I started doing yoga a while ago and focused mostly on flexibility and body strength. Yoga is more than a sport though and this helped add new perspectives and enhance my practice. Would recommend.

I have recently gotten into yoga seriously and this book has proved very helpful. Though it's not a book about yoga as much as how to rewire your brain into more positive thinking, it goes hand-in-hand with your practice. I do find myself thinking of the tips in this book when I am doing my routines and forcing my thoughts into a different place when my mind tries to wander into the negative. The book is easy to read and has helpful tips and interesting exercises. I recommend this to anyone that is interested in yoga and creating a more peaceful mind.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

If you are interested in yoga you will enjoy this book. I felt it helped me find a deeper purpose in my yoga practice and helped my meditation.

I received this galley from NetGalley.

The different exercises utilized this are interesting and it was mostly informative although I felt that it was very dense. I thought it was a good book for beginners of mindfulness and there was a good approach for the philosophy of yoga.

This wasn’t the most interesting read but it had some great points and thoughts about personal practices

This books begins to explore some of the fundamental philosophies of yoga with the goal of improving positivity and mindfulness with respect to body image. The four step process, while simple, is helpful in attacking negative self-talk that prohibits from achieving our full potential. The examples are helpful in writing and processing the negative narrative.

'Body image is a perception and not fact.' Most everyone, especially women, can remember at least one thing that was said to them by another that was believed, internalized, and perhaps came to affect their self image in a destructive way. Next time you're with a group of friends, listen for how often negative self-talk enters into the conversation.

'Change your language to heal your relationship with your body.' This book examines words, deeply held societal ideals and assumptions and how they affect the mind, body and spirit. Some of these words come from friends and family, some come from the media, which pushes a false ideal of beauty.

Take a step in the direction of weeding out those harmful thoughts and images by examining them through workbook questions and journaling. Then begin to set goals and intentions for a new healthier, body mindful way of living, such as: 'My intention is to find the courage to try new things.' What a great way to start out the new year! There are also a number of yoga poses presented to encourage self-love and nurturing of the body.

'Never underestimate the power of the words we choose and use. We wield power. Let's choose our words consciously and wisely. Let's wield our words as swords of light and good.'

'Body mindfulness is to purposely choose words that nurture self-validation and affirm your body in self-talk and conversations with others.'

This is a book that I think it will be beneficial to return to frequently to perhaps rework the exercises as thoughts arise and refresh the spirit.

I received an arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for my honest review. I think it is an important read to achieve self-acceptance in a society with so much body-shaming.

I want to thank the publisher, Llewelyn worldwide LTD and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book written by Robert Butera and Jennifer Kreatsoulas is focuses on how language affects our perception of our body image and lead us through a process of body acceptance and positive body narratives.

I read this book during a transatlantic flight. I was hooked in from the beginning and then I started to get bored a bit. I realized that the writing was becoming quite repetitive. I wanted to commit to the authors and kept on reading and I got hooked again. While reading I could really feel the passion of the authors and their mission to impart their message to us the reader. This is evident in the fact that each chapter had a summary at the end to help recap the things learned. I found them very helpful especially if you are already familiar with the info in that chapter you could just read the summary and move on.

The authors introduce us to the “The Butera Method Transformation”, which is a 4 step method that adapts yoga philosophy for modern needs. The 4 steps are listen, learn, love and live. I could really relate to some of the messages and had quite a few aha moments. One of them was how we complement others on their outer appearance and not on their inner. And by commenting on their outer appearances, our language may help perpetuate perceptions of their body image and therefore contribute to disempowering body narratives. I also realized that my father was right when he told me not to comment on friend”s outer appearances as it may implie negativity, such as only today she was wearing a beautiful dress as I did not comment on each outfit everyday.

The authors lead us through the Butera Method Transformation to journaling exercises, meditation and yoga poses.

I really like this book, in my opinion, this book is about body language and positive body narratives but I found the wisdom applicable to life in general and self improvement in other facets of our lives.

I highly recommend this book!

The book focuses on being aware of the way you treat your body especially how you speak to it. The authors discuss the influences of fashion, food, fitness and social media on how we perceive and treat ourselves.

I liked the book but found it a little repetitive. The message was simple but passed through so many layers that it lost some of the meaning. Maybe it's because I already focus a lot on body positivity. For someone completely new to the area, it may be a good option.

I received a free copy from NetGalley.

This is a beautifully written book that will make you think deeply about your perceptions of your body and even others. I highly recommend reading this book.

