Sunday, October 20, 2013

Viniyoga Books and Videos for Your Home Yoga Practice

Not every yoga practice has to be at a studio! I firmly believe there’s no substitute for an instructor who can personally give feedback on form, design a sequence for your goals, and teach you the basics of a safe and effective yoga practice. But what’s a yogi to do when she just can’t get herself to the studio?

I often work privately with students to develop a written practice they can do at home that is specifically catered to their needs. But that's a subject for a future blog. ;-)

The next best thing is a well conceived and safe book or video. While there are thousands of yoga books and videos out there, until recently there were no videos I felt comfortable recommending. Viniyoga relies so heavily on adapting to the person before us, that teachers in the lineage have resisted creating videos that, by their very nature, are ”one size fits all."

In the past several years, several Viniyoga teachers have taken the challenge, and I’m happy to say that the resources below are quite good. All are available at Amazon and other  online retailers.  And while you're shopping, you can preorder my first yoga mystery, MURDER STRIKES A POSE!

Yoga for Your Life

 


This book was written by Martin and Margaret Pierce, with whom I studied prenatal yoga. It has always been my “go to” resource for people who want to practice at home, but don’t know which postures to do or the order in which to do them. With gorgeous photos and a series of practices that build over time, you just can’t beat it for finding or re-invigorating a yoga practice. The last half of the book has practices for different activities, including a yummy pajama-clad practice for bedtime. Unfortunately, Yoga for Your Life is out of print, but there are currently copies available at many online booksellers.

The YogaAway Video Series

 

This video series was developed by a friend of mine, Bija Bennet, with input from our teacher, Gary Kraftsow. The videos were originally designed for the Hyatt hotels as in-suite video practices for Hyatt guests. There are currently four videos available, with practices focusing on everything from working out to falling asleep. All four have gotten great reviews from my students.

The Viniyoga Therapy Series

 

These videos were developed by my teacher, Gary Kraftsow. They are a little different than the yoga videos you normally find. Each contains almost three hours of material, including several practices, lectures on back pain, and individual tutorials for specific postures.

Although there’s no substitute for taking a class at a studio, I hope you will use these resources to continue your practice.

Namaste

Tracy Weber

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out my author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available for preorder now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Whole Life Yoga, and other retailers!

2 comments:

Linda O. Johnston said...

It does seem like a good idea to have resources at home to help ensure that someone practicing yoga gets it right, Tracy. Great that you made some recommendations!

Tracy Weber said...

And these are GOOD resources. So many books and videos out there on yoga can do more harm than good.