Functional Awareness and Yoga is an essential book for all who wishes to deepen their yoga practice and discover strategies to reduce strain or discomfort on the mat as well as in daily life. It is also an excellent book of introductory concepts in anatomy as applied to yoga required during a yoga teacher training. Each chapter provides essentials in functional anatomy with over 60 practical illustrations. The chapters also apply specific postures in yoga with cues to support the practice on the mat. Finally, each chapter contains a mindful practice section to help readers integrate anatomical imagery into daily life in order to release unnecessary tension, improve posture, and support ease of movement. The reflective practice of Functional Awareness (R) changes how one goes through simple daily tasks in living and demonstrates how these small simple shifts can have a profound effect on ease in action and resilience in movement both on and off the yoga mat. Guiding readers through the essentials in body alignment by providing engaging explorations in body/mind awareness, the book offers a pathway to improve resilience and balance in action.

Millions of Americans know yoga as a superb form of exercise and as a potent source of calm in our stress-filled lives. Far fewer are aware of the full promise of yoga as a 4,000-year-old practical path of liberation—a path that fits the needs of modern Western seekers with startling precision. Now Stephen Cope, a Western-trained psychotherapist who has lived and taught for more than ten years at the largest yoga center in America, offers this marvelously lively and irreverent "pilgrim's progress" for today's world.

He demystifies the philosophy, psychology, and practice of yoga, and shows how it applies to our most human dilemmas: from loss, disappointment, and addiction, to the eternal conflicts around sex and relationship. And he shows us that in yoga, "liberation" does not require us to leave our everyday lives for some transcendent spiritual plane—life itself is the path.

Above all, Cope shows how yoga can heal the suffering of self-estrangement that pervades our society, leading us to a new sense of purpose and to a deeper, more satisfying life in the world.

Deeply personal essays and daily prompts for self-reflection while healing from addiction and walking the road of recovery from the author of Meditations from the Mat and Meditations on Intention and Being. You are a process that has called forth a teaching for this day. This teaching will not be new to you; rather it will be reminding you of what you already know. Reminding you of who you already are. Rolf Gates, author of Meditations from the Mat, has walked the walk of the 12-step method of recovery while traveling down the Buddhist eightfold way and practicing the Eight Limbs of Classical Yoga. His integrated approach has been the key to his understanding of sobriety for over 25 years. In his series of 365 essays, Gates explores the lessons and experiences from his own practice and study, classical teachings, and his career as a teacher and coach. Each eloquent and brief essay is accompanied by a self-reflection prompt to help guide you on your journey of introspection and change. As the co-founder of the Yoga + Recovery Conference at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and Esalen Institute, Gates has made a significant contribution to understanding the role that yoga can play in recovery from addiction. With his personalized approach to both the modern and classic teachings and by embedding it within the space of the human heart and everyday life, Gates is a solid guide to finding and living the freedom that lives within each of us.

Naked Yoga expert Doria Gani recounts her own transformational journey to help you challenge your hang ups, combat shame and develop new body positive attitudes. In this inspirational story, discover how Doria overcame critical illness, learned to deal with unexpected consequences for her life as a woman, and set out on a new path to reconnect with her soul. Enjoy the benefits and freedom that practising Naked Yoga can bring and discover your true self - with no barriers, limitations or social constraints. With Naked Yoga, you really can learn to love your body and heal your mind. Includes photographs and instructions for practising Naked Yoga either at home or in a group. Naked Yoga expert Doria Gani recounts her own transformational journey to help you challenge your hang ups, combat shame and develop new body positive attitudes. In this inspirational story, discover how Doria overcame critical illness, learned to deal with unexpected consequences for her life as a woman, and set out on a new path to reconnect with her soul. Enjoy the benefits and freedom that practising Naked Yoga can bring and discover your true self - with no barriers, limitations or social constraints. With Naked Yoga, you really can learn to love your body and heal your mind. Includes photographs and easy instructions for practising Naked Yoga either at home or in a group.

For years strength coaches relied solely on one-repetition maximum percentages to select loads for specific phases of program design. Today, however, more and more coaches have turned to velocity-based training for its pinpoint accuracy in measuring athletes' explosive power through the monitoring of bar and body speeds. As one of the first books of its kind to feature this exciting new method for increasing explosive power, Velocity-Based Training takes an in-depth look into how to best incorporate velocity-based training (VBT) into an athlete's training program. Author Nunzio Signore is one of the most in-demand strength and conditioning coaches in New York and has worked with players from the Minnesota Twins, Anaheim Angels, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Seattle Mariners, to name a few. In Velocity-Based Training, Signore will show you how bring your athletes to greater levels of strength, speed, and power at a faster rate. You will find the following: Descriptions of the different types of VBT devices and the pros and cons of each, enabling you to select the best option for your needs Instructions on how to use VBT to assess athlete readiness and set specific training parameters for maximum results Information on how to use VBT to ensure athletes are training at the appropriate intensity according to where they are in their yearly training plan Expert guidance on how to use VBT daily with athletes of various training ages and ability levels Sample programming that includes exercises, intensities, and tempos for all four training seasons (postseason, off-season, preseason, and in-season), allowing you to set thresholds that minimize the potential for undertraining or overtraining Eliminate the guesswork by using hard data for the design and implementation of training programs. With the help of Velocity-Based Training, you can safely and efficiently build stronger and more powerful athletes. CE exam available! For certified professionals, a companion continuing education exam can be completed after reading this book. Velocity-Based Training Online CE Exam may be purchased separately or as part of the Velocity-Based Training With CE Exam package that includes both the book and the exam.

