The Inner Tradition of Yoga - by Michael Stone (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A wise, accessible guide that makes the spiritual and ethical teachings of the yogic tradition immediately relatable to our practice on the mat--and in our everyday relationships and activities

"There is no daily practice without some formal training; and there is no deep spiritual training without the mess of relational life. The two are one," says Michael Stone. At the root of yoga practice there is a vast and intriguing philosophy that teaches the ethics of nonviolence, patience, honesty, and respect.

Innovative teacher Michael Stone draws from numerous disciplines--including Buddhism and psychotherapy--to provide an in-depth, completely clear explanation of yogic philosophy, along with teachings on how to bring our understanding of yoga theory to deeper levels through our practice on the mat--and through our relationships with others. Yoga, says Stone, is a practice that helps us be more present with the actual, fluid life we are living right now--and there is no yoga without the conditions of your life. This book describes how to work with those conditions and how to fully appreciate yoga as a practice of being intimate with moment-to-moment reality.

Review Quotes

"This book brilliantly reveals the profound underpinnings of yoga that are rarely taught or understood. Stone's demonstration of the interdependence of theory, practice, and daily life makes yoga work on a level that will truly transform our minds and hearts, as well as our bodies." --Richard Freeman, author of The Art of Vinyasa

"Michael Stone manages to seamlessly integrate traditional teachings with contemporary advances in the field--and so adds new dimensions of meaning to both." --Richard Rosen, author of The Yoga of Breath

"Intense, poetic, wise, practical, intimate, and visionary--the mind-body connection has never been better explored or explained." --Sharon Gannon, cofounder of Jivamukti Yoga

"Michael Stone details a practical and pragmatic psychology of yoga that can provide all practitioners a way to engage with the deepest transformative possibilities that yoga can offer. It is certainly what we need now." --Frank Jude Boccio, author of Mindfulness Yoga

"This work is going to help deepen the practice of yoga in the West by presenting the mental disciplines of this ancient tradition in an accessible manner. Here is a pragmatic presentation of mental and spiritual training." --Paul Grilley, author of Yin Yoga

"Few people on the planet have Michael's gift to explore and explain in contemporary language the profound wisdom of yoga." --Larry Payne, PhD, coauthor of Yoga for Dummies and Yoga Rx

"The Inner Tradition of Yoga has much to guide and inspire anyone on the road to insight." --Chip Hartranft, author of The Yoga-Sūtra of Patañjali

About the Author

Michael Stone (1974 - 2017) was a prominent and innovative Buddhist teacher, yogi, psychotherapist, and author. He was the founder and director of the Centre of Gravity Sangha, a community of yoga and Buddhist practitioners based in Toronto, and he taught widely and had a large international following. He was the author of The Inner Tradition of Yoga, Yoga for a World Out of Balance, Freeing the Body Freeing the Mind, and Awake in the World. For more information visit michaelstoneteaching.com.