoga Psychology is based on the writings of Sri Aurobindo, the revolutionary poet and philosopher who founded the independence movement in India later led by Mahatma Ghandi.

From New York Times Featured Author With more than 200 color photos of more than 40 common yoga postures, plus detailed instructions and intuitive cues, Yoga's Touch is an easy-to-use reference book designed to empower you to be a more effective, versatile and confident teacher. Martia Bennett Rachman, E-RYT 500 and LMBT, has taught thousands of classes and has trained hundreds of yoga teachers. Renowned for combining therapeutic touch with specific asanas to strengthen and heal the body, she has witnessed firsthand how effective hands-on adjustments can be. However, many teachers--especially new ones--shy away from giving adjustments due to lack of confidence or uncertainty about the precisions of a posture. Yoga's Touch is unique in that, in addition to dramatic, detailed photos of both asanas and adjustments, this easy-to-use reference book offers: * Instructions on the specifics of teaching more than 40 of the most popular yoga postures * Details on how the body works kinesthetically * Emphasis on how prana is affected in a yoga posture * Precise guidance on what and how to touch once a student is in a posture While other programs address one or two of those elements, Martia's signature YogaTouch Method℠ and her diverse background show the interconnectivity of all these elements, within individual postures and throughout a practice--which can be applied regardless of an instructor's teaching style or yoga lineage. This unique yet universal approach to teaching is what makes Yoga's Touch the definitive guide for teachers, studios, and training programs. This book is the definitive guide to hands-on adjustments, alignment and verbal cues for new and experienced yoga instructors! Also available in paperback, and don't forget to check out our quick reference guide poster, the perfect supplement to Yoga's Touch. Save on the bundle, which includes both the paperback book and the quick reference guide poster.