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The book gives sequences for each phase of the menstrual cycle, from the premenstrual phase (supported bridge pose stabilizes mood swings), menstruation (restorative poses allow the body to rest), and the post-menstrual phase (inversions allow the body to cleanse and recover). By ovulation when a woman is at her peak, her yoga practice has built back up to its full strength and variety. In addition, The Woman’s Yoga Book offers solutions for a variety of menstrual and premenstrual problems, including amenorrhea (failure to menstruate), menorrahgia (excessively heavy periods) and dysmenorrhea (painful periods).

Senior Iyengar yoga teacher Bobby Clennell brings decades of yoga study and teaching experience to The Woman’s Yoga Book. She offers a comprehensive program of asana and pranayama designed to support menstrual health from menarche to menopause, alongwith nutritional and off-the-mat lifestyle information. Yoga sequences are given for each phase of the menstrual cycle. In addition, she offers sequences for PMS, migraines, bloating, insomnia, cramps, heavy bleeding and much more.

Book: The Woman’s Yoga Book by Bobby Clennell
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The old version of this post asked whether the Atkins diet is right for you, and answered with a list of reasons to try it, including a family history of diabetes, being overweight and having certain eating habits. Some of that advice is sensible, and some goes too far. This rewrite keeps the questions and fixes the parts that overreach.

What is your dieting history?

The old post suggests writing down every diet you have tried, what worked, what did not and why you stopped. That is a good exercise. It also says that if low-fat diets have worked well for you and low-carb diets have not, Atkins is probably not for you. The research backs the idea that personal fit matters: in a 12-month trial of 609 adults, a healthy low-carb diet and a healthy low-fat diet produced similar weight loss on average (6.0 kg compared with 5.3 kg, a difference that was not significant), which suggests that a plan you can keep following matters more than the label on it. Read the trial abstract.

Are you “carb sensitive”?

The old post lists signs: feeling hungry right after meals, strong urges to eat during the day, feeling dizzy, foggy and tired without sugar, and feeling sluggish after a meal rich in carbohydrates. “Carb sensitivity” is an informal term, not a diagnosis, and the same symptoms can come from skipped meals, poor sleep or medical problems. MedlinePlus lists anemia, thyroid disease, diabetes, sleep disorders and depression among the causes of fatigue. If you often feel like this, ask your doctor for a check before blaming carbohydrates.

What does your medical history say?

The old post said that if you have prediabetes or diabetes, a low-carb diet such as Atkins may be right for you, and that a family history of diabetes can create a need for it. The truth is more careful. The American Diabetes Association’s 2019 consensus report says that for select adults with type 2 diabetes who are not meeting blood sugar targets, or for whom reducing medicine is a priority, low- or very-low-carbohydrate eating is a viable approach. It also says that a very-low-carb plan can cause fluid loss and a quick drop in blood sugar, so you need advice from a knowledgeable practitioner at the start to prevent dehydration and low blood sugar. The ADA’s 2019 standards of care did not recommend low-carb plans for pregnant or lactating women, people with or at risk of disordered eating, or people with kidney disease, and said to use them with caution with SGLT2-inhibitor drugs because of the risk of ketoacidosis (check the current edition of the standards). Our post on Atkins and diabetes looks at this in more detail, and you can read the ADA consensus report.

Does being overweight make Atkins a better fit?

The old post says that the more overweight you are, the more likely you are to have high blood pressure, high triglycerides and high blood glucose, which is true. But it is not a reason to choose one diet over another. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute notes that adults with overweight or obesity can lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL by losing only 3 to 5 percent of their weight, whichever way they do it. Pick the plan you can follow, and ask your provider to check your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose while you lose weight.

Can you live with the rules?

Think about the practical side. The first two weeks can bring headaches, tiredness and constipation, and you need to count carbohydrates. Atkins currently offers plans at different carbohydrate levels (about 20, 40 or 100 grams of net carbs a day, according to its website), and the old post mentioned a “modified” version for people who had bad experiences with both low-fat and low-carb diets. See the Atkins diet basics and Atkins induction rules to find out what is involved, and common mistakes Atkins dieters make for traps to avoid.

What should you do next?

Talk to your doctor if you have diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease or high cholesterol, or if you take regular medication. Write down your answers to the questions above, choose a start date and plan your meals before you begin. If Atkins is not right for you, that is fine; there are other ways to lose weight and keep it off.

