First published in 1965 by journalist Jess Stearn, the above book was one of my first two instructional yoga "bibles." I own two copies, one is quite yellowed, of this comprehensive discussion of the value of yoga by a middle-aged journalist who transforms from being unfit and a bit tired to healthy and energized after delving into and making yoga part of his life.
I STILL turn to this book from time to time to make sure I don't stray from the core yoga principles that I believe enable me to still feel 25 even though I am decades an decades past that. One key tenet that Jess Stearn learned from his yoga instructor is, in my opinion, central to gaining maximum benefits from yoga while avoiding injury. From time to time I hear of people who attend yoga classes bemoan how they dislocated a knee or strained a muscle or just plain felt super sore after a class. Well, I believe if more people followed the sage advice presented below from this 1960s yoga classic, they would not experience these problems.
Here is a core yoga tenet that Jess Stearn shares on pp 170-171:
"Regardless of age-and particularly with age-the student of yoga should never overdo. Between exercises he should line prone in the Sponge position resting until completely recovered from exertion, no longer able to hear the pulse of his head. As a rule of thumb, it is generally wise to spend as much time resting between exercises as doing the exercises, giviing the body not only a chance to assimilate its lessons, but to replenish its reserves."
I would only differ with Stearn in that I don't think it's necessary to spend as much time resting between exercises as doing the exercises - I would find this too time consuming to implement. However, I agree that it's important to rest between each pose - ideally until you intuitively feel your body has recovered from the particular stretch before moving into the next stretch. This is sage yoga advice that I believe not enough yogis are following!
Yours for pausing between yoga poses (see a photo of the "Sponge" pose below),
Also, I do the child pose, as shown below between poses - it's most relaxing - and you need to ease into it as well!
Laura Venecia Rodriguez, The Beginners Yoga at Home Coach for 'Real' People
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