Yoga for Your Mind and Body by Rebecca Rissman

Yoga for Your Mind and Body Reviews

• 
  Crazy for Books (Stephanie)

  ARC provided through NetGalley for an honest review.
  
  This book was an uncorrected proof. I thought it had amazing descriptions with pictures to show how each pose is supposed to look, how you can adjust if you aren't as advanced and how to push yourself further in a pose if you are very advanced. I love the simple steps to get into each pose. I'd been looking for something to renew my interest in Yoga without going to a Yoga class.
  
  My only issue is that some of the pictures didn't show up on my electronic device, so I missed out on some of the posses. Probably because the jpeg's were too big. I also would have liked actual beginners, mid-level and advanced routines, putting manny of the posses described in the book together to give the reader an idea of how the posses can flow together. But all in all a really great book for describing many of the posses for a yoga routine.
• 
  Katthew

  Plenty of info about safety in particular, variations with concrete info to ensure you don't push yourself too hard. A bit condescending in places, with a lot of focus on "girls." I don't know how else to describe it, but uh, it feels a bit like I'm being talked down to.
  
  And there is no focus on guys, at all. No photos of or attempt to direct focus to dudes. at all.
• 
  Connie

  A very good book on yoga, why to do it and how to do it the right way!
  Enjoy!
• 
  Julie N

  Positives:
  
  Again, this is well-designed and laid out, with care taken in the selection of images
  This is specifically geared toward a female teenage audience. I wasn't aware of that from the description, but I was pleased with what it contained once I realized it was intended for a YA audience. I appreciated seeing images of diverse teenage girls in age appropriate clothing. The images here aren't heavily touched up - the girls look like regular teens with healthy teen bodies.
  It has a great step by step description of each pose with an accompanying picture that has key elements captioned, showing the correct positioning of hands and feet and lines and angles the body should be making.
  It not only includes both Sanskrit and English asana names, it also include a pronunciation for the Sanskrit, which I found very helpful.
  Modifications are included for some poses to either increase the difficulty or help those who don't have as much flexibility.
  The book includes some more difficult poses, such as supported headstand and plow, with appropriate precautions and guidelines for correct posture.
  
  Negatives:
  
  Some of the captions and side notes were a bit repetitive and some were misplaced. I believe this, along with typos, could very well be the result of my having read a galley rather than the finished product.
  My main change would have been to include more diversity in body type - the girls pictured all had slender, athletic builds. I'd love to see some other body types represented, particularly in a book aimed at teens.
  And while I'm aware that the market many times favors the catering to a particular gender, I don't see why this book couldn't have included young men as well. There was no information included that wouldn't have applied equally to male yogis. The only thing specifically female about the book was the continued use of the world "girl" and the exclusion of male yogis.
  I somehow missed that this book was geared towards young adult women, so my expectation that it be for all genders and ages was a bit off. I probably wouldn't have chosen it had I know it was for a YA audience, but I'm glad that I did. If I had a teenage daughter, I think this book would make for a great introduction to yoga and worth the investment. While it also contains poses and information that can be found online for free, I think the images of teens who actually look like regular teens sets it apart from anything else I've seen online.
  
  Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to review.
• 
  Elaine

  I intend getting myself a copy of this book as soon as I can! It introduces the rationale behind Yoga, focussing on the benefits and how important it is to avoid doing any poses that cause pain. There are suggestions for the equipment to help participants, why you should have a go, the importance of chilling out and warming up before going on to the poses and their purposes.
  
  There are very detailed, clear, easy to follow, step by step instructions for more than eighty different poses, complete with photographs of teenage girls performing them and suggested modifications for readers to use if they prove too hard or easy. The poses are grouped according to their purpose - de-stressing, strength, flexibility and promoting brain power. There is guidance on meditation, too.
  
  It promotes learning one or two new poses each week and trying to carry them out in a calm, relaxed atmosphere. It doesn’t tell you exactly which ones to have a go at or suggest any routine of poses to follow in the electronic ARC version I’ve read but these may be present in the published version when it is released.
  
  Thanks to the author, publishers and NetGalley, too, for letting me read a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
  
• 
  Christina

  I received an uncorrected proof of Yoga for your Mind and Body from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
  
  Yoga for your Mind and Body is an introductory book to yoga. It explains what yoga is and the different props. It guides the reader step by step how to do yoga, not just the positions, but the concepts of clearing your mind and getting ready for your session. Also, it demonstrates the poses and points out the progression through the poses. It also discusses stress relief and flexibility.
  
  Overall it looks like this will be a very good instructive book for beginners. It is important to learn the poses correctly and understanding them will allow for retention of the proper positions. I look forward to seeing the finished book.
  
  I have practice yoga for years and I wish I would have picked up a book like this when I was a beginner.
  
• 
  Kimberly

  Yoga for Your Mind & Body will appeal to tweens and teens alike. Geared toward girls, this book gives the basics of Yoga practice—clothes, equipment, poses, safety, & culture. The reading level is age appropriate and the text features help guide the reader from one piece of text to the next. Fourth grade readers and up could easily follow the text. The pictures are plentiful and only showcase young girls sans make-up—no too perfect, airbrushed models. As much as I liked this book I must say, some pages seemed sparse and needed more text. Information on how to join or find local Yoga communities would be helpful to include. I would purchase this book for my middle school library.
  
  Net Galley and the publisher provided a free copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
• 
  Sofia Lazaridou

  I started this book with the intention of actually doing some of the poses and try yoga. Well, it turns out that I didn't do any of those poses, but I checked all of them out.
  
  Some of them seemed easy to do and some of them looked very advanced. If I had a paperback I would have marked some pages and tried to do the poses when I wanted to. The instructions are very clear and understandable which is not happening in some books of the same genre.
  
  My only problem was the lack of anything extra material when it comes to yoga, the equipment that is needed and some tips for what to do to get healthier while doing yoga.
• 
  Heather Brown

  Yoga for Mind and Body is the perfect reference for today's tweens and teens. With color pictures utilizing real young people doing each pose, this will be a valuable resource for both individuals and libraries. We all know that more exercise is needed by everyone and yoga is a low cost, low-impact option with the added benefit of stress relief. The tips for taking it easy and not getting hurt are invaluable. I will be buying a copy for my school library as soon as it comes out.
• 
  Alex

  A great book to use for yoga poses and learning yoga. Definitely something I'd share around with my friends and family or anyone wanting to try it out! I had a hard time doing some poses but that's definitely all part of yoga; building patience and learning.
  
  Not much more you can say about the book. If you like yoga, definitely pick it up!
• 
  Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind)

  This book is a perfect way to introduce yoga to teens and even adults. The various sections answer the origins and benefits of yoga and the illustrations help guide the reader to proper positions.
  
  I loved seeing the variety of models used for the . They are all natural beauties.
• 
  Kate

  I love this book and the format --
  
  each page explains the pose, the Sanskrit pronunciation, the purpose of the pose, and the steps with which to attain either the full pose or a modification.
  
  
• 
  Susan Krafcheck

  Really good, clear, concise description and photos of poses. Any kid could follow along.