Alexandra DeSiato

A unique way to see and process the motherhood experience through the lens of yoga, Whole Mama Yoga covers all phases and stages of becoming and being a mother or birth parent—offering a way to extend yoga’s gifts and tools for all who parent. Women are drawn to yoga for its physical benefits, its ability to induce calm and presence, and its offering of spiritual depth. Whole Mama Yoga offers a way to extend yoga’s gifts into the motherhood experience and offers guidance that eases not just physical discomforts but existential ones. Many moms and birth parents balance boundless love and boredom, overwhelming joy and moments of isolation, self-confidence and self-doubt. Yoga provides an opportunity to practice the much needed body love and self-connection many parents need. Accessible to new yoga students, advanced yoga practitioners, and yoga teachers alike, Whole Mama Yoga is for parents with children of all ages. It is for those just thinking about beginning a family, those in the early stages of pregnancy, those getting close to labor and delivery, and for those new moms, who often feel harried and overwhelmed. This is a book to reference as children grow, change, and become little (and big) people. With yoga poses at the core of the text, yogi moms and instructors Alexandra DeSiato and Lauren Sacks offer helpful information in movement offerings that meet all moms and birth parents where they are. Organized into sections titled Relate, Move, Reflect, Wisdom, and Breathe, Whole Mama Yoga provides breathing techniques, suggestions for meditation and mantra, inspiring tidbits of yoga philosophy, funny and uplifting stories from yoga-moms, and journal prompts that allow readers to reflect on their own experience of parenthood.

New yoga teachers are often taught the poses but not themes or phrases that will make students come back and seasoned instructors often want a fresh approach or new theme to explore. Experienced yoga instructors Sage Rountree and Alexandra DeSiato give yoga teachers tools to find a genuine voice and tap into innate wisdom; offer ready-made, detailed themes to use in classes or home practice; and provide guidance and useful, flexible templates for building a toolkit of authentic themes for future use. The workbook begins with a section on voice, authenticity, emulation, phrasing, practice, repetition, and finding inspiration. While offering guidance for new or experienced teachers so that they feel confident speaking from a place of authority and offering their students memorable themes, the authors explore what it means to be authentic and how teachers can approach authenticity without feeling overly exposed or turning their yoga classes into a therapy session. The second section of the book contains 54 complete themes in template form, so instructors can easily use them in a class. These themes are broken down in chapters such as: yoga philosophy, seasonal themes, meditations, quotes, and spiritual ideas and stories from other traditions that translate well to yoga. Each theme is explored in a way that allows teachers to add their own voice, take, and spin. The final section of the book includes gentle advice and prompts with 54 blank templates, so instructors can create their own themes. With a unique angle and a practical feel, this workbook will appeal to yoga teachers, teacher trainers, and at-home practitioners who are moving to the next level.

Yoga offers vital tools for healthy aging: strength, flexibility, balance, and peace of mind. In this one-of-a-kind book, Sage Rountree and Alexandra DeSiato describe the poses and routines that can help keep people of any age fit and injury free. In addition to demonstrating simple ways to maintain and even increase our ability to be active into our 50s, 60s, and beyond, the authors--both yoga teachers with decades of experience--offer poses and routines aimed toward specific goals, such as improving balance, maintaining strength and flexibility, and recovering properly between workouts. Each fully illustrated sequence is introduced with a brief overview of its benefits, along with modifications and options suited to individual requirements. Rountree and DeSiato also offer sequences that help support specific activities such as running, swimming, or golf, as well as yard work, travel, and caring for grandchildren. An essential and easy-to-follow guide, Lifelong Yoga offers key practices for maintaining and improving physical and mental well-being throughout a lifetime.