Rating: 
Summary: Excellent for developing or enhancing a home yoga practice
Review: I've been practicing yoga at home for a little over two years without ever taking a class. In an effort to enhance my home practice, including perfecting my form and moving into some more challenging poses, I previewed many different yoga books from the library, and Journey Into Power is the one I eventually purchased.In this book, Baron does an excellent job of explaining how to incorporate a regular yoga practice into your life. Although the book is broken into several sections, including one on a cleasing diet, what I found most helpful was his descriptions of the poses (asanas) themselves. Baron groups the poses into about 12 different categories--sun salutations 1 & 2, balancing poses, hip openers, abdominals, backbends, etc--and then explains how to either mix and match the groupings when time is limited or do the entire 90 minute program. In his explanations of the individual poses, Baron is clear, precise, and thorough. He begins with a "connecting vinyasa" which explains exactly how to move from one pose to the next. For each pose, Baron talks about setup, allignment, breathing, risk factors, and finally, a suggestion for meditation. What hooked me on the book is that after I read his instructions for Crow pose--a challenging arm balancing pose--I was immediately able to do the pose for the very first time! Baron's descriptive style reminds of Brooke Siler's in The Pilates Body, as he has a similar enouraging and non-intimidating manner. If you are looking to develop or enhance a home yoga practice, you will not be disappointed in this book--and at this great amazon.com price, how can you lose?
Rating:
Summary: Excellent for developing or enhancing a home yoga practice
Review: I've been practicing yoga at home for a little over two years without ever taking a class. In an effort to enhance my home practice, including perfecting my form and moving into some more challenging poses, I previewed many different yoga books from the library, and Journey Into Power is the one I eventually purchased. In this book, Baron does an excellent job of explaining how to incorporate a regular yoga practice into your life. Although the book is broken into several sections, including one on a cleasing diet, what I found most helpful was his descriptions of the poses (asanas) themselves. Baron groups the poses into about 12 different categories--sun salutations 1 & 2, balancing poses, hip openers, abdominals, backbends, etc--and then explains how to either mix and match the groupings when time is limited or do the entire 90 minute program. In his explanations of the individual poses, Baron is clear, precise, and thorough. He begins with a "connecting vinyasa" which explains exactly how to move from one pose to the next. For each pose, Baron talks about setup, allignment, breathing, risk factors, and finally, a suggestion for meditation. What hooked me on the book is that after I read his instructions for Crow pose--a challenging arm balancing pose--I was immediately able to do the pose for the very first time! Baron's descriptive style reminds of Brooke Siler's in The Pilates Body, as he has a similar enouraging and non-intimidating manner. If you are looking to develop or enhance a home yoga practice, you will not be disappointed in this book--and at this great amazon.com price, how can you lose?
Rating:
Summary: Covers all facets of yoga in one book
Review: If you can only own one book on yoga, I believe this is it! This book covers it all--meditation, poses, and diet--in an easy to read format, and is equally suited to those new to the practice and to those who have already become lifetime practitioners. The language here isn't 'woo-woo' at all--Baptiste's writing style is sound and easy to follow. His advice on meditation, diet, and on anchoring each pose, then pushing it to the edge (holding it for that extra breath, or stretching that extra quarter inch) made perfect sense. Even if you tend to skim yoga books, you'll find yourself reading this one intently. It's jam-packed with good, solid information. The highlight of this book--for me--was Baptiste's incredible attention to the poses themselves. Not only are the poses pictured clearly enough that you can see how to perform them, but the modifications are also pictured. And the descriptions include the steps you can take to get into a pose, how to 'grow' within a pose, making it gradually less difficult, and where your focus should be during each pose. Baptiste also outlines a program that makes practice at home easy, even for beginners. He repeatedly tells readers to do what feels comfortable, and that 'mere contortions' are not the goal. It's finding your *personal* comfort level. Several poses that have been challenging for me are now much improved--just reading Baptiste's descriptions of how to think through a pose made it click inside my head. I've read Journey into Power through three or four times already, though I've only owned it two weeks. I own a whole shelf of yoga books, but have a feeling this will be the one that stands the test of time as an overall guide to a lifetime practice. I'm thrilled with the progress I've achieved from this book, and can't recommend it highly enough.
