Review of The Woman's Book of Yoga & Health by Linda Sparrowe
Hello Natural Medicine community! :) I'm here with a book review for you today: The Woman's Book of Yoga & Health by Linda Sparrowe (with yoga sequences by Patricia Walden).
This is a text I have had in my library for years and have referenced again and again - both for myself and for others (I was certified as a personal trainer years ago, but I only ever worked out of my home. When making plans for clients, I liked to incorporate yoga, and this book was a big help deciding what poses might serve them best!).
"But Phe," I hear you say. "I thought you said you were a dude." Yeah. I am a dude, but I'm a trans man - and I haven't had a hysterectomy - so I still have a working uterus, and ergo have to put up with all of that and appreciate sequences like this:
In fact, one of the things I love about this book so much is that it gives you sequences for specific problems, and specific stages of life, and stages of your cycle. It's so easy to flip to a relevant section and just follow along with the recommended poses - especially when you don't feel well, and just want something to follow that suits how you're feeling. For instance:
Aw yeah. Thankfully I don't get migraines too often, but when I do, some caffeine, some darkness, and a few gentle yoga poses often can set me to rights.
Something that used to come up a lot more often for me:
Speaking of, my bowels were quite upset recently; I should probably do this sequence. :)
To give you a better idea of the sections and what kinds of issues are covered, here are the chapters:
Part 1 - Essential Yoga Sequences
Ch. 1: The Woman's Essential Sequence
Ch. 2: The Woman's Energizing Sequence
Ch. 3: The Woman's Restorative Sequence
Part 2 - The Time of Awakening
Ch. 4: Befriending Your Body
Ch. 5: Honoring Your Menstrual Cycle
Ch. 6: Supporting Your Immune system
Part 3 - Coming into Fullness
Ch. 7: Preparing for Labor, Birth, and Postpartum
Ch. 8: Caring for Your Back
Ch. 9: Relieving Headaches
Part 4 - Speaking the Truth
Ch. 10: Working with Depression
Ch. 11: Easing into Menopause
Ch. 12: Improving Digestion
Part 5 - Wisdom from the Heart
Ch. 13: Minimizing Postmenopausal Symptoms
Ch. 14: Relieving Osteoporosis
Ch. 15: Strengthening Your Heart
So you can see, there is a wide and wise breadth of information here with something for everyone, at every stage of life. :)
In addition to yoga poses, there are thorough discussions of the issues each chapter is about before you get into the sequences. So for instance, in the chapter about caring for your back, it discusses the structure of the spine, posture, different common back problems, and how yoga can help.
In sum, I find this book to be informational, practical, extremely useful, and thorough. Very often yoga instructionals and videos are very generic - a nonspecific sequence of poses for a broad brush audience of people, and I really like how this book lays out specific poses for what issues and explains what they do so you understand what you are accomplishing as you do them.
My copy of this book is full of bookmarks, has had a drink spill on it, and miraculously is still in one piece even though it is well used and well loved. I highly recommend it for anyone who would like to use yoga to live a healthier, more balanced life!
Amazing art made for me that I got from a trade on Simbi! Simbi is a bartering website that I love. If you'd like to try it out, please use my referral link: https://simbi.com/wren-paasch/welcome
This post is an entry to the Natural Medicine January Challenge
Thank you @phoenixwren, for using the CO2 Compensation Coin (COCO / SWAP.COCO) on Steem-Engine or on Hive-Engine to reduce your CO2 footprint. You want to join? Buy some COCO / SWAP.COCO and transfer them to CO2Fund's account @co2fund.
There is a hive book club (@hive-180164) if you want to post your book reviews. We also currently organize a contest with total prize of 100 hive.
https://hive.blog/hive-180164/@macchiata/january-book-review-contest-or-65-hive-prize
Hey, thanks for the heads up!
I see a lot of #naturalmedicine #hivebookclub reviews in my future @macchiata @phoenixwren!
How fabulous to get a book review of a yoga book! I have a big pile of them, and of late I've been thumbing a Yoga Medicine book that has some great information in it. thankyou for enlightening me a little more about something I hadn't thought about - about your journey with trans and how you still must be attentive to woman's cycles that are operating within your body. Wonderful!
Yup, unfortunately, there is no opt out button on that (I wish there was, man, who designed this OS? 😉), so deal with it I must do. :)
There's your answer:
'Man, who designed this OS'.
Haha just kidding. You are even more rocking, brave and awesome than I knew you to be already!
D'awww, thanks. :)
Yoga has saved me in a big way since the beginning of Covid, thank you for spreading this worthy practice.