Ashtanga Yoga for Beginner's Mind

 Ashtanga for Beginners Mind is a guide to the practice of the primary series with a section on shamatha meditation and commentary on how each practice informs the other. While the book is appropriate for all levels of students and gives instruction at the most advanced level, emphasis is placed on the importance of maintaining “beginner’s mind.”

Rather than focusing on a direct and linear approach, Ashtanga for Beginners explores variations to certain postures that are not traditionally offered in the Ashtanga system. This makes the practice accessible to a wider audience. It is sometimes assumed that Ashtanga practice is only for the young and fit; the approach offered here seeks to deny that assumption.

Based on years of teaching beginners, the methods described here have successfully taken total beginners into the traditional postures in a surprisingly short period of time.

The balanced approach offered here keeps in mind the realities of modern life, in which a yoga student may not have the option to practice the recommended six days a week. By adapting the approach, the practice is still available to those who have the motivation, but not necessarily the time or physical capacity.

Offering instruction on shamatha, the book is of interest to yogis who may wish to undertake a meditation practice. It will also interest those who already have a meditation practice, and wish to develop an asana practice to help settle their meditation posture for deeper stability.

Venturing from the traditional approach to Ashtanga, the focus is not on perfecting the postures but rather on using the practice as a tool to prepare the body for sitting meditation. 

This book is especially valuable for yoga practitioners who wish you develop a meditation practice, and for meditators who wish to add a more embodied dimension to their meditation practice.