Getting Down with Downward Dog: Yoga
I discovered hot yoga two years ago and haven't looked back since (the best present my husband ever bought me!). It's great for flexibility, toning and strength (I now have triceps) but also for mental calming.
Why not browse among the 2000+ titles that TPL owns on yoga and see what speaks to you. You won't regret it. Your core/belly and glutes will thank you and your friends and family will start to say things like: "you look good" or "you seem calmer."
I especially like Hatha Yoga which requires longer holding of poses and helps build mental and physical strength and improves breath and awareness control.
I regularly attend a Chakra flow class which is related to the more spiritual and energy driven Kundalini yoga. The library also has many non-yoga books on Chakras.
There are many different schools of yoga and also many different yoga gurus so you may also be interested in some historical and biographical background, life stories and the personal journeys that others have taken.
I also like the rigour and structure of Ashtanga yoga. Some of the instruction and many of the names are in Sanskrit and that can be a bit disconcerting but the set poses are quickly learned. I once saw three people, who had been studying it for longer than me, move in complete synchronicity for an entire class.
Ashtanga is a challenging class to take, especially one of the last postures where you sit in full lotus and lift your entire body for 10 seconds using your arm and body strength. I'm thankful to one of the regulars at my yoga studio who inspires me to hold my body weight – all 173 librarian pounds – up for those 10 seconds. Yoga can also be community.
There's a lot of material available for the advanced student or teacher of yoga as well, including a wide variety of anatomy books.
There are also books on teaching yoga and adjustments.
Moving away from the body, there is also quite a bit written on the spiritual aspects of yoga.
B.K.S. Iyengar is one of the big names in yoga and his large-scale, beautifully photographed book that has detailed notes on postures is a real eye-opener.
There's also a wide selection of DVDs on Yoga including many by Rodney Yee.
My co-worker Wendy, who lives in the Beach, wanted to me add in a book on paddle board yoga or SUP so …
I will also note that there are a lot of specialized yoga books:
- yoga for back pain
- gentle yoga and yoga for therapeutic purposes (including arthritis &, osteoporosis)
- yoga and pregnancy
- yoga for children
I've also read good things about Erich Schiffmann's Yoga: the spirit and practice of moving into stillness and Ana T. Forrest's Fierce medicine: breakthrough practices to heal the body and ignite the spirit.
Toronto Star Archives photo 1975: Fun and Fitness with Yoga … Scarborough women are finding yoga.
You may know that the library is very active on Reddit – the online community. There is a Reddit board r/yoga that you may find interesting. They have a very helpful FAQ that covers all kinds of interesting questions: what to wear, yoga matts/towels, what to expect, even what to read!
Namaste.
10 thoughts on “Getting Down with Downward Dog: Yoga”
Well, now that you’ve brought us up to speed about the Library’s exercise-related holdings of nearly unique interest to women (who are basically all your colleagues at the office and almost all your bosses), perhaps now you could turn to, say, weight training, the Library’s collections on which are not what I would like. That’s the sort of thing men do at gyms, on the whole.
I would recommend _Becoming a Supple Leopard_ by Kelly Starrett et al., which is a big enough hardcover that schlepping it home is itself a workout.
http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM3533606&R=3533606
(For unknown reasons, people place more holds on the first edition than the second, linked above.)
TPL doesn’t have _Starting Strength_ by Rippetoe (three editions and 250,000 copies after publication). I’m blue-forming it and the ladies at CDD will find a reason to reject it. So again, not enough in that category in the Library’s collection.
Also, read Stu McGill: Yoga is bad for your back.
As always Bill, your blog is always informative, and will surely increase the holds listed on certain titles! Your blogs are always a pleasure to read!
http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM164309&R=164309 without getting into gender politics, there is content available on how to negotiate what you want out of life. For example, if you rephrase to “I would like to see a blog post on weightlifting because that’s what I find interesting.” It engages more people and you may find others out there with additional input. SUP is also really gaining a lot of attention, you should have seen Ashbridges Bay last weekend! Now that needs it’s own blog post!
This is one of my favourite posts!
Are librarian pounds harder to lift, because they’re weighed down by books?
I’ve placed a hold on Becoming a supple leopard. Thanks for the recommendation. I get at least half my exercise by schlepping library books to and from home. #TPLworkout
Huh?? Joe, dude! It’s 2017! You’re giving us guys a bad name with that garbage. I checked out this blog because Yoga has transformed my life and I’m always looking to expand my understanding. I’ve never lifted weights in my life and don’t plan on it. And my penis doesn’t miss the weightlifting either.
Great response, Jen, but something tells me this guy isn’t really interested in weightlifting. Guess even the library blog has trolls.
Joe Clark,
Your comments are silly and ignorant. What city are you living in when you think that the men of Toronto don’t do yoga? What evidence do you have? At the classes I go to I see many men. As well, I know many women who go to gyms for body building, weights and general health. It’s like some sad and weird throw back to a long gone sexist world. You shouldn’t be speaking for men in general, you’re no representative of them.
To quote you “I would recommend”
The everything guide to narcissistic personality disorder : professional, reassuring advice for coping with the disorder : at work, at home, and in your family
http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM2824249&R=2824249
Disarming the narcissist : surviving & thriving with the self-absorbed
http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM3002006&R=3002006
Maria,
I know we think of our librarians as superheroes and not subject to the laws of physics, but alas, that is not the case. 🙂
I agree with you wholehearedly, Astrida! I always look forward to a new blog post by Bill V.!!
Downward Facing Dog is an awesome posture for opening the backs of the legs because you have gravity to help you, and it is very easy to keep your spine in a beneficial position in this stretch.