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Book Review • May 2011

Gentle Yoga® with Naomi

Student Manual

© 2008; 145 pages; $18.95 plus U.S. shipping & handling; www.gentleyoga.com; 760-419-9817

Acclaimed yoga expert Naomi Judith has created this easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide to aid anyone—any size, age, and fitness level—to practice yoga in the privacy of their own home. For more than 28 years, Naomi has been teaching yoga as an easy, natural, safe way to exercise, relax, improve flexibility, lose weight, and reduce stress. Her trademarked Gentle Yoga practice was specifically designed for plus-size women, and has been expanded to include seniors and heart patients.

The manual begins with the purpose, benefits, and theory of yoga. Among the benefits are improved self neglect care plan, mental and emotional health, along with physical gains, such as reduced muscle tension, improved elimination of toxins, and increased energy. Through the relaxation between poses, yoga will increase powers of concentration and create feelings of peace and well-being. Next, Naomi guides the reader to set the stage for a regular practice by instructing on proper breathing and warm-up poses. Both seated, then standing postures follow.

Using more than 100 photographs and clear instructions, the 8.5" × 11" format makes it easy for both beginners and advanced yoga students to follow along and design their own yoga practice. Gentle Yoga is an effective form of the traditional Hatha Yoga with modifications to classical yoga poses.

Naomi, the originator of Gentle Yoga with Naomi, is a Certified Yoga Instructor, E.YRT, M.A., Stress Management Specialist, and national speaker, as well as the author of several booklets, CDs, and a DVD on Gentle Yoga. She was the first Stress Management Specialist for Scripps Health Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease and was on staff at UCSD. She teaches Gentle Yoga at various locations in San Diego County.

If you don’t have a yoga class nearby, you’re new to exercise, you prefer to learn on your own, or you’ve considered yoga too painful or strenuous, Gentle Yoga® With Naomi: Student Manual will provide all you need to begin your regular practice of a safe, gentle form of yoga specifically designed for all sizes, ages, and fitness levels.

—Andrea Susan Glass