The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice

by T. K. V. Desikachar

Overview

The first yoga text to outline a step-by-step sequence for developing a complete practice according to viniyoga—yoga adapted to the needs of the individual.

• A contemporary classic by a world-renowned teacher.

• This new edition adds thirty-two poems by Krishnamacharya that capture the essence of his teachings.

Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who lived to be over 100 years old, was one of the greatest yogis of the modern era. Elements of Krishnamacharya's teaching have become well known around the world through the work of B. K. S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and Indra Devi, who all studied with Krishnamacharya. Krishnamacharya's son T. K. V. Desikachar lived and studied with his father all his life and now teaches the full spectrum of Krishnamacharya's yoga. Desikachar has based his method on Krishnamacharya's fundamental concept of viniyoga, which maintains that practices must be continually adapted to the individual's changing needs to achieve the maximum therapeutic value.

In The Heart of Yoga Desikachar offers a distillation of his father's system as well as his own practical approach, which he describes as "a program for the spine at every level—physical, mental, and spiritual." This is the first yoga text to outline a step-by-step sequence for developing a complete practice according to the age-old principles of yoga. Desikachar discusses all the elements of yoga—poses and counterposes, conscious breathing, meditation, and philosophy—and shows how the yoga student may develop a practice tailored to his or her current state of health, age, occupation, and lifestyle.

This is a revised edition of The Heart of Yoga.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780892817641
Publisher:	Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Publication date:	03/01/1999
Edition description:	2nd Edition, Revised Edition
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	95,117
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

A structural engineer by training, T. K. V. Desikachar lived and studied with his father until Krishnamacharya's death in 1989. He has devoted his life to yoga instruction for people of all backgrounds and all levels of ability and currently teaches at the school founded in his father's memory in Madras, as well as in Europe, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Table of Contents

Heart of Yoga
Developing a Personal Practice
A Blessing from Indra Devi
Forword by Vanda Scaravelli
Introduction by Mark Whitwell
Part I The Practice of Yoga
1. Yoga: Concept and Meaning
2. The Foundations of Yoga Practice
3. The Principles of Asana Practice
4. The Careful Construction of a Yoga Practice
5. Asana Variations
6. Pranayama
7. The Bandhas
Part II The Understanding of Yoga
8. The Things That Darken the Heart
9. Actions Leave Traces
10. The World Exists to Be Seen and Discovered
11. Living in the World
12. The World Exists to Set Us Free
13. The Qualities of the Mind
14. Nine Obstacles on the Yoga Way
15. The Many Paths of Yoga
Part III The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali
Part IV Yoganjalisaram
Appendix 1 The Texts Mentioned in This Book
Appendix 2 Four General Practice Sequences
Glossary

What People are Saying About This

Indra Devi

“An invaluable source of information regarding the theory and practice of yoga. A must for students and teachers alike.”

Editorial Reviews

Desikachar speaks from the heart with tenderness as well as an engineer's careful attention to details and individuality.

January 2011 LA Yoga

Those who are interested in understanding what yoga is about, those who are looking for a larger context and focus for their hatha practice, those who look to the Yoga Su-tra for guidance, and all those who have loved and benefited from Krishnamacharya and/or Desikachar, directly or indirectly, will want this book.

Yoga International

An invaluable source of information regarding the theory and practice of yoga. A must for students and teachers alike.

author of Yoga for You Indra Devi

Read this book from cover to cover and you will begin to understand what yoga is all about.

The Sunday Times

"I can think of no better book to recommend to a friend beginning to be excited by yoga but bewildered by the plethora of different schools and their sometimes-conflicting teachings. In addition, I would be hard-pressed to think of a book I would recommend more highly to any yoga student seeking to deepen a yoga practice . . . The great gift of The Heart of Yoga lies not simply in the depth of Desikachar's learning, but in the compassion, gentleness, practicality, and down-to-earth spirit that permeate the book."

Yoga Journal

" . . . a milestone in the transmission of yoga from the ancient masters to the modern world."

Winter 1999 / Spring 2000 Bodhi Tree Book Review

"I can think of no better book to recommend to a friend beginning to be excited by yoga but bewildered by the plethora of different schools and their sometimes-conflicting teachings. In addition, I would be hard-pressed to think of a book I would recommend more highly to any yoga student seeking to deepen a yoga practice . . . The great gift of The Heart of Yoga lies not simply in the depth of Desikachar's learning, but in the compassion, gentleness, practicality, and down-to-earth spirit that permeate the book."

Yoga Journal

" . . . a milestone in the transmission of yoga from the ancient masters to the modern world."

"I can think of no better book to recommend to a friend beginning to be excited by yoga but bewildered by the plethora of different schools and their sometimes-conflicting teachings. In addition, I would be hard-pressed to think of a book I would recommend more highly to any yoga student seeking to deepen a yoga practice . . . The great gift of The Heart of Yoga lies not simply in the depth of Desikachar's learning, but in the compassion, gentleness, practicality, and down-to-earth spirit that permeate the book."

“An invaluable source of information regarding the theory and practice of yoga. A must for students and teachers alike.”

“Desikachar speaks from the heart with tenderness as well as an engineer's careful attention to details and individuality.”

“Read this book from cover to cover and you will begin to understand what yoga is all about.”

“Those who are interested in understanding what yoga is about, those who are looking for a larger context and focus for their hatha practice, those who look to the Yoga Su-tra for guidance, and all those who have loved and benefited from Krishnamacharya and/or Desikachar, directly or indirectly, will want this book.

From the Publisher

Desikachar speaks from the heart with tenderness as well as an engineer's careful attention to details and individuality.

LA Yoga

An invaluable source of information regarding the theory and practice of yoga. A must for students and teachers alike.

Indra Devi

" . . . a milestone in the transmission of yoga from the ancient masters to the modern world."

Bodhi Tree Book Review

Desikachar speaks from the heart with tenderness as well as an engineer's careful attention to details and individuality.

L.A. Yoga