“Yoga Through the Year is a beautiful combination of yoga history and philosophy as well as practices and meditations that invite readers to harmonize with the wisdom of the seasons and discover the power of living in alignment with mother nature and her intelligent, nurturing, and powerful energy. I recommend this book to yoga practitioners of all levels as well as those interested in studying the majesty of the natural world and expanse of the human experience." - |
"This is a special kind of yoga book, one that empowers us to step towards our own authentic holistic wisdom and bring this into our daily yoga practice. Jilly encourages us to align ourselves to our intuitive selves through our inspired personal connection to the seasonal flow of the natural world around us, with mindfulness and gratitude. I Love it! I will move forwards now with this book as my daily guide. I am very thankful to Jilly Shipway for opening this more integrated path for my yoga practice.
Jilly’s calm clear voice shines through this special book, as she guides us though simple, accessible, uncomplicated yoga poses and meditations that connect us to each of the seasons, helping us to be more in touch with the Earth, to deepen our journey with trees and to become more aware of our feelings. Her strong clear heart energy inspires my day to gratitude and mindfulness and helps me to bring myself into balance and connection with all that I hold dear around me.
I found this book so inspiring and it has had a big impact on me. It has helped me to bring my daily yoga practice into a more integrated and balanced practice that is inclusive of the Earth and the seasonal flow of life. Reading this book has empowered me to approach my yoga practice more creatively, with sensitivity to how I am feeling and in alignment with the season. It brings me into greater harmony with myself and into greater balance with the Earth around me.
This special book has gifted me a more integrated approach to my Yoga practice. Jilly’s instructions are clear and easy to follow and gently bring us into balance of heart, mind and body, to bring healing on many levels. It is full of inspiring ways to bring the physical practice of yoga into an integrated way of life, and inspires us to step into the unity of our interconnected selves each time we step onto our yoga mats.
I Love this book! It has helped shift my yoga practice to a new, more integrated level and to bring it into my everyday life. It inspires me to be creative with my yoga practice, and to anchor what I do more fully into the flow of the Earth’s yearly cycle and in my gratitude for life."
Glennie Kindred author of Earth Wisdom, Earth Alchemy, Sacred Earth Celebrations, and Walking with Trees. http://www.glenniekindred.co.uk/booksprints/index.html
"As both a yoga teacher and yoga student, I found ‘Yoga through the Seasons’ a genuine delight to read. Part yoga guide, part life coach, this book shares in an accessible way some of the key principles of yoga philosophy and marries them with beautiful, flowing yoga practices, sensitive visualisations and thought-provoking meditation questions. The thread binding all of these elements together is the cycle of the seasons. By aligning ourselves to the prevalent energy of the current season, we can bring our lives into balance, achieving just the right amount of activity, rest and contemplation. Jilly is a wise and reassuring presence throughout the book, encouraging us to be present – to this breath, to this moment, to this season – to live and to practise yoga in a way that is respectful of both our bodies and Mother Earth. The book holds a particular resonance at this time, when we are becoming ever more aware of the damage we humans are causing to the planet. Jilly’s inspiring words and thoughtful suggestions can only lead us towards a more compassionate, harmonious and healthier life. I recommend this book whole-heartedly – I loved it."
Judy Brenan, British Wheel of Yoga Teacher
“This book encourages the yoga practitioner to tune in to the subtle changes each Season brings in. It is enriching to stay open and receptive to the moods and modes each season suggests as it comes into being.
When yoga is perceived and practised as a constant adjustment to what “there is now”, our dialogue with Nature and the seasons adds more liveliness, and lightness to the practice. It stimulates a more penetrating sensation of extension into the Earth and expansion into Space until, with time, they become our beloved teachers.
We often expect that long years of practice will take us to a magic land called meditation.
One day as we stop in a wood and lean and touch the bark of a tree...as we listen to the wind playing with its leaves and branches we are overwhelmed by the miracle of its strength and beauty. That inner smile of joy that follows holds the real essence of meditation. In that instant we are reassured that meditation is inside each and every gesture like a very precious gem. Always within reach, always available.”
Sandra Sabatini, author of "Breath the Essence of Yoga", and her forthcoming book "The Whole Body Breathing"
"The essence of this book is integration, mind and body, male and female, life and death by using the analogy of the seasons. The techniques of yoga form the primary thread, but mindfulness and compassion and poetry also woven throughout the narrative. In this age of increasing fragmentation, I can recommend this book as unifying force."
Professor Janet Treasure PhD FRCP FRCpsych
"Yoga Through the Year, brilliantly reclaims yoga as a nature-based and female-centered practice that is perfect for every body! Author Jilly Shipway incorporates the wisdom of trees to guide seasonal specific poses, offers personal questions to meditate on, and provides activities designed to internally integrate us into what Nature powerfully teaches us throughout the year. Based on the legend of Gonika, mother of Patanjali, that the origin of yoga was born from the womb of the earth, Shipway powerfully demonstrates that “When we connect with the earth though our seasonal practice we are united with yoga itself”. While Yoga Through the Year is written for everyone, it is refreshing to finally have a yoga practice that speaks to me a woman, a witch, and lover of Nature!"
- Ruth Barrett, author of "Women’s Rites, Women’s Mysteries – Intuitive Ritual Creation"
“This is an inspirational book; drawn from the breath of life experience & yoga practice on & off the mat. Jilly Shipway’s ‘Yoga Through the Year’ invites us to go on a yoga journey of exploration; to see the yoga world from different perspectives, travel through the yoga year in four seasons & explore different ways of ‘doing’ yoga. It is a guidebook of yogic connections which endeavours to link our yoga practice with the natural world outside. Jilly Shipway steers us safely through an annual spirit-nature trail, with thought provoking yoga asana practices, meditations, visualisations, creative projects, poetry & tree wisdom inspired thoughts.
This book is also part of an important movement in the yoga world in recent years; to address & redress the male bias historically inherent in the yoga world. Linking our yoga practice with the seasons & nature, offers a way to integrate & balance the male & female elements in us all. ‘Ha-tha’ yoga means ‘sun-moon’ yoga. This has traditionally related to male-female, light-dark, spirit-nature... If we can creatively engage with & integrate these elements in our yoga practice, then these practices & connections can develop new pathways of mutual respect, harmony & balance over time.
This is no ordinary book! I found it immensely interesting, thought & practice provoking. I thoroughly recommend for anyone wishing to explore new territory in their yoga practice throughout the year!”
Lindy Roy, Viniyoga teacher, and Whole Woman practitioner.
"There is much that we all can learn from trees, nature and the cycle of the seasons. Aiming to re-unite male and female energies, Jilly Shipway brings this inspiration to the practice of yoga. Women are so often excluded from the inner secrets of spiritual practices. Learning to live again in harmony is something wonderful to aspire to.”
Jane Gifford, writer and photographer, author of The Celtic Wisdom of Trees
"This is a treasure of a book for anyone interested in the seasonal aspects of yoga. Through wisely-designed, original and engaging seasonal practices, Jilly Shipway invites us to listen and recognise Nature's own rhythms within ourselves, and to become healthier and happier human beings in the process."
Elena Sepúlveda, yoga teacher and founder of Yogagenda.