Introduction

This chapter – Introduction – describes the focus of the book and the principal concepts that underlie the perspectives of the authors. It distinguishes between descriptive and prescriptive methodologies and affirms the centrality of the value of practice in the yoga tradition. Acknowledging this, readers are encouraged to engage in the embedded and embodied “research” of somatic experimentation – to test theories and hypotheses in a practice called critical acceptance. This focus on critical thinking and experimentation is presented as foundational to the teaching profession and for the personal practice through which teachers derive their instruction for students. The content of each chapter is summarised and the inclusion of exercises at the end of each chapter noted.