Books by Mark Stephens

Yoga Sequencing: Designing Transformative Yoga Classes presents the essential principles and methods for planning and sequencing yoga classes. Addressing one of the most popular topics in the yoga profession, this book offers sixty-seven model sequences of yoga poses (asanas) that cover the broad range of yoga student experience, including multiple sequences for beginning, intermediate, and advanced students; yoga for kids, teens, women across the life cycle, and seniors; classes to relieve depression and anxiety; and sequences for each of the major chakras and ayurvedic constitutions. Each sequence provides guidance for teaching the different breathing (pranayama) and meditation techniques that give yoga its transformative power. Enhanced with over 2,000 instructional photos and an elaborate guide to the constituent elements of over 150 yoga asanas, the book draws equally from ancient yoga philosophy and contemporary insights into functional anatomy, biomechanics, and kinesiology. The nuanced interrelationships among asanas within and between the seven asana families are explored and the anatomy of opening and stabilizing each pose is explained for sequences designed around specific needs and intentions. A comprehensive appendix includes a glossary of yoga-related terms, an alphabetical asana index with thumbnail photographs of each asana, a class planning worksheet, representative sequences from several popular styles of hatha yoga, and a list of resources for further exploring sequencing and the larger practice of teaching yoga.

From the best-selling author of Teaching Yoga, Yoga Sequencing, and Yoga Adjustments comes this essential resource for learning how to adapt yoga practices to best accommodate and heal a wide array of common injuries and ailments. Surveying historical writings on yoga, ayurveda, and scientific medical approaches to health and healing, Mark Stephens distills this received wisdom of ancient and modern practices for more insightful and practical application in today’s world. He applies these insights to healing musculoskeletal injuries; promoting a healthy reproductive system; and addressing mental, emotional, and behavioral difficulties. With each health condition, Stephens applies yoga to the most recent evidence-based practices for healing, offering an integral place for yoga in integrative health practices. Yoga Therapy is a practical manual with a systematic approach of considering the nature of each health condition and the specific asanas, pranayamas, and meditations most helpful in healing it. Rather than adopting a narrow medical model of healing as the reduction or elimination of symptoms, Stephens invites yoga theapists, teachers and students to relate to health as a continuous, dynamic process of self-care in which the qualities of personal experience and social connectivity matter. He illustrates that how we live our lives—including our emotional states, nutrition, sleep, relationships, and sense of purpose—is reflected in our sense of balance (or imbalance) and well-being (or disease). Comprehensive, accessible, and informed by Mark Stephens’ decades of deep study, practice, and teaching, this will become an indispensable reference.

Learn simple yoga techniques--poses, meditations, and breathwork--to sleep better and longer, from master yoga teacher trainer and author, Mark StephensAlthough modern science has unraveled some of the mysteries of our sleeping, dreaming, and waking states and age-old yoga practices are helping us enjoy better sleep, clearer minds, and healthier bodies, over 65 percent of U.S. adults are still sleep deprived. Sleep deprivation causes and aggravates ailments like stress, heart conditions, high blood pressure, obesity, and depression. Master yoga teacher, trainer, and best-selling author Mark Stephens provides easy-to-do, effective yoga activities--including postural sequences, breathing exercises, and meditation practices--for better sleep, no matter your age. He integrates the ancient wisdom of yoga with the insights of modern neuroscience and psychology to offer practical age- and condition-specific tools and sequences for improving sleep naturally and without drugs.

The quintessential guide to yoga assisting and hands-on teaching, Yoga Adjustments introduces the art and practice of providing yoga assists to yoga students. Addressing one of the most important topics in the yoga field, expert yoga instructor and best-selling author Mark Stephens covers the philosophy of yoga practice, the sensibilities of touch in teaching yoga and improving alignment, the seven principles of hands-on yoga teaching, and the twenty-five most effective methods of tactile cueing. An invaluable resource for all yoga teachers, teacher trainers, and serious yoga students, this book includes a foreword by yoga star Shiva Rea as well as over 850 unique instructional photos and explanatory captions demonstrating precise ways of guiding a variety of flowing sequences.Opening with an in-depth discussion of the philosophy of yoga assisting, Part I--Foundations describes the methods and techniques of giving yoga assistance, with detailed discussions of all of the elements of yoga assisting including communicating with students, qualities of touch, the five basic steps of providing hands-on cues, hands-on positioning and stance. Part II--Applications demonstrates how to assist students in each of over 100 postures in the seven families of asanas (poses). Each chapter begins with background on an asana family and close consideration of its foundation asana. Each asana is presented in a two-page spread with photos that show how to give students effective guidance and support. Part III--Evolution offers thoughts on the further development of yoga in the twenty-first century.

Learn to use mindful self-hypnosis to overcome negative thinking and get the most out of your life.

A quintessential resource for yoga teachers to master the art and practice of adjustments, assists, and alignments--based on Stephens' best-selling Yoga Adjustments.This deck empowers yoga teachers and trainers to understand the principles of hands-on yoga teaching and apply the most effective methods of tactile cueing to improve alignment, support stable foundations, and honor safe biomechanics. Focusing specifically on teaching effective alignments and safe adjustments, it includes 105 full-color yoga cards with instructional photos, color-coded by type of posture. An accompanying booklet provides detailed explanations of how to assist students in a variety of poses so users are equipped with practical guidance for in-class adjustments. The cards are a perfect companion for new teachers to use as flash cards, experienced teachers who need to make adjustments on the fly, and home practitioners with a deep personal practice.

Social rented housing in Britain is undergoing radical reform - often inspired by European experiences. This timely report provides a comparative analysis of the social rented sector in seven European countries. Combined with analysis of labour market and social security systems, it challenges the assumptions behind the British reform agenda.