Illustrated Light on Yoga

Illustrated Light on Yoga : For all those interested in doing Yoga

For many years I was academically interested in Yoga in the sense that I had read and heard about Yoga but never got around to actually doing any Yoga. I had read that the appeal of Yoga is in the fact that the stretches and the regulated breathing causes a sense of lightness and exhilaration.  And then I found the Illustrated Light on Yoga by BKS Iyengar.

The Illustrated Light on Yoga is a shorter version of the earlier book by BKS Iyengar called Classic Introduction to Yoga. The book has a bright orange cover and is printed on an easy-to-use A4 layout making it eye-catching and radical for a book on Yoga. Its a welcome departure from the text book like Yoga books I have seen in the past. It has 57 asanas and an introduction to Pranayama. All the asanas have simple step-by-step instructions along with photographs making it very easy to do the asanas on your own. The instructions for each asana is followed by a listing of the benefits of the asana. The part I liked the most is that there is an Appendix which contains a week by week asana course on which asanas to do each week and in what order. This ensures that beginners do the asanas in the right order.

I am regularly practising Yoga after buying the book and have so far progressed to week 8 of the course. It has made me more flexible, especially the hamstrings which are stiff in people with a sedentary job. I do feel light and exhilarated after a session. So recommending the book since it helped me actually do Yoga instead of simply filling up the the self-improvement section of my book shelf. 

Wishing you many good yoga sessions. 

PS: If your city has a "Yoga Shop" you can buy a Yoga mat for cheap. Else Addidas sells Yoga mats but they are expensive.