A succinct, approachable guide to the origins, development, key texts, concepts, and practices of yoga.
Yoga is practiced by many millions of people worldwide and is celebrated for its mental, physical, and spiritual benefits. And yet, as Daniel Simpson reveals in The Truth of Yoga, much of what is said about yoga is misleading. For example, the word "yoga" does not always mean union. In fact, in perhaps the discipline's most famous text-the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali-its aim is described as separation: isolating consciousness from everything else. And, yoga is not five thousand years old, as is commonly claimed; the earliest evidence of practice dates back about twenty-five hundred years. (Yoga may well be older, but no one can prove it.)
The Truth of Yoga is a clear, concise, and accessible handbook for the lay reader that draws upon abundant recent scholarship. It outlines these new findings with practitioners in mind, highlighting ways to keep traditions alive in the twenty-first century.
"The Indian yoga tradition is so abundant that it is impossible to get an all-encompassing understanding of its entirety. In essence, to know yoga is to realize how much one does not know. In this setting, Daniel Simpson offers generous insight into yogic concepts with spirited straight-forwardness and ease while keeping a keen eye on refraining from letting lyrical prose overpower the rich substa
Tim Feldmann, co-founder and director, Miami Life Center
"With The Truth of Yoga, Daniel Simpson has written one of the best of the many 'comprehensive guides' to yoga available today. A card-carrying yoga academic, he shares his wealth of knowledge of early, Classical, Hatha, and modern yogas in nearly one hundred, mostly one- and two-page essays, each a compact masterpiece of writing that's both accessible and engaging. Two angushthas up."
Richard Rosen, author of Yoga FAQ: Almost Everything You Need to Know About Yoga
