IYNAUS Store

We are excited to have the Portland Convention Reflection DVD. You can find it at http://www.iynaus.org/store/item. php?id=206. We also have many new items including, Iyengar Yoga for Motherhood, by Geeta Iyengar; the DVD Addiction, Recovery and Yoga, produced by Senior Teacher Lindsey Clennell; and The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A New Edition, by scholar and longtime Iyengar Yoga practitioner Edwin Bryant. We will also be stocking the newest book by B.K.S Iyengar, Yaugika Manas, due out very soon.

Please keep an eye out for the launch of our new store website. We are looking forward to the new options and increased usability the new site will have available. As many of you may have noticed, the current site has a tendency to inaccurately quote shipping prices. Please rest assured that we are handling shipping on an individual basis. After placing an order with us, we will adjust your credit card total to reflect the actual price of shipment.

Our entire line of products, including many books from senior Iyengar teachers, can be viewed on our website: http:// www.iynaus.org/store/. We offer wholesale pricing for teachers and qualified yoga centers.

Please inquire by e-mail, iynausstore@ gmail.com, or by phone, 206.623.3562, for further information.

If there is an item you cannot locate or would like to suggest for our store inventory, please let us know.

A CrACK iN the MASK: the FeLt SeNSe MethoD, A huMANiStiC APProACh For MANAGiNG iNCoNtiNeNCe

Written by Jaki Nett, M.A. St. Helena, CA: Neuter Bird Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0615352- 206. 212 pages. $46.95.

Reviewed by Vicki Aldridge

Don’t let the subject matter of this book turn you away from it. If it weren’t for the word incontinence mentioned on the front of this book, at first glance, one might think this is yet another book of yoga asanas. However, for those of us who teach yoga, whether male or female, and who have students with bladder incontinence, vaginal flatulence, or vaginismus (uncontrolled tightening of the vaginal muscles), this is a book you will want to know about and refer students to for help with this sensitive personal issue. Dr. Geeta S. Iyengar writes in the foreword that the mudras and bandhas happen naturally if the posture is correct and that the practice in this book, regardless of whether you are familiar with yoga, will help in making one sensitive to “feeling their inner body as well as their outer body.”

As Iyengar Yoga practitioners, we are taught the importance of balancing the pelvis and strengthening the pelvic floor, but for those suffering from an overactive bladder, more is needed. An estimated 19 million people in America suffer from this unmentionable epidemic that can bring shame, fear, and embarrassment.

Read in this book Jaki Nett’s personal quest as she imparts her wisdom in three steps: psychological awareness, anatomical understanding, and physical practice teaching herself to contract the muscles of the pelvic floor in the right place as she dispels the myths about Kegel exercises. This is not just a story of incontinence, but an empowering woman’s story, heartfelt and engaging, that has made Jaki Nett one of my heroes. The struggles and insights of her life are interwoven in the pages to help the reader’s mind relax from the technical information and connect at a personal level. Readers will find her life fascinating as she tells us of her African ancestors who were slaves, her mother’s vision that education is the key to their future, and even her long stint as a Playboy Bunny.

Jaki leads the reader and practitioner on a journey of self-discovery that can bring one to an emotionally self-accepting place so healing can begin. She calls it a process of turning the darkness into light “as we practice deep and honest introspection.” She includes anatomy as a tangible way to bring understanding, which she states is essential to strengthening the pelvic floor muscles. She gives clear instructions and guidelines to bring awareness and strength to the pelvic floor for those who have never practiced yoga, stressing that the most important factor is correct postural alignment.

The asanas she suggests are secondary to learning how to contract the pelvic floor muscles to control bladder incontinence using The Felt Sense Method. She uses these asanas as a practice for the pelvic floor, building from the foundation. It’s not the pose,

but the “correct postural placement and muscular action or non-action within each pose that allows conscious strength to return to the pelvic floor muscles.”

This book will entertain you at times, as well as inspire you and give you hope. I recommend it to anyone who would like to find relief, as well as to teachers who would like to know more about how to assist students. I hope, as Jaki does, that this book will bring awareness and that her Felt Sense Method will be practiced and will give many the independence and control they have longed for.

This book can be ordered through Jaki Nett’s website, www.iynv.com. Click on the book cover and follow the link “To Order the Book.”

wAtCh Me Do YoGA Written and Illustrated by Bobby Clennell. Berkeley, CA: Rodmell Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-1930485-266. 32 pages. $15.95.

Reviewed by Vicki Aldridge

Watch Me Do Yoga is pure delight. Bobby Clennell’s joyful rhymes and vividly clear drawings of a little girl discovering yoga with her family and pets will captivate the reader, regardless of age. Children will enjoy the beautiful illustrations and numerous items to identify along the way. Even the little girl’s teddy bear participates, sometimes doing a pose and at other times as an observer, making a final appearance in Savasana.

Bobby Clennell teaches at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of New York and holds an Intermediate Senior I certification. She is a former film animator whose love of drawing and yoga has blended together in this creative artistic form. Her last book, The Woman’s Yoga Book: Asana and Pranayama for All Phases of the Menstrual Cycle, is a valuable resource for teachers and students, containing her detailed drawings and sequences to assist women during their menstrual cycle.

I believe this new light-hearted children’s book of yoga for fun will be a favorite for many, and one that will be enjoyed over and over. The vivid illustrations and lively colors of the animals, like lions, fish, and tortoises, beckon the reader to participate. Give a small child in your life the gift of yoga by introducing this book to him or her. I believe you will enjoy the opportunity to play along and will be glad that you did!

Events continued from page 26

Kathleen Pringle Advanced Study & Preparation for Teacher in Training and Introductory Assessments Sponsored by IYASE April 8–10, 2011 Stillwater Yoga Studio Atlanta, GA 901.483.9642 tedrah@comcast.net

John Schumacher Advanced Study & Preparation for Jr. Intermediate Assessments Sponsored by IYASE June 10–12, 2011 Stillwater Yoga Studio Atlanta, GA 901.483.9642 tedrah@comcast.net

Patricia walden Gather at the River Intermediate Retreat March 4–10, 2011 504.331.0177 sharon@greatwhiteheron.net

Patricia walden Gather at the River Advanced Women’s Retreat April 29–May 6, 2011 504.331.0177 sharon@greatwhiteheron.net

Vickie Aldridge is a certified Junior Intermediate I Iyengar Yoga instructor. She lives with her husband, Jerry, also a certified Iyengar Yoga instructor, in Boise, Idaho. They own the Boise Yoga Center and also teach yoga for Boise State University and the College of Western Idaho.

YoGA SAMAChAr SeeKS CoPY eDitor

Yoga Samachar is seeking a copy editor. The person selected for this paid position will edit approximately 8 to 12 articles according to IYNAUS style for each of two yearly issues; proofread through all phrases of production; compile corrections from multiple sources and transfer them to compositor; and correspond electronically with authors, staff, and Board Members. Qualified candidates must be able to communicate clearly and concisely in writing; have keen attention to detail; be available twice yearly for the 6-to 8-week production period; have facility with editing in Microsoft Word—especially Track Changes tools—and Adobe Acrobat; and understand the basic principles and philosophy of Iyengar Yoga. The position begins in spring 2011. Please send resumes to Sharon Cowdery, IYNAUS General Manager, 1952 First Ave South, Suite 1B, Seattle, WA 98134. Compensation will be commensurate with experience.