The Heart of Yoga

YOGA "I can think of no better book to recommend to a friend beginning to be excited by yoga but bewildered by the plethora of different schools and their sometimes‑conflicting teachings. In addition, I would be hard‑pressed to think of a book I would recommend more highly to any yoga student seeking to deepen a yoga practice . . . The great gift of The Heart of Yoga lies not simply in the depth of Desikachar's learning, but in the compassion, gentleness, practicality, and down‑to‑earth spirit that permeate the book." --Yoga Journal "Read this book from cover to cover and you will begin to understand what yoga is all about." --The Sunday Times "Those who are interested in understanding what yoga is about, those who are looking for a larger context and focus for their hatha practice, those who look to the Yoga Su-tra for guidance, and all those who have loved and benefited from Krishnamacharya and/or Desikachar, directly or indirectly, will want this book." --Yoga International "An invaluable source of information regarding the theory and practice of yoga. A must for students and teachers alike." --Indra Devi, author of Yoga for You Śrī Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who lived to be over 100 years old, was one of the greatest yogis of the modern era. Elements of Krishnamacharya's teaching have become well known around the world through the work of B. K. S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and Indra Devi, who all studied with Krishnamacharya in their early years. Krishnamacharya's son T. K. V. Desikachar lived and studied with his father all his life and now teaches the full spectrum of Krishnamacharya's yoga. Desikachar has based his method on Krishnamacharya's fundamental teaching, which maintains that practices must be continually adapted to the individual's changing needs to achieve the maximum therapeutic value. In The Heart of Yoga Desikachar offers a distillation of his father's system as well as his own practical approach, which he describes as "a program for the spine at every level--physical, mental, and spiritual." This is the first yoga text to outline a step‑by‑step sequence for developing a complete practice according to the age‑old principles of yoga. Desikachar discusses all the elements of yoga--poses and counterposes, conscious breathing, meditation, and philosophy--and shows how the yoga student may develop a practice tailored to his or her current state of health, age, occupation, and lifestyle. Krishnamacharya placed the highest value on Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, which is included here in its entirety, with a translation and commentary by Desikachar. Added to this second edition of The Heart of Yoga is the Yogān͂jalisāram--thirty‑two poems composed by Krishnamacharya that capture the essence of his teachings and further make The Heart of Yoga a milestone in the transmission of yoga from the ancient masters to the modern world. A structural engineer by training, T. K. V. Desikachar lived and studied with his father until Krishnamacharya's death in 1989. He has devoted his life to yoga instruction for people of all backgrounds and all levels of ability, and currently teaches at the school founded in his father's memory in Madras, as well as in Europe, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Heart of Yoga
Developing a Personal Practice
A Blessing from Indra Devi
Forword by Vanda Scaravelli
Introduction by Mark Whitwell
Part I The Practice of Yoga
1. Yoga: Concept and Meaning
2. The Foundations of Yoga Practice
3. The Principles of Asana Practice
4. The Careful Construction of a Yoga Practice
5. Asana Variations
6. Pranayama
7. The Bandhas
Part II The Understanding of Yoga
8. The Things That Darken the Heart
9. Actions Leave Traces
10. The World Exists to Be Seen and Discovered
11. Living in the World
12. The World Exists to Set Us Free
13. The Qualities of the Mind
14. Nine Obstacles on the Yoga Way
15. The Many Paths of Yoga
Part III The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali
Part IV Yoganjalisaram
Appendix 1 The Texts Mentioned in This Book
Appendix 2 Four General Practice Sequences
Glossary