I am a complete beginner to yoga...less than 6 months of practice and I'm 64 years old... Even with an excellent yoga teacher and a once a week class, I felt I needed some type of guide so I could do yoga at home. Videos went too fast for me and often I'd be unable to see the TV from the floor.. This book was absolutely perfect....as yoga requires a lot of practice in order to become more limber and competent. After taking many different yoga books out of the library and this being one of them, I felt I had to own it because this was the only book where I could find a specific pose, read exactly what to do (and what not to do), see beautiful photographs of someone doing the pose and adapt any of the poses to my own level by adding my own props.

In no way are all the poses easy and many are advanced, but with props like blankets, blocks and belts, most are adaptable to a person's age and fitness level. Also, I like the fact that many variations are shown for each pose so I have easier
options if I need it. I would honestly say this book is as appropriate for a beginner as it might be for an advanced student.

This book is quite large, actually more of a coffee table book, and if I had to say one negative thing about it, it would be that it's a little cumbersome, having to prop it up somewhere in order to see the photograph while practicing. The advantage
of the book being large is that I am seeing a large detailed photo of a person doing each pose, step by step.

This book has so much information about each pose that I find myself reading it just to learn what health issues a pose might help. For example for better digestion, a whole group of poses are categorized together and then broken down into specific ailments, specifically if someone had an ulcer or irritable bowel syndrome there are specific poses on different pages for each. There is a guide for those who want to do an individual yoga practice, suggesting 20 weeks of asanas (poses) to do if someone wanted to completely learn yoga without a teacher at all.

There is always a list of cautions with each pose and always a list of benefits. Very few yoga books I've read explained this much and often I just do poses for women's health or mind and emotions. There are wonderful uplifting quotes interspersed
throughout the book, like, "Yoga is the golden key which unlocks the door to peace, tranquility and joy".

I like looking at the photos of the skeletal system and muscular system which are
located in the back of the book and there is an extensive glossary that translates sanskrit terms. Every pose is listed in sanskrit and has an English translation.

Important information like how to come out of the pose is rarely included in other
yoga books but I found it immensely important for a beginner. I love this book and would recommend it to anyone who wants to own a really complete, well written, and definitively illustrated yoga guide, written by a wonderful master teacher, B.K.S. Iygengar.

The book is full of illustrations. So its very easy to follow. Best of all it works. I've saved more than $300 on visits to the physician by following this book. Believe me its worth the investment.