Weight-Resistance Yoga

Transform strength training into a mindful, meditative practice

• Explains how to induce a calm, meditative state through the movements, breathing, and focus of strength-training exercises

• Contains illustrated instructions for 26 exercises to safely strengthen the neck, shoulders, arms, hips, knees, ankles, and torso

• Offers themed meditations on the embodied experience of the exercises to facilitate a mindful state during your session

• The perfect complement to a yoga flexibility practice

Applying the wisdom of hatha yoga to weight-lifting exercises, Weight-Resistance Yoga reveals how to transform a strength-training session into a mindful, calm, and meditative yoga practice. Through 26 fully illustrated weight-resistance exercises using machines, free weights, and the body itself--along with an emphasis on coordinated rhythmic breathing, stability, stillness, and full absorption in the body’s movements against resistance--fitness trainer Max Popov explains how to access the tranquility that dwells within each of us while safely, effectively, and efficiently strengthening your neck, shoulders, arms, torso, hips, knees, and ankles. To support the meditative state of this practice, the author includes 20 themed meditations on the embodied experience of the exercises.

The perfect complement to yoga flexibility practice, weight-resistance yoga allows you to fully inhabit your body, empty your mind of everyday preoccupations, and fill your soul with comprehensions of deeper realities, providing strength, calm, and spiritual illumination through your physical fitness work.

Preface: My Journey to Weight-Resistance Yoga

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Path of Weight-Resistance Yoga

Part One
Exercise Guidelines

1 Immersion

2 Safe and Efficient Effort

3 Stillness

4 Movement in Stillness

5 Great Effort

6 Accord and Acceptance

Part Two
Exercise Instructions

7 Exercises for the Shoulder Joint
Lat Pulldown
45-to-90-Degree Shoulder Press
Seated Low Row
0-to-90-Degree Front Raise
Standing High Row
Flat Bench Press

8 Exercises for the Elbow Joint
Standing Biceps Curl
Triceps Pushdown

9 Exercises for the Shoulder Girdle
Shoulder Pulldown
Shoulder Shrug
Shoulder Diagonal Pulldown
Shoulder Diagonal Raise

10 Exercises for the Trunk
(Vertebral Column and Abdominal Wall)
Back Raise
Side Bend
Ab Curl
Seated Twist
Neck Bends

11 Exercises for the Hip Joint and Pelvic Girdle
Bent-Leg Hip Extension
Hanging Knee Raise
Hip Abduction
Hip Adduction

12 Exercises for the Knee Joint
Prone Knee Curl
Knee Extension

13 Exercises for the Ankle Joint
Standing Heel Raise
Seated Heel Raise
Weighted Toe Raise


Part Three
Meditations

14 Meditations on the Shoulder Joint
On Expressiveness--Introduction to the Shoulder Joint
On Wholeness--Lat Pulldown
On Gravity--Shoulder Press
On Right Tension--Seated Low Row
On Harmony--Standing High Row

15 Meditations on the Elbow Joint
On Enchanted Space--Introduction to the Elbow Joint
On Energy--Standing Biceps Curl and Triceps Pushdown

16 Meditations on the Shoulder Girdle
On Fragility--Introduction to the Shoulder Girdle
On the Silent Sound--Shoulder Pulldown and Shoulder Shrug

17 Meditations on the Trunk
(Vertebral Column and Abdominal Wall)
On Mortality--Introduction to the Trunk
On Nonviolence--Back Raise
On Withdrawal--Ab Curl

18 Meditations on the Hip Joint and Pelvic Girdle
On Stability--Introduction to the Hip Joint and Pelvic Girdle
On Standing Up--Bent-Leg Hip Extension and Hanging Knee Raise
On Arrested Falling--Hip Abduction and Hip Adduction

19 Meditations on the Knee Joint
On Pain--Introduction to the Knee Joint
On Calmness--Prone Knee Curl and Knee Extension

20 Meditations on the Ankle Joint
On Motion--Introduction to the Ankle Joint
On Pleasurable Repetition--Standing Heel Raise,
Seated Heel Raise, and Weighted Toe Raise

21 Meditation on Savasana
On Contentment--Savasana

Notes

Index