Title: Yoga Shakti
Author: Shailaja Menon
Publisher: Niyogi Books
Price: Rs 495
At a time when yoga is soaring in popularity and appearing in different forms like Power yoga and even Beer yoga around us, the importance of establishing the true meaning and intent of yoga in the public psyche cannot be overstated. And this is what Kerala-born writer and long-time yoga practitioner Shailaja Menon (currently based in Malaysia) sets out to do through her book Yoga Shakti – Awaken your own power. Written in a brilliant stream-of-consciousness mode, the book delights equally by its sensitive choice of words as its clear insights into yoga.
The most crucial misconception Shailaja erodes is the all-too-frequent identification of yoga with difficult physical postures that help to keep you healthy. While regular practice of asanas definitely aids physical well-being, the real purpose of yoga is to re-train the human mind which our ancient sages described as being restless as a drunken money bitten by scorpions. Re-train the mind such that one can focus strongly on anything one does (yoga means becoming one with the object of concentration) and shift focus at will, consciously, instead of drifting ahead on the back of impulses.
As Shailaja underlines, “Yoga is an inner journey, to connect to the core of ourselves, through the tools of body, breath and mind.” She points out how asanas help to begin this journey since asanas have to be executed with full awareness, unlike aerobic exercise in a gym. As students learn to become more conscious of their bodies and minds while in the act of doing asanas, they are guided to extend that consciousness to every other experience in their lives – life, after all, is a stream of experiences – and take charge. Also, she emphasizes that asanas are intended to engender certain attitudes in us like forward-bending asanas evoke a sense of surrender to the wisdom of the infinite universal intelligence (Ishwarpranidhana). She appends small practice points to engineer inner change, at the end of each of the 12 chapters of the book.
Striking photographs of Shailaja executing complex asanas leap out of the book’s pages, refracting strength and light; however, these should not be attempted by any casual reader without the guidance of a yoga teacher. Yoga like other Indian disciplines needs to be learnt under the tutelage of a guru. A guru who will interweave the asanas with the philosophy of yoga – first put down by Patanjali in his 195 Yog sutras. Fittingly, Shailaja has strewn the sutras all over the book, with English explanations, besides quotes from the Bhagavad Gita on yoga. The book sparkles with the lustre of Sanskrit phrases like Atha yoga anushashan (Now the discipline of yoga starts).
Finally, Shailaja asserts, quoting results of actual medical studies, how sincere practice of yoga can change the structure of the brain and lead to recovery from even brain damage. “Our every thought produces a resulting chemical reaction that floods our bloodstream and reflects in every cell of our body.” And she goes on to reveal how. This book is a humdinger, just the guide that we need, to lead us out of the frenzy of the times and show us how to enjoy every moment of our lives.