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From Beryl Bender Birch, best-selling author and founding voice in today’s “vigorous yoga” movement, comes this inspiring guide for the serious yoga practitioner. Focusing on the “eight limbs” of Ashtanga Yoga, including breath control, concentration, and the moral precepts of yoga science, Bender Birch shows how our physical journey can take us into the deeper levels of spiritual practice.

Yoga poses, or asanas, are just part of a traditional yoga practice, although this fact has largely been overlooked by the masses who’ve taken up yoga in the past several years. In astanga yoga, for example, there are eight branches, or “limbs,” of yoga that each correspond to a body chakra, or energy center, which combine physical and spiritual activities to balance the energy of the body and mind. (The third limb encompasses the asanas familiar to most yoga students; the other limbs include pranayama, or mindful breathing; dharana, or concentration; dhyana, meditation; and samadhi, living joyfully.)

Book: Beyond Power Yoga by Beryl Bender Birch
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What happens when classical Indian yoga philosophy is read alongside the spiritual writings associated with Edgar Cayce? Istvan Fazekas explores that question in Edgar Cayce and the Yoga Sutras: Uniting Body, Mind and Spirit. This is not a modern sequence of stretching exercises. It is a book about interpretation, meditation and the search for meaning across two quite different traditions.

What is the book actually about?

The original description introduces Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the yamas and niyamas, and the purpose of meditation. It then sets these classical themes beside the Edgar Cayce readings, including what the description calls twelve steps toward enlightenment. Fazekas invites readers to look for parallels in the ways both traditions speak about self-knowledge, ethics and spiritual growth.

This comparative approach is the book’s central attraction. The Yoga Sutras are an Indian philosophical text; Edgar Cayce was an American figure associated with psychic and spiritual readings. Readers should not assume the two sources have identical histories or authority simply because the author discusses them together.

What are the yamas and niyamas?

In the classical eight-limbed presentation of yoga, the yamas concern ethical restraints and the niyamas concern personal observances. They offer a framework for thinking about how attention, conduct and daily life relate to meditation. The book uses these concepts as part of its conversation between Eastern philosophy and Western metaphysical thought.

Who would enjoy reading it?

This title is most likely to appeal to someone interested in Patanjali, the Edgar Cayce tradition, comparative spirituality or reflective reading. A newcomer who wants clearly photographed beginner poses may prefer a practical yoga manual. Readers who are skeptical of psychic claims can still approach the book as a study of how spiritual ideas have been compared, without treating the Cayce readings as scientific evidence.

Is the original book still available?

Yes, an e-book of Fazekas’s book is still listed for purchase. The book is best approached as a comparison of spiritual interpretations rather than a source of scientific proof for psychic claims.

For background on yoga as a practice, see the NCCIH overview; it is a health and safety source, not an endorsement of the book’s spiritual claims.

Related reading on Veggie-Blog: Practice and Doctrine of Yoga and Lessons on Yoga: Royal Path.

Book: Edgar Cayce and the Yoga Sutras by Istvan Fazekas
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In the classic bestseller, Introduction to Tantra, Lama Yeshe offered a profound glimpse into the authentic and sophisticated practices of Tibetan Buddhist Tantra. The Bliss of Inner Fire may be considered a perfect follow-up to that book. Lama Yeshe follows Tsongkhapa’s (1357-1419 a.d.) text, Having the Three Convictions, and introduces the renowned Six Yogas of Naropa, focusing mainly on the first of these six, the practice of “inner fire” (tummo). Mastery of inner fire quickly brings the mind to its most refined and penetrating state — the experience of clear light, an extra-ordinarily powerful state of mind that is unequaled in its ability to directly realize ultimate reality. Lama Yeshe felt that twentieth-century Westerners could easily grasp the often misunderstood ideas of this esoteric tradition: His aim was for his students to actually taste the experience of inner fire rather than merely gain an intellectual understanding. Lama’s own realization of the transformative power of these practices comes through, inspiring his students to discover for themselves their own capacity for inexhaustible bliss.

This book examines the renowned Six Yogas of Naropa, a stage in the practice of Yoga Tantra. Through experiential commentary, guided meditation, and practical advice, Lama Yeshe brings the reader a tantalizing taste of the blissful technology of tantra as well as its direct application to everyday living.

Book: The Bliss of Inner Fire by Robina Courtin
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