Early in the book, when the authors are sharing their stories and reasons for writing this book, Jennifer Kreatsoulas states that while experimenting with how to teach yoga to students with eating disorders, she learned how to stop “asking others to prove themselves through their bodies.” That phrase really stuck with me. And that’s what this book is about—examining how the language we use affects how we feel about our bodies.

I liked the authors’ approach of combining yoga with reflection upon and changes in language use to help readers explore and heal their relationship with their body. I am already thinking about all of the other ways the techniques in this book could be used for personal growth and healing. I think this book could potentially be life-changing for many people, but it really requires a lot of time and effort if you want to get maximum benefit. Be prepared for a lot of contemplation and journaling!

Robert Butera presented some interesting background information on yoga education that made me curious to learn more. Other highlights of the book for me included the section on listing body mindful goals (e.g., to have more energy, to improve health) and identifying the intention underlying those goals (e.g., to cultivate joy, to experience more freedom). I found that work on intention very powerful. Chapter 6, discussing Morality Language and Food, was also quite powerful for me. And I liked the yoga practices introduced in Chapter 11, which included visual and auditory practices and mantras, affirmation, and prayers as well as poses. Their Body Mindful Yoga Pose Practice gave me new ways to experience the asanas (and the poses are clearly explained with helpful illustrations).

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in language use, yoga, and personal growth.

I was provided an ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review. Because I have not seen the final published version, I cannot comment on the final editing and formatting.

If ever I wanted to hug an author (or two!), it's now. I absolutely devoured this book and then read it a second time. As a yogi, I couldn't wait to read this book. My hope, when starting the first page, was to find some ways to bring some healing to my mat; healing for my heart, my spirit. Body Mindful Yoga most definitely brought that to me, and also left me feeling like I'd made two new heart-connections in Robert and Jennifer. A definite recommend; one that I will read again and again.

This is a great book about learning to be comfortable with your body. Through explanations, anecdotes, and questions, the authors guide the reader in learning about their body beliefs. I love that this book incorporates the philosophy of yoga. It is not, however, a yoga book that offers poses, so if that's what you want choose a different title. This book is about thought and changing belief systems. It is well written and easy to read.

I received a complimentary ARC copy of Body Mindful Yoga
Create a Powerful and Affirming Relationship with Your Body
by Robert Butera & Jennifer Kreatsoulas from NetGalley and Llewellyn Worldwide in order to read and give an honest review.

Body Mindful Yoga by Robert Butera and Jennifer Kreatsoulas isn’t a book of yoga poses, although there is a section that walks you through some, this is so much more. This is a book that promotes deep thought and self-introspection to help you work through what holds you back and learn that what we say to ourselves matters more than what anyone else says.  Body Mindful Yoga helps you uncover the power of words in general, everything can add to our internal dialogue from what we read, hear and even marketing slogans, changing what we tell ourselves about our own bodies.  

With the use of clever and well-designed exercises in each section, Body Mindful Yoga promotes journaling to uncover your deepest negative thoughts and helps us work through changing our harmful often overwhelmingly negative internal dialogue. The authors outline Butera’s method which involves four processes; Listen, Learn, Love, and Live. Each section offers hands-on exercises and practices designed to make the most of each lesson.  Perfect for those who are both experienced or novice develop a meaningful yoga practice which goes deeper and is a much more holistic approach than just going through asanas. 

When I was twelve, I started my first diet as I struggled to get my 5’9” frame “model thin” ...never happened. I spent years living off of diet tab and OTC pills, starving myself, over-exercising and going as far as having an eating disorder for years until I realized how unhealthy I was becoming.  Nearing my 50’s now, I definitely have a much better outlook about myself but from time to time if I am honest with myself, I still find myself that twelve-year-old longing to live up to an ideal. While reading this book, I began to see that I still hold on to a bit of that negative body image. This book helped me re-examine some of those internal dialogues I thought were long buried and helped me constructively work on changing them.  After years of health issues which included weight gain, I began taking dieting and exercise seriously again this year but one thing I discovered was for the most part, that I no longer want to be model thin I just want to feel healthy. After reading Body Mindful Yoga I’ve begun putting into practice some of the suggestions given by the authors and although a work in progress I do feel encouraged.  

I wholeheartedly recommend that you read this book if you are looking to make positive changes in your life and develop a better self-image through an all-encompassing yoga practice.

A combination with of mindfulness and yoga. It looks at how words can affect people and helps you learn to focus and center yourself.

My thanks to Netgalley, Llewellyn Publications, Robert Butera and Jennifer Kreatsoulas for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advanced copy.

