Shakespeare's Yoga: How the Bard Can Deepen Your Practice On and Off the Mat - Softcover

Shakespeare's Yoga gives the reader a new way of looking at the plays of Shakespeare, which is quite an accomplishment on the 400th anniversary of his legacy! This book represents a truly unique blend of the bard and yogic wisdom. It will be of great interest to lovers of Shakespeare and devotees of yoga. --Laura Bates, author of Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard A beautiful narrative of faith, timelessness, and the depth of living. Two great forces of spirituality, Shakespeare and Patanjali, are united in opening a new dialog to living with our complex, kindest, truest version of ourselves. --Will Duprey, author of Form: A Poetic Experience of the Hatha Yoga Pardipika Whether you have yet to experience yoga or Shakespeare--or are an expert in either or both--Shakespeare's Yoga takes you into a profound and valuable exploration of life's big questions. Claire Szabo-Cassella has pulled together yogic philosophy, excerpts from Shakespeares's work, and an array of quotations and inspiration from those invested on the path of yoga as well as those immersed in the world of Shakespeare to create a life-affirming companion to your journey on and off the mat. -Heidi E. Spear, MA, author, Kripalu yoga teacher, meditation coach, and a creator of the workshop The Yoga of Shakespeare "Warmly and wisely written, Shakespeare's Yoga savors the Bard's timelessness and how it can deepen our inner embodiment of the yoga experience. A rare and transformative read for yogis and Shakespeare lovers alike." Sarahjoy Marsh, MA, yoga teacher, yoga therapist and author of Hunger, Hope, and Healing

Shakespeare's Yoga applies some of the Bard's most famous quotes and passages to yoga practice--on and off the mat. With down-to-earth insights from her involvement in Shakespearean theatre and twenty years as a yoga practitioner, studio owner, and yoga teacher trainer, Claire Szabo-Cassella parallels Shakespeare's inherent spiritual wisdom to the yamas, the five core yogic concepts in the art of right living. As a result, you realize "all the world's a stage" for yoga practice. Like Hamlet, asking ourselves the big questions--Who's there? What if? Who am I? To be or not to be?--comes naturally when given the inspiration, time and space to do so. These same enquiries and more arise during our yoga practice: Who is breathing me? Where does the energy moving my body come from? Where do the images in my mind come from and go to? It is the answers to these questions that Shakespeare's enlightened insights radically shift within us, raising our consciousness and our ability to heal ourselves, and our world.