MacGregor - The power of ashtanga yoga: developing a practice that will bring you strength, flexibility, and inner peace

Kino MacGregor is gifted not only as a practitioner of asana but also as a writer and portrayer of the deeper aspects of yoga. She easily traverses such diverse terrains as spirituality, scripture, health, relationships, anatomy, and of course postural alignment and technique.

Gregor Maehle, author of Ashtanga Yoga: Practice and Philosophy and Pranayama: The Breath of Yoga

An excellent, well-researched book that explores the philosophical, spiritual, and physical dimensions of Ashtanga Yoga in a way that is informative, inspirational, non-dogmatic, and easy to understand.

Tim Miller, Director of the Ashtanga Yoga Center, Encinitas, California

I highly recommend The Power of Ashtanga Yoga. Not only is it chock-full of practical advice and tips for the beginner and for those with injuries or obstacles, it also treats asana practice as a fine contemplative art by its emphasis on smooth, focused movement in and out of the postures in sync with the breath. Its presentation of the subtle and deeper aspects of yoga is clear and accessible, making this book useful for all types of practitioners.

Richard Freeman, author of The Mirror of Yoga

In this marvelous book, Kino MacGregor shows us why she is so highly esteemed worldwide among Yoga teachers. Not only is she a miraculously proficient practitioner, she is also a skilled and compassionate teacher who knows the heart and essence of Yoga as a spiritual path leading to enlightenment.

Jack Forem, author of Transcendental Meditation

Kino MacGregor is a dedicated student and teacher of Ashtanga Yoga and she has wonderfully shared her insights, thoughts, and guidance in this book.

David Swenson, author of Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual

Anyone with an interest in yogafrom a bookstore browser to a dedicated practitionerwill find something to engage their mind, open their heart, and nourish their spirit in The Power of Ashtanga Yoga. Inspirational, heartfelt, and practical, it is an invaluable roadmap to your infinite potential.

Frances Cole Jones, author of How to Wow

The Power of Ashtanga Yoga accomplishes something fantastic.... Kino manages to incorporate everything you ever wanted to know from a yogi. She seamlessly incorporates personal experiences, useful gems of wisdom, and detailed technical knowledge of the practice.

Huffington Post

ABOUT THE BOOK

Ashtanga Yoga is a graceful, athletic type of yoga that has become extremely popular in recent years. Here, Kino MacGregor, a disciple of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, the great modern guru who developed Ashtanga Yoga, gives a comprehensive view of the practice and shows how Ashtanga is fundamentally a path of spiritual transformation and personal development.

MacGregor delves into the history and tradition of Ashtanga Yoga and reveals how its philosophy manifests in contemporary lifestyle and dietary choices. She also explains the essential connection of breath, posture, and gaze that is the core of the practice. Her clear, step-by-step instruction of the Ashtanga Yoga Primary Seriesincluding standing, seated, backbending, twisting, hip-opening, and closing posturesis a wonderful initiation for those who are new to the practice, and it will motivate experienced yogis toward perfection of the form. Throughout, MacGregor shares her own personal yoga journey and her devotion to yoga as a path of self-realization in a way that will inspire all practitioners.

KINO MACGREGOR is one of only fourteen peopleand the youngest womanin the United States to receive certification to teach Ashtanga Yoga from its founder Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. She has an international following of her own, and a busy schedule of teaching gigs at seminars and yoga conferences worldwide. She is a life coach and has a Master's Degree from New York University. MacGregor and her husband, Tim Feldmann, are the founders of the Miami Life Center (www.miamilifecenter.com), where they teach daily classes, workshops, and intensives together. MacGregor was featured in Yoga Journal as one of the top twenty-one rising stars of yoga. Her website is www.kinoyoga.com.

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The Power of

ASHTANGA YOGA

Developing a Practice That Will Bring You Strength, Flexibility, and Inner Peace

Kino MacGregor

SHAMBHALA

Boston & London 2015

Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Horticultural Hall

300 Massachusetts Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02115

www.shambhala.com

2013 by Kino MacGregor

Cover photograph by John Miller

Cover design by Kathleen Lynch/Black Kat Design

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

MacGregor, Kino

The power of ashtanga yoga: developing a practice that will bring you strength, flexibility, and inner peace / Kino MacGregor

Pages cm

eISBN 978-0-8348-3041-7

ISBN 978-1-61180-005-0 (pbk.: alk. paper)

1. Ashtanga yoga. I. Title.

RA781.68.M32 2013

613.7046dc23

2012038267

This book is an offering to every sincere student of yoga. I dedicate this book to my teachers Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and R. Sharath Jois, to my parents for their constant support, and to my husband who will always be my hero. Special thanks to John Miller for awesome photos, Jack Forem and Greg Nardi for editing, and my agent Bob Silversteinwithout your hard work and faith in me this book would not exist.

I CONSIDER IT TRUE GRACE AND GOOD FORTUNE THAT I met Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his grandson R. Sharath Jois when I had been practicing Ashtanga Yoga for less than a year. Always joyful to see a new student, Jois beamed with the true joy of a man who has touched the heart of yoga. It was his contagious laugh, forgiving grace, unparalleled urgency, and depth of wisdom that gave me faith to practice Ashtanga Yoga six days a week over the last twelve years through pain and injury and into healing. Whenever I studied with Jois as he traveled and taught Ashtanga Yoga around the world, I felt the unique blend of peaceful happiness emanating from his heart. Over the ten years I spent training with him, I always saw him full of energy, love, and enthusiasm for his students. There will never be another teacher or person exactly like him, and we should not seek to replace him. Instead, I hope only to continue practicing and teaching the tradition of yoga that I was lucky enough to receive from him.

I thank my first Ashtanga Yoga teachers, Ryan Spielman and Govinda Kai. I also had the support of my mom and dad, who recognized the healing power of yoga in my life and believed in my dream of sharing yoga with the world. My husband has been a constant source of teaching, evolution, and love. Throughout my journey into Ashtanga Yoga, I have had many angels who guided my way, and I bear a torch of gratitude to everyone who has been a teacher to me. I would not have the legacy of Ashtanga Yoga to share with you if it were not for the generation of Ashtanga Yoga teachers who first traveled to Mysore in the 1970s when I was just a baby. It is because people like Tim Miller, Nancy Gilgoff, and David Swenson dedicated their lives to Ashtanga Yoga that I was able to find it as early as I did.