Heart Yoga
The Sacred Marriage of Yoga and Mysticism
Andrew Harvey & Karuna Erickson

North Atlantic Books
May 2010/ ISBN 978-1-55643-897-4
Self Help
Amazon

Reviewed by Deborah Adams

Yoga classes are everywhere these days, in various styles and incarnations. In the Western world, yoga became a fad among a handful of wealthy eccentrics back in the 19th century, and developed a strong popular following in the 1960s when Hollywood celebrities touted it as a beauty aid. Today the general public finds it incorporated into their cardio fitness routines for warm up and cool down.
I’m in favor of getting people to experience yoga even if it’s done in small doses and disguised as a weight-loss method. All the same, I wish everyone would read Heart Yoga, a gentle and user-friendly new book from Andrew Harvey and Karuna Erickson.

In its purest form, yoga is a spiritual practice, bringing body and mind into alignment with spirit. The authors put it more eloquently: “Heart yoga is the marriage of the yoga of the illumined body with the mysticism of the awakened heart.”

Heart Yoga combines devotion and practice, Eastern and Western, intention and action, which produce a physical and spiritual tradition that easily accommodates them all. The authors begin with the practical items, such as gathering supplies and consulting a health professional. With the foundation solidly in place, they guide readers forward with advice for preparing the heart center (“…in which, as all mystical traditions know, the physical body is contained—and by which it is illumined.”)

Step by step, Harvey and Erickson help us to build a sturdy practice that acknowledges the mystical body and transcendence. They provide poses and meditations that grow naturally from exercises in preceding chapters. Because Heart Yoga is found more through the engagement of the reader with the practice than through the written word, the authors have wisely included quotes, poetry, and prayers that will resonate with the essence of what they attempt to convey in this charming book.

Every yogi at any level of experience can benefit from the wise words and respectful unfolding in Heart Yoga. It certainly belongs in the library of the serious practitioner for it is one of the best –perhaps THE best book I’ve ever found for conveying the core concept of this life-altering practice.

Reviewer's Note: