Light on Yoga: The Bible of Modern Yoga...

While not a book for everyone, Light on Yoga by BKS Iyengar is a fabulous book for anyone seriously interested in yoga. It has good pictures, excellent, progressive lesson plans, and plenty of other information on hatha yoga.

This book really is a must for the serious yoga student and any yoga teacher.

B.K.S. Iyengar is a master. In this book, he shares his wisdom in straightforward language. Likewise, his asana instruction is clear and direct, even including a 1-60 intensity guide for each pose. I highly recommend this book to any serious yoga practicioner and every responsible yoga instructor.--Dana Edison, author and creator of "Dana Edison's Yoga Is Not One Size Fits All Custom Practice Journal" and audio instruction series.

I was looking for an introduction to yoga, when I read the reviews and this was called the "bible" of yoga, I thought there would be some easy exercises with a natural progression to more difficult ones. Every exercise in this book is for double-jointed superhumans who can defy gravity and the laws of physics with thier bodies and also leap tall buildings in a single bound. Interesting to look at, but I was looking forward to starting yoga practice, and all I have is a book with pictures of human beings contorted like pretzels. If you have money to throw around, buy it. If you are like the rest of us mortals with limited cash and flexibility, move on.

This is the basic text for understanding yoga, particularly if you follow Iyengar style. It describes how to get into and out of each pose, provides photo "plates"...old timey ones with Iyengar himself, has numerous appendices including a suggested schedule for incorporating various poses from beginner to advanced. Includes background on yoga...its a wonderful reference for me as a beginner. Only drawback is that it doesn't seem to include too many variations for beginners (use of props et cetera, which is weird given that Iyengar is really known for its use of props.

In reading this book, the descriptions are wonderful on how to do the many asanas. However, even some of Iyengar's tips for beginners are not really suitable. The pictures are great and any practicing yogi knows the influence Iyengar has. I would only recommend this for practitioners on an intermediate level.