Yoga the Iyengar Way
ISBN 978-0863184208 | |
Yoga the Iyengar Way is a 1990 guide to Iyengar Yoga, a style of modern yoga as exercise, by the yoga teachers Silva Mehta and her children Mira Mehta and Shyam Mehta. They were among the first teachers to be trained by B. K. S. Iyengar outside India.
The main part of the book is on asanas, yoga postures. This is accompanied by an introduction to yoga, and sections on pranayama (yoga breathing), the philosophy of yoga, the surrender of the self including meditation, and recommended courses of asanas for different conditions. The book presents the asanas with a combination of a brief text and photographs of Mira and Shyam on a single page or a double-page spread.
The book has been well received by critics, who have called it "an influential classic textbook";[1] its publisher describes it as a "backlist bestseller".[2] The authors have been portrayed in some of the asanas illustrated in the book in a set of Indian postage stamps.
Context
At the time of the book's publication, Silva, Mira, and Shyam Mehta were teachers of
Book
Publication history
Yoga the Iyengar Way was published in paperback by
Topics covered
The book is arranged with an introductory section, three main parts, and an appendix.
- The introductory section contains a foreword by B. K. S. Iyengar;[MMM 3] a short biographical preface by the authors;[MMM 1] a short introduction to yoga in general;[MMM 4] and a note on Sanskrit transliteration.[MMM 5]
- Part I is the main part of the book, with some 140 pages covering about 100 asanas.[MMM 6]
- Part II covers techniques for the mind, including pranayama (yoga breathing) and the philosophy of yoga.[MMM 7]
- Part III describes the surrender of the self and meditation, dhyana.[MMM 8]
- The appendix defines courses of asanas considered suitable for different conditions, with a set of remedial programmes.[MMM 9]
Approach
Each asana is described with a combination of short paragraphs of text and photographs (about half in colour) of Shyam or Mira Mehta. The book is in a large format, 215 mm × 275 mm (8.5 in × 10.8 in), close to
Each pose is named in Sanskrit (in a pale colour, giving the effect of a decorative frieze at the top of the page) and in transliteration with
Reception
The scholar of religion
The book's authors and their exemplary asanas are commemorated in a set of
References
Primary
These references indicate the parts of the Yoga the Iyengar Way text being discussed.
- ^ a b Mehta, Mehta & Mehta 1990, p. 7
- ^ a b c Mehta, Mehta & Mehta 1990, pp. 26–27
- ^ Mehta, Mehta & Mehta 1990, p. 6
- ^ Mehta, Mehta & Mehta 1990, p. 8
- ^ Mehta, Mehta & Mehta 1990, p. 10
- ^ Mehta, Mehta & Mehta 1990, pp. 12–152
- ^ Mehta, Mehta & Mehta 1990, pp. 154–170
- ^ Mehta, Mehta & Mehta 1990, pp. 172–174
- ^ Mehta, Mehta & Mehta 1990, pp. 175–187
Secondary
- ^ a b "Yoga: The Iyengar Way". Yoga Matters. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
- ^ a b "Yoga: The Iyengar Way". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- S2CID 72555878.
- ^ "Pranic Pathways and the Inner Journey with Mira Mehta". Yoga Loft. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
- ^ a b "Yoga the Iyengar Way". WorldCat. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ a b c d Pizer, Ann (23 May 2019). "The 10 Best Yoga Books of 2019". Very Well Fit. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019.
- OCLC 878953765.
- ^ Jung, Marina (December 2013). "In Conversation with Mira Mehta" (PDF). Australian Yoga Life (December 2013 – February 2014): 66. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 March 2019.
- ^ "India on Yogasana 1991". iStampGallery. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
- ^ "Yoga stamps issued by postal department forgotten". The Times of India. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
The set of four multi-coloured stamps in the denominations of Rs 2, 5, 6.5 and 10 were issued on December 30, 1991, depicting yoga postures - Bhujangasana, Dhanurasana, Ushtrasana and Utthita Trikonasana - respectively.
Sources
- Mehta, Silva; Mehta, Mira; Mehta, Shyam (1990). Yoga the Iyengar Way: The new definitive guide to the most practised form of yoga. ISBN 978-0863184208.