Yoga of Courage and Compassion: Conscious Breathing and Guided Meditation

Author William Yang, who works with cancer patients, uses the story of the Buddha to take us all on a pilgrimage from our ego to finding our true selves through meditation, breath and chants. Like Siddhartha, who left his father's palace, we, too leave the palace of our egos and enter a pilgrimage to find our authentic selves.  

Based on the Satipatthana Sutta, Buddha's most essential meditation manual, the contemplative learns simple but powerful meditation techniques for healing the mind and body. The beauty of these meditations are that they are written in an easy straightforward language without the complicated and often confusing nomenclature of traditional Buddhist texts. Like the Satipatthana Sutta, these techniques and can be mastered in a matter of minutes.  So no matter what an off day you're having, you can still be able to meditate, even for as little as five minutes.

I was most impressed by simple and easy to understand illustrations that show the contemplative how to perform each exercise, because illustrations are often more confusing and less than helpful. But these are very clear, easy to comprehend and imitate. The exercises are very easy to do. Even I, who have trouble getting onto the floor, find the pelvic bowl and spinal column exercises manageable when doing a sitting practice. Further, the pelvic bowl meditations ground the contemplative and prevents overthinking, is soothing and calming, and eases anxiety.

This is such a wonderful little book; great for the beginner who may be a little intimidated by creating a meditation practice, or the experienced contemplative who would like to fine tune their daily sessions. Told in an easy, gentle, straightforward manner, without all the confusing rhetoric of more traditional meditation manuals, this book comes highly recommended for anyone who wants to meditate effectively.

~review by Patricia Snodgrass

Author: William Yang
Inner Traditions, 2021
p. $14.99 pp. 100