Review of The Woman's Book of Yoga & Health by Linda Sparrowe

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Hello Natural Medicine community! :) I'm here with a book review for you today: The Woman's Book of Yoga & Health by Linda Sparrowe (with yoga sequences by Patricia Walden).

This is a text I have had in my library for years and have referenced again and again - both for myself and for others (I was certified as a personal trainer years ago, but I only ever worked out of my home. When making plans for clients, I liked to incorporate yoga, and this book was a big help deciding what poses might serve them best!).

"But Phe," I hear you say. "I thought you said you were a dude." Yeah. I am a dude, but I'm a trans man - and I haven't had a hysterectomy - so I still have a working uterus, and ergo have to put up with all of that and appreciate sequences like this:

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In fact, one of the things I love about this book so much is that it gives you sequences for specific problems, and specific stages of life, and stages of your cycle. It's so easy to flip to a relevant section and just follow along with the recommended poses - especially when you don't feel well, and just want something to follow that suits how you're feeling. For instance:

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Aw yeah. Thankfully I don't get migraines too often, but when I do, some caffeine, some darkness, and a few gentle yoga poses often can set me to rights.

Something that used to come up a lot more often for me:

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Speaking of, my bowels were quite upset recently; I should probably do this sequence. :)

To give you a better idea of the sections and what kinds of issues are covered, here are the chapters:

Part 1 - Essential Yoga Sequences

Ch. 1: The Woman's Essential Sequence
Ch. 2: The Woman's Energizing Sequence
Ch. 3: The Woman's Restorative Sequence

Part 2 - The Time of Awakening

Ch. 4: Befriending Your Body
Ch. 5: Honoring Your Menstrual Cycle
Ch. 6: Supporting Your Immune system

Part 3 - Coming into Fullness

Ch. 7: Preparing for Labor, Birth, and Postpartum
Ch. 8: Caring for Your Back
Ch. 9: Relieving Headaches

Part 4 - Speaking the Truth

Ch. 10: Working with Depression
Ch. 11: Easing into Menopause
Ch. 12: Improving Digestion

Part 5 - Wisdom from the Heart

Ch. 13: Minimizing Postmenopausal Symptoms
Ch. 14: Relieving Osteoporosis
Ch. 15: Strengthening Your Heart

So you can see, there is a wide and wise breadth of information here with something for everyone, at every stage of life. :)

In addition to yoga poses, there are thorough discussions of the issues each chapter is about before you get into the sequences. So for instance, in the chapter about caring for your back, it discusses the structure of the spine, posture, different common back problems, and how yoga can help.

In sum, I find this book to be informational, practical, extremely useful, and thorough. Very often yoga instructionals and videos are very generic - a nonspecific sequence of poses for a broad brush audience of people, and I really like how this book lays out specific poses for what issues and explains what they do so you understand what you are accomplishing as you do them.

My copy of this book is full of bookmarks, has had a drink spill on it, and miraculously is still in one piece even though it is well used and well loved. I highly recommend it for anyone who would like to use yoga to live a healthier, more balanced life!

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Amazing art made for me that I got from a trade on Simbi! Simbi is a bartering website that I love. If you'd like to try it out, please use my referral link: https://simbi.com/wren-paasch/welcome

This post is an entry to the Natural Medicine January Challenge

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