I knew I loved this book when the author explained how important physical exercise is to maintaining a fulfilling spiritual life and magical practice. She argues that many magicians focus on spirituality to the point that they neglect the body. Her remedy for this is to advocate learning yoga and using it as a physical complement to the other practices that magicians are doing.
In the first section of the book Wasserman provides a history of yoga, the physical discipline of it and the usual requisite section on chakras that seems to appear in any book that focuses on yoga. The second section deals with the different types of yoga and how they are used in conjunction with each other.
The first section is useful for learning about the basics of Yoga. I found the chapter on chakras redundant, mainly because there’s already a lot of literature out on the subject.
I found the second section to be the most useful section. She details each type of yoga and the exercises associated with that type. She does an excellent job of explaining how the different types of yoga are used in conjunction with each other to help the person refine and control his/her mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects. Ultimately though she shows that yoga isn’t just about controlling the self. It’s a focus on surrendering to the universe as a way of experiencing how one fits into the universe.
I highly recommend this book as a brief, and concise explanation of the practice of yoga and how that practice fits into magical work.
4 1/2 pentacles out of 5 pentacles.
~review by Taylor Ellwood
Author: Nancy Wasserman
Weiser Books, 2007
pp. 126, $12.95
