Now that yoga is so fashionable there are more yoga books in print than ever before. Many of these books are of poor or mediocre quality.

Hatha Yoga Illustrated is an excellent all around book on yoga. The visual images of the poses are clear, there is a great deal of helpful information concisely presented. The book is devoid of the superflous "blah-blah" so often present in yoga books. This is a hatha yoga manual, you won't find much yoga philosophy herein, but what is stated on these topics is sound and sensible.

No book is an entirely adequate substitute for personal instruction, but this book should have an honored place in every yoga students collection of yoga books.

Hello. I am a bodybuilder/weightlifter and long distance runner who started doing Yoga in 2002 (I practice 6-7 days a week, at least 90-120 min. daily)after surgery to repair the L5-S1 disc in my back, which I blew out while running with a cold and coughing intensely (coughing, sneezing, and laughing allegedly places tremendous pressure on your spine). I have read or purchased at least 15 books on Yoga. This one is by FAR the best (9.5.04). One pet peeve of mine has been hairy, anoerexic-looking, freaky looking Yogis showing off incredibly difficult poses that take years and years to master, if at all. These authors and models are very normal looking and easy on the eyes. This book does indeed display difficult poses, but also shows important modifications for those less accomplished. The book shows the Sun Salutations of course, and dozens of other standing, seated and twisting, forward bends, reclining, arm balances and inversions. Each has a thorough description of the benefits and instructions with fantastic photos for all levels of practioners. You will develop more lean muscle mass, lose weight, and increase flexibility and balance if you are serious about your training (obviously combined with a healthy eating style). The authors summarize several different workouts in a one-two page layout at the back of the book.

Another nice feature in my opinion, the authors don't ramble on about the horrors of eating meat, simply saying that it is an intensely personal decision. Moreover, the authors refrain from outlandish promises that I have found to be either completely inaccurate, scientifically unproven, and/or lies. Yoga is like any other form of fitness. You get out of it what you put in. Rather than making wild, unproven claims, the authors offer responsible descriptions of "potential" benefits. I found this measured approach to be very refreshing.

Because I have read so many Yoga books, I have endured the many wild and completely irresponsible claims by many Yogis and even Yoga Journal magazine (weighing in on the dangers of genetically modified foods [tell that to starving people in Sub-Saharan Africa], peacefullness, and non-violence, yada, yada, yada). The authors achieve a perfect balance in this regard.

This book is PERFECT for anyone from beginners to advanced practioners.

Also, thank you again to Amazon.com for offerring this book at a great price and of course perfect service.

Namaste