Foreword

During the past decade I have been both a student and a teacher of Yoga. The Panchatattva Way of Yoga, which Swami Ambikananda sets out in this book, has brought about profound healing and transformation within both myself and my students. It assists us in better understanding ourselves, other people and our relationships with them. In helping to liberate the body from the repressed emotions which hold muscles in chronic tension, it makes it possible to experience oneself in a different way, challenging the images one has of oneself and of the world.

The Panchatattva method of teaching Yoga postures (asanas) trains us in direct experience and perception, thereby developing not only our physical bodies but our consciousness - integrating body and mind. Students are taught to listen to and observe the body, rather than trying to force or control it towards reaching a goal. This focus on the process rather than the goal makes Hatha Yoga accessible to students of all ages and abilities, not only those who are young, flexible or fit. My students include people in their seventies and eighties as well as people with multiple sclerosis and other disabilities. Students of the Panchatattva Way of Yoga are not presented with models of perfection to live up to, but are encouraged to discover the perfection within themselves.