In today’s swell of the wellness arena, being mindful is what it is all about. You can’t get any buzzier of a buzz word than mindfulness. Yoga has reached an all time high in popularity and so many people are chanting mantras while living their best life, while being body positive, do we need one more book? Needless to say, I was a little hesitant to read “Body Mindful Yoga”. What is mindful Yoga? But body image continues to be a difficult subject for me to come to terms with, I at least wanted to know what it was all about.

Truth be told, I am one of the masses who is embracing mindfulness and yoga has become a steady diet (along with healthy food - ugh!) It has helped me get through the ordeal of late stage cancer and cope living with chronic pain. But I have taken enough courses, read enough books to know that there are a great many respected authors who have something to impart to this world, and others who want to jump on the bandwagon and sell you the snake oil.

This book is a bit of a mixed bag for me. As I made my way deeper into the book, I thought it got better and I definitely have a few take aways that I can incorporate into my daily practice. First, know that this is not a typical yoga book with poses and pictures and instructions on how to do each pose. The author is on a mission to “radically alter the way we see and value ourselves as well as the way we view, evaluate, and relate to others and the world at large. Body Mindful Yoga is “part of a movement rooted in social justice and anti-oppression.” The author wants you to throw out the negative talk we internalize regarding our bodies and reframe our “body narrative”. They break it down into four steps: Listen, Learn, Love, and Live.

The beginning third really put me off and I though this would be a bust. It is mostly hype trying to convince you how amazing this ideology is. Once they got into the actual methodology I found that there are some excellent journalling exercises that, I think, will really help me become more aware of the language I use towards my body image and awareness is really what mindfulness is all about. They cover finding out where these messages come from, your attitude towards fitness, food, social media and fashion. These journal exercises are something that I think I will revisit over and over again. They also touch on using mantras or affirmations and there are 16 yoga poses that they highlight. They reframe these basic poses demonstrating how to apply the mindful part of what you just learned and add some in depth information that I found very useful.

Although heavy handed at times, I found this had something to offer. In the current culture, body image is a problem for many people and any help to reframe your thoughts in a positive light, I welcome. Applying the mindful component with yoga made the whole philosophy full circle and I think there is something for everyone in this book.

I did not know what to expect from this book. In the end, it is more of a theoretical and mindset focused book than a yoga book as we now expect poses and such when we hear about yoga. In the end, as mindset is so important for well-being, I really enjoyed reading about it through this book.

I thought this was a good book for someone looking to learn more about mindfulness and the power of perception. The book provides easy to understand concepts, metaphors, and advice for becoming more in tune with ones self.

One of my favorite lines was at the very beginning and says " Take a moment to fully take in the significance of these words: body image is a perception and not fact". I think so many need to read and re-read this statement.

I appreciated how each chapter gave a summary or recap of what was just discussed, and that there were exercises to put the teachings into practice. I also liked the basic yoga poses at the end. As someone who practices, these are powerful poses and provide a lot of grounding and other benefits.

An interesting new take on yoga and posy positivity. This book isn’t full of asanas or modifications. Instead it’s about using the principles of yoga to love yourself. Starting with the language we use to describe our bodies and to speak to others about theirs, the authors describe how to learn to love yourself.

Body Mindful Yoga by Robert Butera and Jennifer Kreatsoulas is an insightful guide for readers who want to take a deeper look at themselves and improve. The book is split up into different sections Listen, Learn, Love and Live. It is also filled with in-journal exercises to help the readers really identify how they view themselves. It really focuses on language and negative body image and how that affects us mentally but also socially and within our own yoga practice.

"The problem is, however, that when we habitually rely on others to validate our worth, we never truly learn how to validate ourselves. As a result, we become enmeshed in guilt, shame, and comparison as we constantly strive to arrive at an ideal." -Body Mindful Yoga, Introduction

After reading this book, I never truly realized how negative my own personal body image was. This book had me write down my personal responses to exercises in a journal and then had me go back and examine them. Here, I was able to see critical and harsh words on how I viewed my looks, body weight goals, and how I view food and eating habits. Not only this, but these negative thoughts not only control my negative body image but also makes an impact on how I treat others, how I interact socially and how it can have a negative impact on my yoga practice.

I thought this book to be extremely powerful and encouraging. This book is meant for anyone who is willing to make positive changes in their life as a whole. Not only does this book have exercises and yoga sequences but it provides encouraging and positive tips to make changes in our lives. I also love how this book breaks down social fads and language. I really enjoyed everything about this book and it will provide me with decisive changes in my daily life. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars!!

Thank you, NetGalley for a copy of this book!