{"title":"Books by Mark Singleton","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780195395341","title":"Yoga Body","description":"Yoga is so prevalent in the modern world-practiced by pop stars, taught in schools, and offered in yoga centers, health clubs, and even shopping malls--that we take its presence, and its meaning, for granted. But how did the current yoga boom happen? And is it really rooted in ancient Indian practices, as many of its adherents claim?In this groundbreaking book, Mark Singleton calls into question many commonly held beliefs about the nature and origins of postural yoga (asana) and suggests a radically new way of understanding the meaning of yoga as it is practiced by millions of people across the world today. Singleton shows that, contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence in the Indian tradition for the kind of health and fitness-oriented asana practice that dominates the global yoga scene of the twenty-first century. Singleton's surprising-and surely controversial-thesis is that yoga as it is popularly practiced today owes a greater debt to modern Indian nationalism and, even more surprisingly, to the spiritual aspirations of European bodybuilding and early 20th-century women's gymnastic movements of Europe and America, than it does to any ancient Indian yoga tradition. This discovery enables Singleton to explain, as no one has done before, how the most prevalent forms of postural yoga, like Ashtanga, Bikram and \"Hatha\" yoga, came to be the hugely popular phenomena they are today.Drawing on a wealth of rare documents from archives in India, the UK and the USA, as well as interviews with the few remaining, now very elderly figures in the 1930s Mysore asana revival, Yoga Body turns the conventional wisdom about yoga on its head.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56226010399093,"sku":"9780195395341","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780195395341_fdb88947-8a96-47b1-855a-2fa83ab94c2c.jpg?v=1786011237"},{"product_id":"9780241253045","title":"Roots of Yoga","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe first single, reliable collection of primary material from the source traditions of yoga\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Despite the immense popularity of yoga today, there is surprisingly little knowledge of its roots among practitioners. This book brings together, for the first time, the core teachings of yoga in the words of their authors, rather than in the secondary versions of modern interpreters. Including key passages from the Upanishads, the Buddhist and Jaina traditions, the yoga sections of the Indian Tantras, and many texts that are being critically translated for the first time, \u003ci\u003eRoots of Yoga\u003c\/i\u003e provides a comprehensive and immediate insight into the essential texts of the Indian traditions of yoga. This book is a first stop for anyone wishing to learn more than they are told at their yoga class, and an indispensable resource for serious yoga practitioners and teachers.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56228738859381,"sku":"9780241253045","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241253045_4c7fb4ad-f777-4fd4-b25d-76b4c1f4c5e8.jpg?v=1786012695"},{"product_id":"9781780288758","title":"YOGA FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILD","description":"Improve your child's health, agility, concentration, confidence and awareness through simple and fun yoga practice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is a comprehensive introduction to the inspirational world of yoga for children. Mark Singleton adapts more than 40 yoga positions to make them safe, effective and fun for children. Practical and fun, the book contains everything you need to know to start practising yoga with your child. With the emphasis on safety and enjoyment, it shows how to make yoga sessions exciting, interactive and child-friendly by playing yoga games, going on 'yoga adventures' and imitating animal shapes, walks and noises. The instructions for postures and exercises are addressed to the children themselves, to make them as easy to follow as possible. As well as energetic physical poses, this book also adapts traditional yogic breathing techniques and meditations into fun exercises that calm and soothe the mind and help children sleep at night. It explores how regular yoga practice can help children learn more effectively and cope better with stress, as well as reduce symptoms of illness such as asthma and prevent posture problems in later life.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56304408723829,"sku":"9781780288758","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781780288758_ae9fbc2e-fe0a-49b6-946d-5417deceda60.jpg?v=1786024694"},{"product_id":"9780197795996","title":"Yoga","description":"\u003cp\u003eA clear and authoritative guide to yoga's journey from ancient roots to modern global practice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYoga has a long and complex history that spans thousands of years, yet its story is often misunderstood or oversimplified. This book offers a clear, accessible, and nuanced introduction to yoga's development from its earliest roots in ancient South Asia to its modern global presence. Written in an engaging question-and-answer format by a leading scholar of yoga, it is ideal for beginners and anyone seeking deeper insight into this influential tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcross nine evidence-based chapters, readers will explore yoga's foundational role in the Hindu Epics and Upanishads, the \"classical yoga\" of Patañjali, its integration into tantra, the transformative rise of hatha yoga, and the radical shifts that shaped yoga into a worldwide phenomenon.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAdditional chapters address yoga's relationship to religion and contemporary debates, including cultural appropriation, commodification, and ethical challenges within the yoga community. Yoga: What Everyone Needs to Know ® provides the essential context for understanding yoga's past and present, equipping readers with the knowledge to appreciate its complexity and relevance in today's world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57086701699445,"sku":"9780197795996","price":47.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57682861228405,"sku":"9780197796009","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-mark-singleton.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}