Yoga and Health by Selvarajan Yesudian and Elisabeth Haich

Although young people may find it hard to believe, people in the United States were not always familiar with Eastern philosophies and practices. Yoga has been known in the West for many years, but only to a select few.

It wasn’t until the Beatles started meditating and flew to India to study with yogi Mararesh Mahesh that people generally began to wake up.

When I bought the paperback edition of this book, yoga was still a strange subject and I didn’t talk about it with my friends. But I enjoy reading about the weird stuff, and I finished reading the ESP/Occult books at my small town public library, and moved down to the books on non-Christian religions.

The author begins with his personal story. When he was a child, he was weak and sickly, contracting many diseases. He apparently survived only because his father was a doctor. At the age of 15 he learned about Hatha Yoga and studied with a teacher.

In a few months he developed his body into a strong, flexible and muscular one. He no longer suffered from the disease. He left India and founded a famous yoga school in Switzerland. This book is part of his efforts to bring the teachings of yoga to the West.

It introduces Hatha yoga as a discipline to create health by bringing greater awareness to our bodies.

The ancient yogis did not intend it to be practiced for its own sake. They simply knew that sick and weak people could not focus their minds on higher spiritual disciplines, so it was necessary to bring them good health first. Remember that people in India would have suffered from food shortages, poor housing and infectious diseases to an even greater extent than now. For one thing, smallpox wasn’t eliminated until around 1978, so countless people died from it.

However, those of us who are not seeking higher spiritual awareness can also use Hatha yoga for greater health, and this book is an excellent introduction. It’s what I wore for years, as a little kid doing the plow and headstand in my bedroom.

The chapter “Every disease has mental causes” was far ahead of its time, yet scientific advances have just confirmed his thesis that the body is weakened by negative thoughts.

We women don’t wear tight shapewear anymore, but we all need the chapters that remind us to breathe deeply for our best health.

He described the asanas (physical postures) and pranayama (breathing exercises) in a way that was easy enough for a twelve-year-old to follow. I know, because I was twelve when I first read them.

And there are plenty of photographs to illustrate what the positions look like when done correctly.

In the end, he gives a 21-week schedule to follow.

One chapter is devoted to slow-motion exercises performed in front of a mirror to help you visualize your growing muscles. While performing the movements, he tenses his muscles as hard as he can.

Although I’ve never practiced this much, some fitness gurus use it, like John E. Peterson.

In short, this book is still an excellent introduction to yoga. It’s probably best to attend a class taught by a good teacher, but if you don’t have classes in your area or don’t have the time or money for them, you can’t go wrong with Yoga and Health.