Is yoga a religion? Does yoga lead to the acquisition of psychic powers? Is a guru necessary? What is meditation? What is karma? What is pranayama? What is bliss? What exactly is kundalini? Can yoga cure obesity? What about addictions? Can yoga free us from the fear of death? In this revolutionary book on yoga, Dennis Littrell, who has practiced and studied yoga for nearly four decades, answers these and many other questions in a straight-forward, non-mystical manner as he takes the reader beyond hatha yoga, beyond yoga for health, beyond religious mysticism to the real yoga that has come down to us from the ancients.


My first yoga teacher was a cat. She was quite remarkable in her ability to stretch and meditate. Later I learned from Richard Hittleman, B.K.S. Iyengar, Georg Feuerstein, Swami Vishnudevananda, Ernest Wood, Theos Bernard. Then came wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Tao Te Ching, Zen, the Buddha’s Dhammapada, Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, the cosmos, and then from myself. My watchwords were practice and rationality, respect for the ancient wisdom tempered by science. Enlightenments came and went. Some stayed. Probably the most important of these was the realization that we never die, that we are always alive. I hope that readers of this book will learn the simple but stunning truth that we are always alive. The fear of death will dissipate like dark clouds chased by the sun and a sense of freedom and lightness will ensue, elevating the spirit.