YOGA OF NATURE
Union with Fire, Earth, Air & Water
By Thia Luby
1-57416-073-7
146 color photos, 136 pages, 8-1/2 x 10, CLPNATURE (paper with French flaps) $16.95
An adult companion to the best-selling and award winning Children’s Book of Yoga and Yoga for Teens, both also by Thia Luby

All of nature is ever changing, with drought, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes constantly shifting the environment. Our bodies also shift and change at every moment. Yoga teaches us to increase awareness of these changes and to develop better insights into ourselves, both inside and relation to the world around us. Yoga has always been blended with nature. Classical yoga poses were developed from nature’s wonders. Seers studied and imitated how animals stayed agile and healthy. As a result, many classical yoga poses imitated animals or insects. Other yoga poses imitated strong, stable natural wonders such as trees, mountains, flowers and other inanimate and animate objects.

This book takes this concept a step further to look at each of the four elements in nature--earth, water, fire and air—and see how they relate to specific yoga poses. The section on earth will consist of poses that enable one to get grounded and to connect with the earth. Water is representative of water creatures living on this planet in the sea world. Fire incorporates poses that build heat in different parts of the body. Air relates to breath that is enhanced by pranayama (breathing exercises) to increase oxygen in the body as well as a series of poses related to the sky.

Some of the yoga poses contained in this book are classical ones developed thousands of years ago. Others were created or renamed by the author through thirty years of exploration and development of mind, body spiritual awareness, and teaching yoga.

Yoga of Nature explores the relationship of the poses to the four elements in an innovative and playful manner. The book is designed for all experience levels and all ages, including partner poses, to build strength and flexibility, both mental and physical.

Yoga has been described as a fountain of youth. This is due to the manner in which different poses redirect the blood into vital organs and stimulate the various charkas for a healthy body and mind while enhancing strength and flexibility. Carrying this even further, Yoga of Nature presents poses for dealing with imbalances, specific ailments, and prevention of problems. Sample workouts help get the student started on a path of a healthier, more fulfilling life.

About the Author: Award-winning author and teacher Thia Luby has studied both the physical practice and philosophy of yoga for more than 30 years and has been teaching yoga in Santa Fe, New Mexico, since 1978. She has developed yoga programs and designed new and unique poses for children, teenagers, and adults. She enjoys teaching all ages, including pregnant women and teenagers in treatment centers. Luby’s innovative programs for children and teens are presented in her two other books Children’s Book of Yoga and Yoga for Teens. Children’s Book of Yoga was selected by School Library Journal as one of the best children’s books of 1998. Her second book, Yoga for Teens, received an honorable mention from School Library Journal and a great response from Teen Magazine. She has been a columnist for the Albuquerque Journal as well as a contributor to a teen web site. Her adult audio tape and children’s video on yoga are distributed nationally. Luby’s daughter, Bianca, was raised on yoga and has helped teach children’s classes for years. Luby now has two young grandchildren to enlighten and guide through a lifetime of yoga practice.