Yoga Where You Are: Customize Your Practice for Your Body and Your Life

by Dianne Bondy, Kat Heagberg Rebar, Jes Baker (Foreword by)

Overview

Find freedom in your yoga practice with this empowering guide from beloved yoga teacher and social justice activist Dianne Bondy and Yoga International editor-in-chief Kat Heagberg.

Yoga Where You Are welcomes readers of all backgrounds, body sizes, and abilities into the practice of yoga. Dianne Bondy and Kat Heagberg offer everything you need to know to build a custom yoga practice that supports you exactly where you are—now and at every stage of your life's journey.

Yoga Where You Are discusses how yoga intersects with body image, introduces essential information on elements like breathwork and meditation, and celebrates yoga's diverse roots through an introductory chapter on its origins and history. Whether you're a beginner, a seasoned practitioner, or a yoga teacher, the step-by-step instructions for hundreds of customizable pose variations provide an essential resource you can turn to as your practice evolves. Bondy and Heagberg also present tips to find inspiration and creativity on the mat. With truly inclusive language, alignment options for real bodies, and photos of a range of practitioners, the book provides you with everything you need to customize and deepen your practice with clarity and confidence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611807868
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	12/08/2020
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	480,719
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.50(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

DIANNE BONDY is a celebrated yoga teacher, social justice activist, and leading voice of the Yoga for All movement. Her inclusive view of yoga asana and philosophy inspires and empowers thousands of followers around the world—regardless of their shape, size, ethnicity, or level of ability. She applies over 1,000 hours of training to help her students find freedom, self-expression, and radical self-love in their yoga practice. Dianne is a frequent contributor to Yoga International, Do You Yoga, Yoga Girl, and Omstars. She has been featured in publications such as The Guardian, Huffington Post, Cosmopolitan, and People. Dianne is the author of the book Yoga for Everyone: 50 Poses for Every Type of Body.

KAT HEAGBERG is editor-in-chief of Yoga International and has been teaching yoga regularly since 2005. She offers a variety of online classes and workshops on yogainternational.com. Kat is also a host of the Yoga Talk podcast and co-editor of the book Embodied Resilience through Yoga: 30 Mindful Essays About Finding Empowerment after Addition, Trauma, Grief, and Loss.

Table of Contents

List of Poses vi

Foreword Jes Baker ix

Introduction: Why Yogo Where You Are? xi

Part 1 Essential Information

1 Yoga Then and Now 2

2 Yoga, Accessibility, and Body Image 11

3 Yoga Practice Basics 17

4 Breath and Drishti 22

5 How to Use Props 30

Part 2 The Practice

6 Foundational Poses for Vinyasa, Transitions, and Sun Salutes 40

7 Standing Poses 72

8 Hip Openers 98

9 Kneeling and Seated Poses 120

10 Backbends 136

11 Inversions 157

12 Arm Balances 176

13 Supine Poses 201

14 Savasana and Alternatives 209

15 Meditation and Compassionate Self-Study 212

Part 3 Designing Your Practice

16 Sequencing and Accessibility 220

17 Sample Sequences 236

Recommended Resources 241

Meet the Models 242

Notes 246

Index 247

About the Authors 254

Editorial Reviews

11/16/2020

Yoga instructors Bondy (Yoga for Everyone) and Heagberg (Embodied Resilience Through Yoga) combine decades of experience in this useful guide for teachers and students. Writing that they “firmly believe that all bodies are yoga bodies,” the authors call out a yoga culture that has welcomed primarily the young and the fit. Bondy and Heagberg instead promote a more inclusive practice, which they divide into three parts. The first covers the history of yoga (including a rundown of the various styles and lineages); the second offers a pose-by-pose guide, complete with an explanation of benefits, suggestions for the use of props and modifications, and photographs; the third—most useful for teachers or those establishing a home practice—aids the reader in putting the individual poses together to develop yoga sequences. The authors explain that many students may feel self-conscious when first approaching yoga, and to counter discomfort they encourage teachers to reach out to beginners, students with disabilities, and those with bodies of all shapes, focusing on what students can do rather than what they can’t. This thoughtfully written and visually appealing book will be a welcome addition to any yogi’s library. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

I read this book with a giant smile on my face—yoga is for every body, and the guidance captured within these pages is the proof.”—Jessamyn Stanley, author of Every Body Yoga
 
“Yoga Where You Are is a beautiful and invaluable resource for students and teachers committed to finding intelligent ways to make yoga accessible and beneficial for humans of all shapes, sizes, and abilities.”—Rocky Heron
 
“This book offers instruction in a comprehensive yoga practice that is easy to read and easy to follow. It supports advanced and beginning practitioners alike. Two thumbs up!”—Gail Parker, PhD, author of Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma
 
“At its core, this book emphasizes that yoga is adaptable and gives you options to make it mesh with you. It is also a call to action to yoga culture—it’s time to adapt and evolve. This book is a guide to make empowered choices about a practice that holds sacred keys to each individual’s unique human potential.”—Jill Miller, creator of Yoga Tune Up, author of The Roll Model
 
“In Yoga Where You Are, Dianne Bondy and Kat Heagberg offer indispensable knowledge for all yoga practitioners to personalize their practice and honor the body they’re in today. This book is a much-needed resource for yoga students in bigger bodies, stiff bodies, older bodies, and disabled bodies since many teachers don’t know how to work with us. Now we can take our practice back into our own hands. I can’t wait to share this excellent resource in my teacher trainings and with my students.”—Amber Karnes, founder of Body Positive Yoga

“Yoga Where You Are is a resource for all people to practice in a way that meets them where they are . . . and grow with them! It offers the opportunity to learn, explore, and practice with an emphasis on accessibility, creative variations, and a message deeply rooted in self-acceptance and a celebration of the worth and value of all bodies, all people. I highly recommend this as a foundational yoga book for anyone and everyone at any point on their yoga journey.”—Melanie Klein, cofounder of the Yoga & Body Image Coalition, editor of Yoga Rising: 30 Empowering Stories from Yoga Renegades for Every Body

“In an industry where the phrase ‘we’re all one’ is far too often used to dismiss, marginalize, and exclude those who don’t fit the thin, flexible, able, white-bodied mold, this book is a revelation! Dianne and Kat speak to a shared humanity that isn’t about sameness but rather about celebrating our differences so that everyone can experience the benefits that yoga can offer.”—Jesal Parikh, co-host of the Yoga is Dead podcast
 
“The future of yoga looks like this—people of all abilities sharing a practice that is designed to connect us to a deeper part of ourselves and to each other. Yoga has the power to transform our lives personally as well as collectively, but that can only happen when we share a practice that is designed to be welcoming for all. Dianne Bondy and Kat Heagberg have shown us how to do that in a masterful and yet simple way.”—Jivana Heyman, author of Accessible Yoga

“Writing that they ‘firmly believe that all bodies are yoga bodies,’ the authors call out a yoga culture that has welcomed primarily the young and the fit. This thoughtfully written and visually appealing book will be a welcome addition to any yogi’s library.”—Publishers Weekly

“This handbook ensures that all bodies feel welcome in yoga. It will help you create a customized practice that’s modified to your exact needs.”—Yoga Journal   

From the Publisher