by Baron Baptiste
2002

The subtitle to Baron Baptiste's book reads: "How to Sculpt Your Ideal Body, Free Your True Self, and Transform Your Life with Yoga." These are promises that sound more akin to an infomercial than to a serious book on Yoga. But the truth is, you have to be a savvy salesperson in this high-speed, low attention span era and there's no reason to apologize for it if you deliver the goods. And that Baptiste does. Follow the advice in this book and you really will change your life.

The biggest myth about Power Yoga - especially the way it is taught by Baptiste - is that it is devoid of spirituality. Baptiste shoots down this idea with his practical, honest and yes, spiritual, approach. Like other Yoga masters over the past few thousand years, Baptiste invites those who study his style to live in the now, overcome negative emotions and ego concerns, and points out that your relationship with your body will give you many clues to what is going on with your inner life. The big difference with Baptiste is that his teachings are very fresh and New Millennium in the way he speaks to the reader. And, really, isn't that how it should be, if one is truly living in the now?

This book is a true delight. It's inspiring and informative, open and enlightening. The chapter in which he details the practice he teaches has beautiful photographs, clear instruction and, best of all, brief spiritual stories that accompany each pose. In addition, he addresses the issue of diet in a realistic and compelling manner, offers a simple and very powerful meditation technique and explains how Yoga can "rewire our minds" - all written in a way that's easy to comprehend.

Baron Baptiste is still a vital young man but many are already embracing him wholeheartedly as an authentic force in the Yoga world. And perhaps the fact that he is not some elderly sage works in his favor - those of us in our 20s, 30s and 40s can look at him and say, "He's our own Yoga master!" While he asserts that he has no desire to be a guru, Baptiste is one of Yoga's living lights. If he's the spirit of Yoga Future, we have a lot to look forward to.

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