Rating:
Summary: Covers all facets of yoga in one book
Review: If you can only own one book on yoga, I believe this is it! This book covers it all--meditation, poses, and diet--in an easy to read format, and is equally suited to those new to the practice and to those who have already become lifetime practitioners. The language here isn't 'woo-woo' at all--Baptiste's writing style is sound and easy to follow. His advice on meditation, diet, and on anchoring each pose, then pushing it to the edge (holding it for that extra breath, or stretching that extra quarter inch) made perfect sense. Even if you tend to skim yoga books, you'll find yourself reading this one intently. It's jam-packed with good, solid information. The highlight of this book--for me--was Baptiste's incredible attention to the poses themselves. Not only are the poses pictured clearly enough that you can see how to perform them, but the modifications are also pictured. And the descriptions include the steps you can take to get into a pose, how to 'grow' within a pose, making it gradually less difficult, and where your focus should be during each pose. Baptiste also outlines a program that makes practice at home easy, even for beginners. He repeatedly tells readers to do what feels comfortable, and that 'mere contortions' are not the goal. It's finding your *personal* comfort level. Several poses that have been challenging for me are now much improved--just reading Baptiste's descriptions of how to think through a pose made it click inside my head. I've read Journey into Power through three or four times already, though I've only owned it two weeks. I own a whole shelf of yoga books, but have a feeling this will be the one that stands the test of time as an overall guide to a lifetime practice. I'm thrilled with the progress I've achieved from this book, and can't recommend it highly enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Great "power yoga" book, but is hatha yoga better...?
Review: If you would like to play the vinyasa game, this book is probably it. Mr. Baptiste, like Beryl Bender Birch, claim that he invented "power yoga." However, others, like Bikram Choudury, claim it is useless and doesn't even exist. They maintain yoga is hatha yoga, and other authors/yogis are pretenders. I tend to agree with him quite frankly.
For those new to power yoga, ashtanga yoga, blah,blah,blah yoga, it claims to be far superior than hatha yoga (despite hatha yoga being perfected over 5,000 years) because of its focus on tai-chi-like connecting movements betweent the individual asanas. Furthermore, they claim that this type of yoga offers a superior physical workout in both strength and cardiovascular effort because it is meant to be performed in a heated studio or room (90 degrees for Mr. Baptiste). I doubt it, and it has not been my experience. (I have done hatha yoga 90-150 minutes daily for over three years, I lift free weights three times a week, and I'm a long distance runner) Power Yoga is beautful to watch and entertaining to do, but PLEASE, stop with the wild claims people. Don't tell me that because the room/studio is oppressively hot that you get a superior workout for the heart. (Thy NY Times in August 2004 questioned if it is actually dangerous to do yoga in that type of heat) The book (and Birch's) goes on and on with these arrogant statements.
Mr. Baptiste's order of asanas seems logical and it does produce a great workout.
More generally, I find the wild health claims that Mr. Baptiste and other yogi/authors make to be VERY irresponsible. They all seem to believe that yoga cures depression, hypertension, anxiety, hypothyroidism, asthma, etc.(you name it, they claim yoga cures it). Oh, and it's THE best form of fitness for weight loss, too. That is simply not true. A combination of strength training and cardio (along with a sugar/trash carb restricted diet) is the best way to get fit. Yoga as a complimentary addition is great, too. Introducing fitness--any kind--into a non-exerciser's life will improve their health. Yet, other authors don't make the reckless health claims.
As for "dietary advice," Mr. Baptiste recommends fasting and to consume whole or natural foods. He offers little evidence of the necessity and benefits of fasting which led to a rather stern rebuke from the editors of Yoga Journal when they reviewed his book.
