The Inner Tradition of Yoga: A Guide to Yoga Philosophy for the Contemporary Practitioner [Paperback]

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. 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, praclsl