Clark Bernie - The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga The Philosophy and Practice of Yin Yoga

Bernie Clark loves learning about and then sharing the things that fascinate him. As a child, he enjoyed studying the world and how it works, and as a teen, he loved thinking about the mind and the soul. These seemingly contradictory interests in science and spirituality continued to shape his philosophy of life well into his adult years. With one foot in the commercial world of space and computer technologies and another in the realm of meditation and yoga, he sought bridges between Eastern and Western maps of reality. These maps and bridges are described in his teachings and writings with the hope that others who share his fascinations will be able to enjoy what he has learned, without having to go through the labor of detailed research.

Bernie has a degree in science and spent 30 years as a senior executive in the high-tech/space industry. He embarked upon meditation in the 1970s and began teaching yoga in the 1990s. He conducts yoga teacher trainings several times a year in Vancouver, Canada. To stay informed about Bernies activities, visit his website, www.YinYoga.com, where you can subscribe to his YinSights newsletter.

Your Body, Your Yoga goes beyond any prior yoga anatomy book available. It not only looks at the individual uniqueness of our anatomical structures and what this means for each persons range of motion but also examines the physiological sources of restrictions to movement. Volume 1 proposes a new mantra to be used for every yoga posture: What stops me? The answers presented run through a spectrum, beginning with various types of tensile resistance to three kinds of compressive resistance. The nature of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments, joint capsules, bones and our extracellular matrix are examined, along with their contribution to mobility. The shapes of these structures also define our individual, ultimate ranges of movement, which means that not every body can do every yoga posture. Volume 2 applies these principles to the lower body, examining the hip joint, knee, ankle and foot and presenting how your unique variations in these joints will show up in your yoga practice.

Your Spine, Your Yoga is the second book in the Your Body, Your Yoga series and is arguably the first book that looks at the spine from both the Western anatomical/biomechanical point of view and the modern yoga perspective. It focuses on the axial bodythe core, from the sacral complex, which includes the pelvis, sacrum and sacroiliac joint, through the lumbar and thoracic segments of the spine, to the cervical complex, which includes the neck and head. It is filled with detail, discussion, illustrations and practical advice for spines of all types. No two spines are exactly alike, and no two people have the same biology and biography. What your spine is able to do may be vastly different from what other yoga students or teachers spines can do.

What is the meaning of Shiva dancing on a dwarf named Avidya? Why does Vishnu sleep upon an endless snake? To what did the Buddha awaken? What do we mean by soul? The practice of yoga has become quite common and popular in the West; however, the stories of yoga are still strange to Western ears. What do these ancient symbols mean, what are they trying to teach us, and how should we incorporate the knowledge skillfully into our Western lifestyle? By looking at the myths of yoga along with the stories that have influenced Western culture, we are presented with opportunities to select the best of both worlds and create new maps to help guide us through the uncertainties of modern living.

In this insightful book, Bernie reminds us that we have a choice in how we live our lives; we can hold tight to our beliefs, allowing them to dictate our reality, or we can invite every story (or even encounter) to be a gateway into the poetic, multifaceted dimensions of truth, and the fluid nature of reality. Sarah Powers, author of Insight Yoga and founder of the Insight Yoga Institute

Why practice yoga, Yin Yoga in particular? YinSights has the answers. YinSights explores the benefits of yoga as viewed in the Eastern and Western worlds and relates how it affects the body and mind. YinSights serves as a practical guide for students interested in understanding Yin Yoga. The first half of the book investigates the benefits of yoga on the physical body, the energetic body and the mind/emotional body. Presented are three points of view: those of the yogis in India, the Daoists in China, and the medical and scientific researchers of the West. The second half is Bernies earliest exploration of the practice of Yin Yoga and offers several flows, each with different themes. Slower versions of the normally active, or yang, Sun Salutations are provided, as well as even gentler ways to stimulate the flow of prana, chi or energy. While YinSights illustrates how to practice Yin Yoga, it is not just for those seeking knowledge about Yin Yoga in particular. The book also discusses the advantages of all styles of yoga and will be of interest to every yoga student.

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