Dancing the Body of Light by Dona
Holleman
Very Inspiring
Dancing the Body of Light is the title of the book that Dona has brought out
with her student and fellow yoga teacher, Orit Sen-Gupta. Together they
have explored the past and present stages of yoga and offer in this
ambitious manuscript a way that the art of yoga can continue to develop in
the future. Perfect pose, empty mind, and wide heart are at the basis of
this development, in which all the aspects of the human being are brought
together into one organic whole. This was undoubtedly the aim of the
ancient yogis, but as happens to all traditions, at a certain moment in
history the descriptions take the place of reality, the vehicle to arrive at life
becomes more important than life itself. The book Dancing the Body of
Light: the Future of Yoga, aims at refreshing old concepts and giving them
a new, modern look. Using modern terminology and modern sciences, the
old yogic concepts of the annamaya kosha (the physical body) and the
pranamaya kosha (the energy body) are rediscovered as the twin vehicle
in which the human being travels through life. The application of NOT-
DOING or WU-WEI to the physical body brings again the pranamaya

kosha or energy body into focus. At the same time the application of NOT-
DOING to the mind and heart bring back that peacefulness and innocence
that can reflect without distortion the here and now. It is out of that
reflection that we can act with clarity and efficiency. The book is brought
out in a beautiful hard back cover, and a deluxe paperback which contain,
apart from the philosophical part, a large section with a detailed description
of all the asanas, bandhas, pranayama techniques and savasana
techniques. With more than three hundred photographs it gives, in
addition to the description, a visual idea of the ease and fluidity with which
the postures can be performed if they are done from the point of view of
the energy body through the application of WU-WEI or NOT-DOING. This
book is a must for all serious yoga practitioners and teachers.
Personal Review: Dancing the Body of Light by Dona Holleman
This is my favorite yoga book with respect to detailed descriptions of how
to perform the asanas correctly. For some people, there may be even too
much detail. However, where there is a possiblity of injury or not getting
the full benefit from a posture, I would hope most people would prefer to
err in the direction of too much information rather than not enough. In
other words, this book does not have superficial descriptions. In my
opinion, this makes it a must own for every yoga practitioner particularly
beginners who may be more prone to injury and overdoing things.
This book also contains information on yoga philosophy, the bandhas and
kriyas as well as a chapter on pranayama. These chapters are short,
provide useful context and good reference material. However, it would be
best to study some of these other areas along with a teacher and
additional reference material.
Another good introductory yoga book is Judith Lasater's 30 Essential Yoga
Poses. This is written more simply, holds the number of poses to 30 and
provides a number of useful practice sequences. I don't find it describes
the correct way to perform the asanas as well as this book, but it's well
done and also includes good notes on fine points for yoga teachers.
If you are serious about your yoga practice, then I don't know of a better
book that describes how to perform the asanas correctly. If you are easily
overwhelmed by detail, then I would probably try Judith Lasater's book
above and get this one when you are more advanced.
Back Care Basics is also a nice introduction to yoga written by a physician
for people with back problems. While this is the target audience, it also a
good general introduction to Iyengar yoga.
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