Yoga is not a fad. It has been around in the United States for over a hundred years and has a history of approximately five millennia. It is clearly here to stay. Yoga has brought health and peace of mind to millions of people. It can do the same for you.The benefits of Yoga are many. When adopted as a lifestyle, Yoga extends over the entire day. Find out how this can be done and why Yoga is so often loved by people who are Interested in becoming more fit and flexible Looking for stress relief Seeking to live a more peaceful and joyful life Yoga For Dummies guides you slowly, step by step, into the treasure house of Yoga. And it is a fabulous treasure house! You will find out how to unlock your body's extraordinary potential and enlist your mind to do so, and in the process strengthen your mind as well. This book covers the following topics and more: Five basic approaches to Yoga Selecting a Yoga class Practicing Yoga safely The mechanics of Yogic breathing Classic foundational postures Exercises to target problem areas Putting together your personal routine Yoga for special situations The focus on this book is on Hatha (pronounced haht-ha) Yoga, which is that branch of Yoga that works primarily with the body through postures, breathing exercises, and other similar techniques. When necessary, the book provides helpful photos or illustrations to help you better understand the exercises or postures.One author (Georg Feuerstein) is internationally recognized as a leading expert on the Yoga tradition and has authored many seminal works on it. The other author (Larry Payne) has a thriving practice as a Yoga teacher in Los Angeles, where he teaches and responds to his clients' specific health challenges. In this book, their combined 55 years of experience have merged to create a reliable and user-friendly introductory book that can also serve you as a beginner's reference work on an ongoing basis.

About the Authors Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., is one of the world's leading Yoga researchers and has published 30 books, including the award-winning The Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga, The Yoga Tradition, and In Search of the Cradle of Civilization. He is the founder-director of the Yoga Research Center in Northern California and editor of Yoga World newsletter. Larry Payne, Ph.D., is an internationally respected Yoga teacher and back specialist. He is chairman of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, founder of the Yoga program at the J. Paul Getty Museum, co-founder of the Yoga curriculum at UCLA Medical School, and director of the Samata Yoga Center in Los Angeles since 1981.