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Have you noticed that colorful depictions of Indian gods and goddesses have made their way into the Western yoga scene, but are unsure how they can be useful in your personal practice? This book by a long-time yoga practitioner and scholar of religion provides an answer. It shows you how to use the physical postures of yoga along with deeply symbolic imagery for reflection, self-examination, and healing.

When I was young, my teacher told stories about Shiva and other heroes from the Indian epics. He explained that all the characters in the stories were aspects of our own minds, making the stories instructive as well as entertaining. For this book, I have chosen stories about Shiva related to well-known asanas in the hope that your yoga practice will be enriched and enlivened. I believe the postures themselves embody the energy of these stories, and I hope that knowing the stories behind them will help you to find the pose that emerges uniquely from your own body and from your own experience of yoga.