Yoga with Kit Spahr

Books DVDs and...

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If you're looking for yoga books and dvds, here are some suggestions...
(I also have another page listing books I'm currently reading that are not neccessarily directly yoga related...check that out too).

 

Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness by Erich Schiffmann.
An in depth view of the practice of yoga from movement to meditation. Very detailed descriptions of the postures he covers. Useful daily practice guides in the back for 3 levels of practice. His book is a wonderful guide into why we put ourselves into these odd postures and what it might do for us if we continue on a daily basis. Studying with Erich changed my practice and my teaching profoundly.  I love this guy.

 

  Stretching and Flexibility by Kit Laughlin.
Yoga is a mind/body/spirit practice but you won’t find meditation instruction or yoga philosophy in this book. What you will find are some great insights into how to work your body more efficiently in your asana practice. Many of the exercises Kit Laughlin uses are similar if not exactly like yoga postures you are familiar with. You’ll find information about how to bring specific intention into how you move your body for a particular effect on a particular muscle or muscle group.
  Yin Yoga by Paul Grilley.
The Yin Yoga practice reaches into deeper connective tissues in the body…keeping them strong and pliable. On a deeper level still, the practice works on keeping the flow of prana, our life force, moving and preparing us to sit comfortably in meditation. This book is a small, concise introduction to this style of yoga. It includes some background information on the practice, posture descriptions (with photos) and a few sample practice sessions you can incorporate into a home practice. A discussion of pranayama and meditation follows the postures for a well rounded practice. Even though Kit Laughlin (see above) and Paul Grilley are working different aspects of the body, they seem similar in the sense that their work is about intention and effect rather than aesthetics. We’re reaching for how the work feels rather than simply how it looks.  Paul has been coming to Columbus regularly for the past few years to do workshops.  Check out "It's Yoga" on the "Workshops" page.  He'll be here in March 2006.  He's another favorite teacher of mine.
  Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Every Day Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
A wonderful book that addresses the issue of being awake and alive in life. Once you get it, it will become battered and dog-eared like my copy. Based on the Buddhist practice of mindfulness, it’s a perfect complement to yoga practice.
  The Tao of Natural Breathing: For Health, Well-Being and Inner Growth by Dennis Lewis.
This book takes you into an intimate relationship with your breath with very simple practices. The Tao of Natural Breathing shows how we can incorporate natural (whole-body) breathing into our lives to improve our health, increase our energy, and support our quest for self-knowledge and inner growth. I’ve added many of the "exercises" into my personal practice as well as my teaching.
 

The Yoga of Breath: A Step-By-Step Guide to Pranayama by Richard Rosen.
As he says in his introduction, there are many ways of approaching the practice of pranayama. His is a very methodical approach which includes learning to map the body, to be aware of sensations of breathing and to observe the affects of breath on your body and mind before you get to the formal practice of pranayama. It’s a book you might be tempted to read through quickly but I’d encourage you to spend time doing the work along the way…going deeply slowly rather than getting a superficial taste and tossing the book aside.

Mudras: Yoga in Your Hands by Gertrud Hirschi is a great starting place for learning about mudras, gestures of the hands.  You can add them to your meditation practice or use them as a practice in and of themselves.  This book has a wide variety of mudras that deal with the physical, mental, and spiritual realms.

Rodney Yee's  "Moving Toward Balance" is a nice book to have if you'd like to begin working at home.  He's set up a systematic 8 week practice to take you through a whole range of postures.  There are plenty of options included so that beginners and more seasoned yogis will find the practice sessions useful.

Yin Yoga - The Foundations of a Quiet Practice - DVD
A comprehensive introduction to this quiet yet profound practice. This definitive set will provide you with everything you need to begin a complete Yin Yoga practice. In addition to the carefully planned classes that teach you how to practice, there are additional lecture materials that explain why Yin Yoga is an essential complement to Yang forms of yoga and a necessary practice for living a balanced life. This 2-disc set contains over 5 1/2 hours of material, including:  nearly 2 hours of theory lecture;  2 fully guided Yin practice sequences of over 60 minutes each:  1 fully guided Yin & Yang practice sequence of 60 minutes;  3 specially choreographed Yang sequences;  8 voice-only guided Yin sequences of adjustable length;  Customizable playback of the Yin and Yang practices to create new sequences.

 
Anatomy for Yoga with Paul Grilley - DVD
Like doing an anatomy workshop with Paul in the comfort of your own home and at your own pace.  An invaluable resource for both yoga students and teachers, this comprehensive DVD includes nearly 4 hours of in-depth lectures, demonstrations and comparisons of human skeletal anatomy as it relates to yoga practice. Using a wide range of yoga students, Paul explains the key concepts of compression, tension, proportion and orientation. These concepts help us to understand why no two people will ever experience the same yoga posture in the same way. Paul's light-hearted yet provocative approach will challenge many misconceptions about yoga while providing the foundation for the development of a truly personal yoga practice.
 
Yin and Vinyasa Yoga practice DVD
This is one approximately 2 hour practice including a Yin Yoga practice which then moves into a Vinyasa or flowing style practice. I love hearing Sarah's "dharma talk" during the Yin portion.  She has such a soothing presence.  Probably best for intermediate to advanced practitioners. Order directly from Sarah http://www.sarahpowers.com
 
   Insight DVD       Yin Yoga: The Foundations of a Quiet Practice           Anatomy for Yoga with Paul Grilley
 
 
Here are a few dvds that people new to yoga might like....
Beginners Yoga with Erich Schiffmann (Click to buy directly from Erich)
Yoga Mind and Body with Ali McGraw (Erich Schiffmann is the instructor)
A.M./P.M. Yoga for Beginners with Rodney Yee and Patricia Walden
 
Gaiam/Yoga Journal (A.M./P.M. is one of theirs) makes a lot of nice yoga dvds as does Yoga Zone.  Many of them are available at the library if you want to try them out to see if they work for you before you buy.