This book focuses on 30 poses for the individual wishing to begin or restart their yoga practice. The pictures and explanations are easy to follow, and the pictured yogis are all ages, body types, and ethnicities.

This might be especially helpful for an older person who doesn't enjoy YouTube videos, or someone who finds there is just too much information out there and needs a focused place to start.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I recommended the book to my local library. It was worthwhile to attempt the practice multiple times. Not every asana was right for me, but it’s a great book.

Easy to follow guide. Demonstrations and [pictures were clear and good for beginners and intermediate yogis.

A wonderful first reference book for those looking to get started in yoga. The descriptions and pictures are very helpful!

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A great reference book for those starting a yoga practice. The book provides information on each pose, with photos, including the many variations for those more advanced or require more support during their yoga practice,

An excellent book for people beginning their yoga journey. Each yoga pose is accompanied by a picture and great description of proper form. Followed by a series of adjustments that may be made to the poses to make them doable for people of all ages and physical abilities.
Full color and showing a variety of body types this inclusive book would be great for anyone interested in beginning yoga but is unsure if they can do yoga. Encouragement in given to beginners and every one is made welcome on the mat or in a chair.

This is a great reference guide, both for yogis at the beginning of their yoga journeys (but not brand new yogis, explained in more detail later) as well as seasoned practitioners of all types of yoga. The book starts with around 2o pages of introduction and a brief history of yoga as well as Kino's interpretation of the purpose and intention of yoga and meditation (which I agree with - that it's for literally for everyone and that it's an inward practice/journey, not a competition). The rest of the book is the practice, which includes 30 poses (plus a bonus pose of savasana), with excellent photos of various body types in the final pose and preparatory positions (as well as both photos of what upleveling or downleveling the pose look like, including with use of props). Kino recommends that everyone spends at least 5 minutes every day working on one or more of these poses.

The descriptions that accompany each pose and the photos (of how to get into poses and related information) are very clear, but it does require some minimal familiarity with basic yoga terminology, so I wouldn't recommend this book to absolute beginners. It doesn't replace going to a studio class and having a real teacher guide you in person. In the same vein, the book could also be a bit more user friendly as a reference guide by breaking up the long descriptive paragraphs of how to get into a pose (either accompany each step with a separate photo or use a numbered list or bullet points). It would also be helpful to categorize the poses so that readers know what they should look for if they want to work on a particular skill or open a certain area of the body. Other than Sun Salutations A and B, the poses don't appear to be in any particular order (although Kino recommends going through the book in sequence), so elaboration on why the poses were set up in this sequence and how it helps one's yoga practice would have been helpful. Overall though, the book is still a very good reference for beginners who've had a few a few in person yoga classes under their belt through long time practitioners. (Bonus: Kino's mom is a model in this book, she just started yoga at age 75, so pretty amazing!)

This book looks like a great reference for those who would like to begin a yoga practice.  The author suggests starting with just five minutes a day as one learns thirty basic yoga poses.  Just a few of those included are the Downward Facing Dog, the Locust Pose, the Pigeon Pose and the Pendant Rose.  

The author presents yoga as something that everyone can do, not just the most svelte and fit among us.  She provides a history of yoga at the beginning of the book. Next come suggestions of ways to best practice yoga and then, of course, the poses.


With many photos, following the directions is pretty easy.  That is not the same as saying that the poses are easy but, of course, practice is at the heart of yoga.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Shambhala Publications for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I recently returned to practicing yoga and was excited to get this ARC. The book does a good job of explaining 30 different yoga poses with 200 pictures. They show multiple variations and alternatives depending on your flexibility and practice level. I appreciate that there is a mix of models by body type and age.

Kino says “the quality of your effort is most important” and “the perfect body for yoga practice is the one you have.” This was an inclusive, positive book with clear instructions. I will keep referencing this book going forward to help improve my practice.

As someone who has practiced yoga since 2002, I really enjoyed this book for a multitude of reasons. The first was that it busts the common myth that yoga is easy and people should be naturals at it. Anyone who practices yoga knows that's the furthest thing from the truth. MacGregor was real and raw when explaining how some poses may be difficult and how it was okay if you struggled. I think it's really important for any level of yogi to recognize that. Another reason that I really enjoyed this book was how it showed poses for different shapes of bodies. Again, yoga is not one-size-fits-all and this book really illustrates that. I also really enjoyed the variety of poses. I think this is a fantastic book for ANY yogi whether they are just starting out or are seasoned veterans.

I think this is a good yoga reference book. I appreciated the photos of each yoga pose with its common name as well as ideas for variations should you be unable or not wanting to do the regular pose. I did find it a bit wordy with each section under the pose and what it is as well as the Origin of Yoga and the Let's Get Started section. I enjoyed the variety of poses shown and the photos that show the actual pose as well as photos showing the variations you can do as well. I like at the end of the book how it has the list of poses and photos all in a row so if you wanted to create your own sequence or even just do some of the poses individually for stretching, its easy to do right from the photo rather than reading through each page again. I recommend this book for yoga newbies or those who enjoy very detailed descriptions of different yoga poses. It is also helpful for those wanting to do just one pose a day as the book indicates with 30 days of Yoga.

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy of the book via netgalley!

As someone who practices yoga, I have seen lots of books on yoga and its poses. I have to say this book is refreshing on so many levels! First, finally the poses are demonstrated by individuals with DIVERSE body weights and types! So so happy to see that! Also happy to see that this book explains each pose in different strengths levels (from if you are able to undertake the pose to if you need assistance from a block to a chair). Yoga is so inclusive and yet has such a bad stereotype associated to it that only skinny athletic beyond belief people can practice it...everyone can practice it and this book clearly encourages it! Highly recommended for anyone even just curious about yoga!

This is a nice guideline to yoga poses it accurately helps to get your body in as close to the pose as possible and it’s open format let’s you pick your own workout.

Very nice yoga book to try at home. During this quarantine I've been wanting to try yoga at home and I found this book very useful. It teaches you 30 yoga positions with photos so you can make sure you're doing the right thing. It also tells you what each positions is and shows you some variations. This book is pretty easy to follow. Very nice,
I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

I’ve wanted to start a yoga practice for some time, so I eagerly grabbed this new guide by master yoga teacher Kino MacGregor. What a joy to read!

It’s perfect for beginners of all ages and especially for this aging newbie who loves the idea of slowly building a practice over 30 days. You’ll learn 30 foundational poses through easy-to-understand instructions and 200+ color photos. (Always easier to learn by seeing!) Different ability levels and body types are addressed, so anyone can learn this powerful practice. I found this especially helpful for my aching back.

You also get free access to an online companion course — a treat!

I’ve happily “got my yoga on” now and encourage anyone who wants to start or enhance a yoga practice to read this wonderful guide. 5 Enthusiastic Stars!

Pub Date 01 Sep 2020

Thanks to Shambhala Publications, Inc. and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#GetYourYogaOn #NetGalley