Torah Yoga Experiencing Jewish Wisdom Through Classic Postures Arthur Kurzweil Yoga Books
Torah Yoga Experiencing Jewish Wisdom Through Classic Postures Arthur Kurzweil Yoga Books
This highly original Yoga Book introduces a fascinating new approach to yoga and Torah by combining the practice of classic yoga postures with traditional and mystical Jewish wisdom. Each chapter begins by presenting a central Jewish spiritual concept that engages readers of all faiths on a personal level. It offers an in-depth exploration of the concept, quoting and commenting on sacred Jewish texts from the Pentateuch (Five Yoga Books of Moses) and other sources. It then guides its readers with mastery and clarity through a meditation and a set of fundamental yoga postures–clearly illustrated by beautiful photographs–for both beginning and advanced yoga students. The Torah concept is actualized and experienced through the practice of these postures. Torah Yoga helps to heighten awareness of body, mind, and spiritit illuminates the heart of Jewish wisdom.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Torah Yoga
This Yoga Book blends two very different belief systems. I enjoy the commentary and also the link to Yoga poses. I am an “old” Torah studnet but new to Yoga. This is really a beneficial approach for me.
5 Stars Life Journey
Diane offers several suggestions for how to read her Yoga Book, Torah Yoga. My choice has been to read and reread the introduction. I love Diane’s emphasis on first things: the word, the breath, attending to the foundation before moving into postures and finding the origins of our life journeys.
As a midwife, I work with women and families embarking on the life journey of pregnancy. Today in the U.S., alot of technology is available to evaluate the status of pregnancy. As a guide for pregnant women, I try to encourage them to trust their own intuition and the strength of their own bodies. Diane has given me the tools to promote this concept with women.
I’ve had the privilege to take Torah Yoga classes with Diane, I can hear her voice when I read the explanation of postures in her Yoga Book. The directions are easy to follow. Perhaps I only want to read the introduction because I don’t want to come to the end of the Yoga Book. But the Yoga Book is a guide to a journey. Diane has given me and everyone else who reads her Yoga Book the encouragement we need to become our own guides.
5 Stars A beautifully written and interesting Yoga Book…
Raised as a Presbyterian, a competitive swimmer, and a mathematician (order not important), I am not naturally drawn either to spiritual mysticism or yoga. This beautifully written and interesting Yoga Book, however, has helped me to understand how one could be drawn to those things. My thanks to the author, who obviously cares very deeply about her subject.
5 Stars Amazed
I am amazed at the beauty and sensitivity contained in this Yoga Book. Everyone should read it.
1 Star Moving Into Silliness
Torah Yoga tries to weave together overly simplified, and uselessly simplistic, ideas from Jewish mysticism with hatha yoga practice and philosophy. The result reads like those affirmations Al Franken used to do on SNL. Yes, you may be a spark of God’s infinite light, and that may lead to a warm and fuzzy feeling, but it won’t deepen your understanding of Kabbalah or improve your downward-facing-dog. In my admittedly limited understanding, both Kabbalah and yoga philosophy are demanding and intricate doctrines. They deserve careful study. This Yoga Book, though well-intentioned, infantilizes both topics.
If you want a Yoga Book to enhance your yoga practice, there are many, many titles that far surpass this. I’m sure the same is true if you want to grapple with the rigors of Hinduism or Jewish mysticism.
Superb hatha yoga Yoga Books that are gentle and user-friendly include Donna Farhi’s “Yoga Mind, Body and Spirit,” and Erich Schiffman’s “Moving Into Stillness.” I’d spend the money on either one rather than this.
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