Female, Fit and FiftyExercise is not optional: You don't have to run a marathon to be fit and healthy or suffer through a triathlon that includes a half-mile swim in the ocean. But you do need an exercise habit. Especially as we age, exercise is not optional. Yet unless we had been athletes as kids or young adults, and few of us were, we do not know how to find our edge. Learning how to carve out time to meet our fitness needs or to push ourselves physically and mentally is one of the greatest challenges to aging well. Finding the inspiration to exercise: Inspired by her highly popular blog "Be the Dog", Carolee Belkin Walker's Getting My Bounce Back is a relatable story of what it's like to be a successful professional woman encountering all things fitness for the first time. Even if readers have never put on a pair of running shoes or tried again and again to get a fitness habit, they'll relate to the highs and lows of Walker's journey to the back of the pack and ultimately stumbling on a path to resilience and well-being. Happier more confident woman: You could fit two of Walker inside what her body looked like in February 2014. But it is the powerful sense of confidence and resilience that's had the greatest impact on Walker and inspires others. This book is about Walker digging in, discovering who she is, and seeing how far she can push herself to be strong, fit, healthy, and most important, resilient. Her writing is full of humorous situations as she decides to be an active participant in life and not take the setbacks, or herself, too seriously. Benefits of reading Getting My Bounce Back: Learn how to make time for exercise Get inspired to get fit Learn how you can be more confident and happier

Personal trainer, founder of Bumps & Burpees, and new mum Charlie Barker provides you with workouts designed specifically for you to do safely during your pregnancy. Learn how to keep your baby safe when working out and what physical changes you can expect in each trimester. Step-by-step exercises designed to develop your strength, fitness and flexibility, will help you to carry your growing baby in greater comfort, prepare you for childbirth, and recover well. Best of all, you can do it all at home, with minimal or no equipment. Inside the pages of this DK book, you'll discover: - The personal story of pre and postnatal fitness expert, Charlie Barker - Expert advice on what to expect during each trimester - 36 safe and effective pre and postnatal workouts - Step-by-step illustrated exercises for each trimester and postpartum - Q&As on the latest facts and outdated myths - Safety warnings and instructions on when to seek medical advice - Real-life stories for inspiration from other mothers Stay strong, fit, and safe throughout your pregnancy and motherhood. Charlie's holistic approach helps you prioritise your own health and wellbeing throughout pregnancy and early motherhood, for the benefit of you and your baby. Learn how to keep your baby safe when working out, what exercises you can and cannot do at each stage of pregnancy, what physical changes to expect in each trimester, and how to tackle common complaints such as morning sickness and swollen feet. This book is ideal for new mums, mums-to-be who enjoy exercise, fitness programme first-timers, and even regular exercisers planning to grow their family.

Based on new research in exercise physiology, author and running expert Matt Fitzgerald introduces a first-of-its-kind training strategy that he's named "Brain Training." Runners of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels can learn to maximize their performance by supplying the brain with the right feedback. Based on Fitzgerald's eight-point brain training system, this book will help runners: - Resist running fatigue - Use cross-training as brain training - Master the art of pacing - Learn to run "in the zone" - Outsmart injuries - Fuel the brain for maximum performance - And more Packed with cutting-edge research, real-world examples, and the wisdom of the world's top distance runners, "Brain Training for Runners" offers easily applied advice and delivers practical results for a better overall running experience.

In his third book Gregor Maehle aims at bringing about a renaissance of pranayama, the yogic school of breathing. For millennia pranayama was considered to be the quintessential yogic limb, yoga's main motor for spiritual evolution. To show pranayama's importance Maehle supports his findings at every turn with hundreds of quotations from yogic scripture. With unprecedented detail the author shows how pranayama is used to connect posture practice to yogic meditation and why it will accelerate your progress in both. Also covered are: - how pranayama creates health and its use in therapeutic application - mental and spiritual benefits of pranayama - the function of prana and the effects of pranayama - effect of pranayama on brain hemisphericity and balance of the nervous system - purpose of breath retentions and their precise technical application - in depth guidelines for the practice of pranayama - illustrations of the major pranayama and kriya techniques - the use of mantra and digital counting during pranayama - the appropriate diet and postures for pranayama - the importance and use of bandhas and kriyas before and during pranayama - how to set free your breathing pattern through exercising breath waves - descriptions of the classical pranayamas such as Nadi Shodhana, Bhastrika, Surya Bhedana with never before seen detail - how pranayama relates to raising Kundalini - a workable order in which techniques are to be learned and put into sequence with other yogic limbs - pranayama as it relates to the stages of life Gregor Maehle is practising and researching all aspects of yoga since 1982. He lived for several years in India studying with a variety of yogic masters and sadhus. He has previously published Ashtanga Yoga Practice and Philosophy and Ashtanga Yoga The Intermediate Series, which have been translated into several languages.