Calm yourself in stressful times: 4 new books
- "Big Book": A photo-laden safe yoga guide
- "Hell-Bent": What possesses people who do yoga in 110 degrees?
- Yoga memoirs: Laugh, cry, lose weight and love
Feeling fried after another long week at work? Or stressed out about being unemployed? One way to help yourself this weekend: Stretch out and take a deep breath. Here are some new books about yoga, which is practiced by about 16 million Americans:
Pictures and guidelines: You might find yourself getting inspired by the beautiful photos and tips (example: Warrior II, broaden your arms, keep your front knee over your heel, keep your weight in your heel) in The Women's Health Big Book of Yoga by Kathryn Budig. In addition to the directions for more than 200 poses, you can find yoga postures that might help cure a hangover (the first 20 minutes make you sweat it out) and core-strengthening routines "for hotter, more satisfying sex." Another plus for a practice that can lead to injuries: tips on how to avoid them. Budig writes that the key to learning is "Patience. Rome wasn't built in a day and your hands won't fly past your knees to touch the ground in that amount of time either." She covers yoga from a variety of angles, whether you're looking for total body workout or just wanting to chill.
Hotter than hell: What inspires people to take up Bikram yoga, a style practiced in 110 degree temperatures? Hell-Bent: Obsession, Pain, and The Search for Something Like Transcendence in Competitive Yoga by Benjamin Lorr is a fast-paced narrative about how one struggling, overweight, undisciplined New Yorker discovers a guru who takes him on an incredible journey of personal transformation. Lorr explores the science behind the "hot" practice and turns up the heat on a cult where hard-core enthusiasts push so hard for perfection they practice backbends for hours at a time until some of their ribs pop. Lorr makes you grimace but also laugh and ponder the broader consequences of searching for self.
On the lighter side: Good yogis can laugh at themselves and learn to enjoy the world in these two memoirs. Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi: My Humble Quest to Heal My Colitis, Calm My ADD, and Find the Key to Happiness by Brian Leaf is a manly-man's book about finding good health and self-awareness. Leaf's struggles started 20 years ago, when he was dealing with anxieties and lack of focus as a college student at Georgetown. He writes about the good and not-so-good teachers who can help on the journey. Now a certified yoga teacher, his journey with yoga led him to his current work as the director of the New Leaf Learning Center in Northampton, Mass., where he helps other students with their issues.
In enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle-Pointer, author Jessica Berger Gross writes about how values at the core of yoga — honesty, moderation and nonviolence — set her on the path to weight loss and inner peace. Lots of cleansing and pineapples in the diet. (Hint from the book: Eat like a Yogi — after a meal, the stomach should be 1/2 full with food, 1/4 full with water and 1/4 empty, with room for air.)