Just Published on Amazon - "Yoga Scripts Illuminated" Series E-book & Paperback

Yoga Scripts Illuminated, 26 Postures and 2 Breathing Exercises - A Guide for Hot Yoga Teachers & Students by Melissa Shubha Abbott

Amazon Link to Paperback & E-Book

Attn: Yoga Teachers and Students

Have you ever wanted the exact script of what to say to teach 26 Postures and 2 Breathing Exercises? Learn to Teach and Transform Your Hatha Yoga Teaching Practice with the "Yoga Scripts Illuminated" series, a collection of guided yoga scripts designed to deepen your practice and enhance your spiritual growth by Melissa Shubha Abbott.

Each book in the series ( this is the first of an upcoming collection) offers a unique and powerful script to help you connect with your physical postures, alignment, and inner self, cultivate mindfulness, and find peace and balance. Whether you are a seasoned yoga practitioner, teacher, or beginner, these scripts will inspire and empower you to unlock the full potential of your Hatha Yoga Practice.

As a hot yoga teacher, I have witnessed the power of precise and intentional language in guiding students through their practice. They listen word by word to instructions, and this book provides a detailed script for each posture; this book aims to enhance your teaching skills and help you create a more immersive and impactful experience for your students. Whether you are a seasoned teacher looking to refine your cues or a new teacher seeking guidance on effectively leading a class, this book is designed to support you.

These are classic Hatha Yoga Postures from the northern Indian Nath Tradition of Hatha Yoga. We can trace the history of the Spine Strengthening Series to a compilation of Yoga Postures written about 550 years ago by a man named Swatmarama, “The Hatha Pradipka,” meaning a little light on Hatha Yoga. We can also trace some of the other postures, like the Spine Twist, to the Machendranāth or Matsendranāth, a Shaiva Tantra Hatha Yoga Guru who lived about a thousand years ago. History has told us that he and his wife, Koṅkanambā, were coequal, enlightened yoga teachers. Many myths and legends are associated with his origination of the Yoga Postures. One of the legends is that they had 12 children, and 6 became yoga teachers, which was the beginning of the Nāth Lineage. One of the main stories is that a fish swallowed him, and while he was in the belly of the fish, he heard Shiva talking to Shakti. Shiva was trying to teach Shakti the yoga postures, but she wasn’t interested; in this mythic story, Machendranath piped up that he was curious, and that’s where he learned the yoga postures we know as the various spine twists and fish poses.

We can trace the evolution and transmission to the West through nondual tantric swamis like Swami Vivekānanda (first coming to the West at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries), Yogananda Parahamsānanda whose lineage in India is through Shree Yuktãśwar, Lahiri Mahāśaya, and the elusive eternal Bābājī who came to the west in the 1920s. His brother Bishnu Ghosh and partner Buddha Bose carried on a Hatha Yogic tradition in Calcutta in the 20th century with many world tours demonstrating yoga techniques. Their base was the Yoga Training Center in Calcutta, today known as Kolkata, called The Ghosh Institute. Students of theirs brought the 26 postures ( as part of a longer tradition of 84 postures ) to the West in the 1970s.

Some scholars believe that Hatha yoga originated with the Nāth yogis, such as Gorakhnath and Machendranāth /Matsyendranath. However, British Indologist James Mallinson from the University of London argues that the true origins of Hatha yoga should be linked to the Daśhanāmi Sāmpradāya of Advaita Vedānta, the mystical figure of Dattātreya and the Rāmānandīs in Hinduism.

Whatever the origins of Hatha Yoga, the Western method of the 26 postures and two breathing exercises contain not only more modern standing poses (which are less than 200 years old and have a history of coming from gymnastics) but historically traditional Hatha Yoga postures originating in early Nāth and Rāmānandīs traditions.

We can trace the evolution and transmission to the West through nondual tantric swamis like Swami Vivekānanda (first coming to the West at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries), Yogananda Parahamsānanda whose lineage in India is through Shree Yuktãśwar, Lahiri Mahāśaya, and the elusive eternal Bābājī who came to the west in the 1920s. His brother Bishnu Ghosh and partner Buddha Bose carried on a Hatha Yogic tradition in Calcutta in the 20th century with many world tours demonstrating yoga techniques. Their base was the Yoga Training Center in Calcutta, today known as Kolkata, called The Ghosh Institute. Students of theirs brought the 26 postures ( as part of a longer tradition of 84 postures ) to the West in the 1970s.

Because it was so hot in India and they practiced Hatha Yoga in sweltering heat, they replicated a hot-style room in the west to mimic Indian conditions. There is also a hot yoga tradition in India of Yogis practicing Hatha Yoga and meditating surrounded by fires with pots of coals on their heads in an 18-year practice of ascetic yoga. So you see, Hot Yoga is not a new concept; it has centuries-old secrets and underground traditions of the Ascetic Yogi world.

The secret of hot yoga is that it not only purifies and refines the physical body. It also has a tradition of working on the practitioner’s mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects while having incredible physical therapeutic benefits. 26/2 strengthens muscles and promotes balance and flexibility, improving the Mind-Body Connection. It is known to enhance cardio function and build emotional and mental well-being. This sequence is good for immunity, endurance, sleep, preventing injury, and increasing the practitioner’s life force and balanced internal energies.

This practice has ancient roots and is prevalent in the modern Western world. I hope this script can further and vivify the practice in upcoming years for teachers, yoga center owners, retreat coordinators, yoga training coordinators, and students alike, bringing this ancient practice to all interested persons.

I teach the 26/2 Series at Blue Hot Yoga 3x a week in Swampscott, MA USA

and if you are in the are, Please come take my class. It is a radient path to longevity, health, body-spirit-mind, restoration, balance, and flexibility.

Upcoming Books in the Series will include: Yoga Scripts Illuminated for Vinyasa, Gentle Yoga, Restorative, and Power Style Yoga. Stay Tuned by Subscribing to “The Radiant Paths” on Substack

Amazon Link to buy e-book or paperback - please leave a review

Thank you for reading and sharing with your Yoga Teachers Friends & Students