Review: Rowga- The Yoga of Rowing by Jim Lindsey

 "The practice of rowga involves an exercise and a principle that bring body and mind together in a sanity that is irrevocable and indestructible—an invincible sanity. From the well of this well-being flows all good qualities—love, compassion, creativity, generosity, focus, effort, patience, peacefulness, strength, protection, leadership, discipline, equanimity, joy. The list goes on and on, because the well is so deep it can never run dry.
The exercise is rowing. With a real boat and water and sky overhead. A machine in a gym will not do, any more than the meal the snail brought—of chalk bread, cardboard chicken and alabaster fruit—would do for poor Pinocchio, the wooden puppet who wanted to be a real person..."






Book Information:

Genre: Non-fiction, health (yoga, exercise, rowing, meditation)
Version: eBook, hardcopy
Length: 53 pages, full color
Release date: estimated December 2013
 
Review: by Jessi

The book, Rowga, is a little different than what is typically featured on here because it's a non-fiction, exercise/health related book. I decided to review this because I am someone that enjoys living a healthy lifestyle and like reading about alternative exercises and nutrition.

Rowga, is the sport that combines rowing and yoga into one. I love the outdoors and I do enjoy sports such as kayaking and canoeing, as well as yoga. Hence, I thought this would be a very interesting book to review.

Starting out, this is a very well illustrated book. The pictures are in a beautiful color print, and there are numerous serene pictures throughout the book. It really allows your mind relax and enjoy the reading. What I really like is the balance between pictures and words. While I love reading, when it comes to health type books, I prefer not being bombarded by a ton of print. Lindsey does a nice job at making a 50/50 split between the text and pictures, with the text efficiently and effectively getting the point across. This is one of those cases where less is more, and I enjoyed it all!

The author Jim Lindsey does a great job at taking you through the mental, physical, and spiritual portions of Rowga. The book really illustrates how meditation during exercise can be beneficial. Meditation during exercise is something that many do not recognize as being possible/beneficial; which is where the yoga portion comes in. In yoga you are taught how to relax your mind and your body as you go through some pretty strenuous exercises. Add in something like rowing on a beautiful day, and you are really doing the same thing. This is a concept that could really be applied to any sport. When I run, I also meditate (anyone else runga??).

There is also a great element of philosophy in Rowga. Lindsey takes you through the phases of concept, benefits, philosophy, daily application, sensory, and continuation of Rowga.

All in all, I would highly recommend this to those interested in alternative exercise methods. I would even recommend this to someone looking for a coffee table display. This is a beautiful book that showcases a great number of ideas for mental relaxation - even without the rowing involved - and it is something that house guests and occupants would enjoy perusing from time to time.


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