The yogis are correct of course, you should not eat trash, no-fiber foods, sugar, and fattening foods. Most yogis are vegetarians and against dairy consumption. Yet, they offer little to no advice about how someone will meet their protein needs when observing this weight management system, especially those that run and lift weights like myself whose protein needs are greater than just a yogi or yogini.
I like Mr. Baptiste because he brought passion and energy to yoga, not to mention marketing. I just wish he was more careful about the health claims he makes.
Again, if you are interested in a unique yoga workout, Mr. Baptiste is a great instructor and his books and DVDs are excellent.
Namaste,
As always, thank you Amazon for the excellent service.
Rating: 
Summary: "Baptiste" Power Yoga
Review: The name of his brand of Ashtanga Yoga says it all, despite his denials - the man's a raving ego-maniac. The actual yoga is OK, but his rationalizations about "finding your own way" the way he did, to arrive at what he "modestly" says "others may call enlightenment" is just skin-deep, self-indulgent self-infatuation. He doesn't even acknowledge the sources of his teachings; it's as though he invented yoga de novo. My advice is to skip it and go to a book that at least pays tribute to the 1500 or more year-old yoga traditions, and to the rediscover of Ashtanga Vinyasa, Krishnamacharya, his students, Desikachar and Iyengar, and those who brought it to the West -- Van Lysbeth, Norman Allen, and David Williams. A really good one is "Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual: An Illustrated Guide to Personal Practice" by David Swenson.
Rating:
Summary: Transformational: Timely and Timeless!
Review: This book is of immeasurable value to both novices and master practioners of yoga. Baptiste is a gifted teacher with great heart and caring for his students, which shows in his text and also the photos of him modifying the postures so that even the newest beginner can benefit from the practice. This book is extremely accessible and is full of good, clear color photos of the postures, many of which are shown in a series of photos representing views from various angles. An empowering and thoughtful "spiritual focus" is given with each pose. In addition, the book is broken into 5 clearly written sections for easy learning and reference. Sections include a recommended series of postures for time limits and different physical conditions and fitness levels, food/diet and detoxification to cleanse, heal and lose excess baggage, a non-complex section on meditation that is wonderfully simple, but not simplistic. Baptiste demystifies yoga without being unmystical. Baptiste's style of yoga uses proper form and modifications to help students get deeper into postures and glean the greatest results and there is a very good illustrated section with each pose on how to use these simple physical and spiritual principles - something that's been missing from any other yoga book I've ever seen. By far this is the best and most useful book on yoga I have ever seen, and I've seen more than a few. This is Mr. Baptiste's first book which has been well worth the wait!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great on the yoga, however some parts questionable
Review: This book is predominantly about yoga with small chapters on diet and meditation. The yoga section of the book is excellent. The book covers power yoga, which is a very vigorous, dynamic form of yoga that is quite demanding on the body. All the poses are illustrated using colour photographs. These are accompanied by very detailed descriptions. Each pose has a section on proper body alignment, risk factors, suggested modifications and a "spiritual focus". The text gives a description of how to connect the poses together and overall I was very impressed with this part of the book. The nutrition section of the book is also very sound on the whole. Baptiste doesn't prescribe a diet as such but provides sound guidelines on how to improve your eating habits. However he talks a lot about going through a "detox" which involves eating only fruit. I find this questionable and I don't believe it is backed up by any logic or research. The section on meditation is good reading especially if you haven't done any sort of meditation before. It offers some very practical advice that will help you get through the hectic pace of modern day lifestyle. As a yoga book I was very happy with my purchase. Almost all of the information is very valuable, and aside from a few minor points in the nutrition section this book is thoroughly and wholeheartedly recommended for anyone interested in vigorous yoga.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: this is a Great Yoga Book , I didn't remember I paid that price though,its basically like his tapes just longer, good explanation and beautiful pictures too. I didn't bother to finish, but there also a chapter about diet and meditation.
Rating: 
Summary: PJ
Review: This is a largly contrived and shallow look at yoga (as are baptiste's other books) but it is helpfull with some postures.
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