Om Yoga

Lee, Cyndi. Om Yoga. San Francisco: Chronicle. 2002.

I picked up a few Cyndi Lee books to ward off falling off the practice yoga wagon. It all started when I went to a yoga instructor’s non-holiday party and ended up sharing stories of insecurity with another guest. We talked about being so out of practice, so out of shape that we were too intimidated, too insecure to go to class. How did one woman describe it? “You don’t go to class because you aren’t in shape. You don’t get in shape because you don’t go to class…and on and on.” It’s that job/experience dilemma. I decided I wanted to do something outside of class that will help me in class. Enter Cyndi Lee and her easy-easy books. I bought three.

This review is all about the “daily yoga” book because I started it today (being New Years Day and all). It’s simple to follow and very informative. I like that she requires a daily warm up. As with all routines, she walks you through every pose. Here’s Monday as an example: The sequence – Sun Salutation. The poses – Mountain-> standing forward bend -> lunge -> downward dog -> plank -> knees, chest, chin -> cobra -> child’s -> downward -> lunge -> standing forward bend -> powerful pose -> mountain. Lee requires the sequence be completed twice, paying attention to switch lunge legs each time. Each pose comes with a stick figure example that points out key body postures (lunge: “spine stays long, keep chest open” p33). Like I said, really easy to follow. One I get the sequence down, I won’t have to stare at the drawings for guidance.

My only complaints? First, sometimes the stick figures are hard to decipher. I’m not fond of Lee’s depiction of threading the needle, for example. If I were 100% clueless I would question the pose, “is this person kneeling or lying prone?” Second, Lee doesn’t use the Sanskrit terms for the poses. I really want to learn the proper names of things but I won’t do that reading Lee’s books.