Energy Medicine Yoga

August 18, 2014
Walker combines two of her passions—yoga and energy medicine—in this detailed, generously illustrated, but sometimes inaccessible guide to balancing the body’s natural energy for better health and well-being. While most readers will be familiar with yoga, energy medicine is less widely understood. According to Walker, this field, which includes such techniques as acupuncture, tai chi, and Reiki, is based on the idea that the body is a “living system of energy” that must be balanced and maintained. Combining energy medicine and yoga, says Walker, is meant “to harness our own life force and both transform ourselves to our highest good and accept ourselves in our innate perfection.” Part I offers an eight-week introduction to concepts like radiant circuits, vayus, bandhas, meridians, electrics, and chakras. Walker stresses the importance of each, which may frustrate people looking to address specific ailments. It’s not clear, for instance, what distinguishes the triple-warmer spleen hug from the head-to-knee pose with spleen strengthening, or the hang with gait clearing from the forward bend with meridian trace. Part II includes further options for customizing the reader’s individual yoga regimen with energy work. Though people with extensive experience in yoga or energy medicine should be intrigued, general readers may be daunted even by Walker’s introductory program.

October 15, 2014

This book introduces a newcomer to the yoga world: energy medicine yoga (EMY). Drawing primarily upon the work of her teacher Donna Eden, Walker created a new style of yoga based on traditional Chinese medicine and tantra yoga (contrary to common Western perception, tantra is the practice of weaving spirituality into everyday life). EMY works with the energy systems of the body--meridians, radiant circuits, chakras, and others--and is quite a departure from traditional yoga. Walker suggests that by utilizing EMY, yogis can "work smarter, not harder." In fact, her suggested practice is just 20 minutes in length. Part 1 presents an eight-week program in which the author introduces the energy systems and gives techniques for manipulating them. Part 2 provides additional routines and advice for expanding and customizing a personal EMY practice. Although photographs show the author performing the actions, it's still somewhat difficult to understand what to do, and although no prior knowledge is needed to begin working with this introductory program, even seasoned practitioners may struggle with the esoteric concepts. VERDICT Yoga in the West often overemphasizes the physical aspects of the practice and this book offers an introduction to a more spiritual mode.--Julia A. Watson, Marywood Univ. Lib., Scranton, PA

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