A true yogic journey...

I read this book many years ago and still consider it to be in my top 5 books on understanding Yoga. This book is more than a journalist's discovery of hatha yoga. It describes how hatha yoga should be practiced and exposes the true purpose of hatha yoga - UNION of body, mind and spirit. The how-to directions of various hatha yoga asanas in the back of the book are excellent.

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A dangerous book.

In the late 60s I read this book and was enthralled with it. I did the exercises and have to admit that got me through my PhD comprehensives. However, Hatha Yoga got me into the New Age Movement, where I spent 16 devastating years. Much as I thought I was approaching wholeness and peace, I was being torn apart inside and becoming very self-centered. My interpersonal relationships were full of conflict.

I note that one of the other reviewers noted how self-centered this author is. That is what I became during those years, full of myself. Everything was me, me, me.

So I have to say that with hindsight I think this book and the practice of Hatha Yoga is very dangerous.

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35 years later....

...I still think this is the best book to teach anyone yoga from scratch. I have done many types of yoga, in excange for the space, or the job, or the study, but they all had serious problems. The worst of them were downright dangerous. Learning in a class, even from an experienced teacher, a tape, or one-on-one, will have you listening to something other than your own body, and is, more often than not, injurious. Gather the information first, practice slowly and meticulously, and you will improve faster than any other way. The best thing about this book is that it stresses the how and why, rather than the usual, "Do this!" As with everything, it's not as much WHAT you do...it's HOW you do it. Plow your way through the rest of it for the occasional tip, rule, or instruction, and you will be amazed at the benefits.
I first read this book because it was the only book in English that I hadn't read, in that part of Japan, during the Vietnam war. As a 20-something agnostic-by-mind, atheist-by-heart, all I was interested in was getting in shape physically, and, perhaps, controlling my own emotions. Imagine my surprise when, 3 months later, I found I had become an entirely different person! Not only was I physically more capable than I had ever been in my life, but I had the courage and the confidence to change my life into what I wanted it to be. My vision had been 20/200, it was now perfect, as an example.
You won't find the instructions for that in the positions illustrated in the back, or the pictures. You must read the text....with a notebook or a highlighter and dog-earred pages, but it's there, in language even a child can understand. The stories may entertain you, they may irritate you, but everything is there that you need. No one knows what your body needs but you, so do it alone, without distractions, when it is best for you. (I had 2 pre-schoolers then, so I did it late at night.)
Guaranteed, everything you need, for the rest of your life, is in there.

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