Jim Colyer

I looked for a yoga book for my site and decided on this one. Howard Kent offers a program of yoga postures with pictures of men and women demonstrating them. He touches on the philosophy accompanying yoga while steering clear of Oriental religions. He lived to be 85.

Yoga is about the body, mind and spirit working together. It is about health. It is about balance, moderation in eating and the middle path in sexual matters. Yoga is self-discipline, controlling your behavior. Hatha yoga is practised in the west. It utilizes poses called asanas. Pranayama has to do with breathing. Control is the key. The spine plays a major role. It needs to be flexible. Muscles stretch upwards, forwards, backwards and sideways. Stretching should be smooth. Asanas are held 20-30 seconds.

I prefer doing the asanas in the nude, perhaps wearing a T-shirt. Use a mat and a pillow for the head. You must have enough room. Peace and quiet. Follow the program suited to your needs. Mental and physical balance are crucial. Poses follow counter-poses. Go slow.

Many of the asanas in Kent's book are different from the ones I do. I developed my routine when I was 22 and modified it to fit my 60s and 70s.

Yoga means getting down on the mat whether you feel like it or not and practising the asanas. The Corpse is an important pose. This is lying flat on your back breathing in and breathing out. Breath control, or pranayama, is a big deal. In yoga philosophy, prana is the life force or universal energy. We tap into it through our breath.

To me, it is better to breathe evenly and smoothly than to struggle to breathe deeply.

There are two kinds of poses: floor poses and standing poses. These are the two parts into which I divide my routine.

It is important to link poses so that they flow into each other. Standing poses begin with the Sun Salutation. Yoga balances opposite forces. My routine goes like this. Upward, downward. Forward, backward. Left, right.

Kent writes about the Cobra. The Cobra opens the chest while stretching the front part of the body. Yoga poses imitate animals and things in nature.

I could do the Plow at 22. Barely. I would not try it now. But there are asanas I can still do. Like the Bridge. Back, butt and thighs are raised. Hands support.

The Locust becomes a half-Locust while lying on my side.

I turned the Sun Salutation into a sequence. It flows into the tree. Arms extend, then go behind the back. Then comes knee-bends with arms loose. I reach for my toes. The twist is next. I put my hands on my shoulders while twisting left and right. Neck rolls follow. Left. Right. Isometrics at the wall is when I go up on my toes to stretch my calves. Standing poses lead to a spine massage, some kicks and a towel.

Yoga stresses oneness. We can use the term "bodymindspirit" the same way we use "spacetime continuum." Our bodies are microcosms of the universe.

I need to practise yoga everyday, savor each pose, finding peace within each. Balance each pose with a counter-pose.

Yoga originated in ancient India. Hatha yoga is popular in the west. It deals with the poses and controlling the body.

Any author sets himself up as an authority. He assumes that he knows and that his readers are to be taught. In no way is life in India superior to that in the west. On the contrary, life in the United States is vastly more desirable than life in India. Take what yoga has to offer, which is essentially a series of exercises designed to promote health. Avoid the weird stuff. Do not run counter to science and common sense.

Right living is the key: avoiding alcohol, cigarettes and bad food.