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At the center of Debra Galant’s new novel is Nina Gettleman-Summer, a stressed-out New Jersey yoga teacher. Nina should be calmly guiding her high powered students through their savasanas and their chakras . Instead she is worried about… everything: her new meditation fountain overflowed resulting in a dangerous mess that caused one of her more litigious students to slip and fall; her husband Michael’s job as Newark Airport’s meteorologist was outsourced to the Phillipines, and a hurricane is bearing down on her parents’ home in Florida. The last thing Nina needs is her suspicious mother Belle around, wailing about the weather and asking questions about Michael’s job. To complicate matters, her teenage son Adam is showing a sudden interest in having a Bar Mitzvah – even though Nina, never a fan of her Jewish heritage, signed the family up at the local Unitarian Church. Which brings us to the heart of this very funny book. Nina’s put her faith in feng shui and crystals while her husband passes the time chatting with the local Jehovah’s Witnesses and Adam plots his religious coming of age, which he believes will net him a real life pot of gold. The Gettleman-Summers are poised for an awakening which, when it arrives, is deftly portrayed in Galant’s classic screwball style.

Book: Fear and Yoga in New Jersey by Debra Galant
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A longtime yoga teacher and Buddhist meditation practitioner, Charlotte Bell describes in passionate detail how she applied the eightfold path of the Yoga Sutras and the Buddha’s heed for mindfulness to her hectic Western life. The path is often rough; she writes of self-doubt and struggles, of trying too hard and discouragement, of learning to accept the life she has, imperfections and all. But with grace and guts, she navigates the eight limbs of yoga, using the Yoga Sutras and insight meditation as her compass. She shows each limb at work in her relationships, music, asana, meditation, and even in writing this book. Her discussion of each limb includes practical ways that readers can bring mindfulness into asana itself, and in a section called “Reflections,” Bell encourages readers to experience even the most ordinary activity as extraordinary, whether it’s washing dishes, making tea, or rolling out their yoga mat.

Donna Farhi has practiced Yoga for twenty-eight years and has taught internationally for over two decades. One of Americas most respected and loved Yoga teachers, she travels throughout the world leading retreats and training others to teach. Farhi has been an asana columnist for both Yoga Journal and Yoga International and is the author of the contemporary classics The Breathing Book and Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit. Born in America, she now resides in New Zealand.

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YOGA FOR MEN is written for men who find themselves overwhelmed by work-related stress and other health risks posed by the demands of modern life. Beginning with disturbing statistics about stress and stress-related immune disorders, Bruce Eric Van Horn offers YOGA FOR MEN as a tool to defuse their effects, decrease the risk of diseases (including prostate cancer), and improve sexual performance. Van Horn, who suffered an ulcer while running himself ragged working in corporate America, has designed a tool men can use both at home and in the office to improve the quality of their lives. His text is essentially a basic explanation of the rudiments of mind, body, and spirit aspects of yoga, and contains a suggested yoga routine. It is written in a style that will appeal to men who may have the preconceived notion that yoga is for the fairer sex or that it involves painful positions.

Book: Yoga for Men by Bruce Eric Van Horn
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What happens when you mix the control and concentration of yoga with light strength training? That is the idea behind Iron Yoga, a workout book by triathlete Anthony Carillo, written with Eric Neuhaus. Instead of treating yoga and weight training as completely separate activities, the method combines familiar poses with dumbbell movements.

What is the Iron Yoga approach?

The publisher describes a full-body programme that adds light to moderate weights to more than 25 yoga postures. The goal is to work muscles in the arms, shoulders, chest, back and core while moving deliberately and paying attention to breathing. The book includes photographs demonstrating the positions. It is best understood as a structured fitness routine, not a traditional manual of yoga philosophy.

Who wrote the book?

Anthony Carillo developed the method while training for an Ironman triathlon. An important bibliographic detail missing from some older descriptions is that Eric Neuhaus is also credited as a co-author by the publisher. Both names are included below to make it easier for readers to find the correct title and edition.

Can you combine yoga and weights safely?

It can be enjoyable, but the combination adds complexity. Balancing while holding a weight may place extra demands on wrists, shoulders and the lower back. Beginners should first learn the unweighted movements, then try very light weights only if they can maintain control. Avoid forcing twists or taking a loaded joint beyond its comfortable range of motion.

The World Health Organization’s physical activity guidance encourages adults to include muscle-strengthening activity alongside aerobic exercise. That general guidance does not mean every hybrid workout is suitable for every person. The NCCIH yoga safety guide also reminds readers that sprains and strains are possible. Anyone recovering from injury should seek appropriate advice before starting a loaded yoga sequence.

Are the promised results realistic?

The older promotional description emphasizes rapid body sculpting. Real progress depends on consistency, recovery, nutrition, training level and the rest of your activity. A book can offer ideas and structure, but it cannot promise a particular physique or timetable. Treat it as a potentially interesting workout option rather than a shortcut to fitness.

Can the book still be purchased?

The title is still listed as an e-book by Penguin Random House. Readers interested in a paper copy should check individual retailers, as print availability may vary.

Related reading: Preventing Sports Injuries and Sports Fitness.

Book: Iron Yoga by Anthony Carillo with Eric Neuhaus
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The Synthesis of Yoga is Sri Aurobindo’s principle work on yoga, comparing the methods of the various schools of traditional yoga, and providing the comprehensive way for following the true path to Divine consciousness. It is the primary work on Integral Yoga, the system of yoga that Sri Aurobindo developed.

The book originally appeared in serial form in Arya, published between 1914 and 1921.

Synthesis on Yoga is divided into four parts: the Yoga of Divine Works, of Integral Knowledge, of Divine Love, and of Self Perfection. The first three correspond to the three-fold yoga of the Bhagavad Gita (i.e. karma-, jnana-, and bhakti-yoga), while the last (incomplete) section gives Sri Aurobindo’s own development and synthesis of these three paths.

Sri Aurobindo revised the text of the book during three distinct periods. These are: In the 1920s, mostly minor corrections to certain chapters; a full-scale revision during or around 1932, with a view to publishing The Synthesis as a book; and during the early 1940s, further work on the later chapters of Part I, as well as beginning two new chapters, which he apparently intended to add to this part, but which he abandoned before completion. During the later part of the 1940s, Sri Aurobindo lightly revised the entire first part of the Synthesis while preparing it for publication.

Book: Synthesis of Yoga by Sri Aurobindo
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