The Ten-Point Way to Health: Surya Namaskars. Edited with an Introduction by Louise Morgan. (THE FIRST INTROUCTION OF THE SUN SALUTATION TO BRITAIN AND THE WEST IN BOOK FORM. AND THE FIRST INTRODUCTION OF THE YOGA MAT.)

The Rajah of Aundh - Shrimant Balasahib Pandit Pratinidhi. Edited by Louise Morgan.

Published by J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London, 1938

About this Item

112 pages, 2 sets of 10 captioned plates, slightly worn around the extremities, spine a little creased, slight marks on the front endpapers and the rear paste-down, a very clean, sound and tight copy in very good condition. NOTES: "The precise origins of the Sun Salutation are uncertain, but the sequence was made popular in the early 20th century by Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi, the Rajah of Aundh, and adopted into yoga by Krishnamacharya in the Mysore Palace, where the Sun Salutation classes, not then considered to be yoga, were held next door to his yogasala" (Wikipedia). In 1936, the Rajah of Aundh was interviewed by Louise Morgan, a British journalist working in London, for an article in the News Chronicle published on July 6th, entitled "'Surya Namaskars' - The Way to Health". The considerable interest shown by readers led to further articles, accompanied by a series of pictures in the newspaper of the Rajah's son, Shrimant Appasahib, demonstrating the exercises. This appears to be the first introduction of the Sun Salutation to both Britain and the west. In 1938, the book "The Ten-Point Way to Health: Surya Namaskars", edited and with an introduction by Louise Morgan, was published. This copy is the first UK and first western edition of this book. It includes the 10 photographs of Shrimant Appasahib previously published in the News Chronicle, as well as 10 photographs "demonstrated by a learner, Miss Rita Brynteson". It was reprinted in the same year. The first UK edition is the fourth edition overall, previous editions being published in India in 1928, 1929 and 1931. There were a number of alterations in the subsequent 1938 reprint, the "fifth" edition according to the Introduction. The photographs which were included at the rear of the first 1938 edition were relocated to "between pages 12 and 13" of the reprint and diagrams were included "between pages 52 and 53" and repeated at the back of the book on pages that are "perforated for easy removal" with the suggestion that they "may be detached without damaging the book". In "Tracing the Path of Yoga" (2021), Stuart Ray Sarbacker states that, in editing the book, Morgan cut "significant sections . modifying the text to highlight the relevance of the practice for women, notably emphasizing beautification and the adaptation of the practice to European life." Sarbacker also notes that (on page 36) "Morgan appears to have inserted a recommendation of using a rubber mat on linoleum flooring, common in Britain, in order to prevent slippage, providing perhaps one of the earliest references to the use of a 'yoga mat'" In his article, "The History and Practice of Surya Namaskar" under the subtitle "The Westernisation of Surya Namaskar" on his website, erling.yoga, Erling McCracken states: "The Ten-Point Way to Health, Bhavanarao Pant Pratinidhi"s second book on Surya Namaskar, was published in England in 1938. He had no idea it would have such an impact on those who read it. The book, edited by journalist Louise Morgan, who interviewed the rajah two years earlier, and felt a connection with him, received a resounding response from readers. People wrote to Morgan about the miraculous benefits they received from practising the sun salutation sequence, which she first described in a 1936 article for the News Chronicle. These testimonies came from a diverse range of people, including doctors, schoolteachers, bankers, poets, chairwomen, writers, actors, and retired civil servants. Sun salutations became a part of many of these people's daily lives, and they credited the practice with improving their health and well-being in numerous ways. Louise Morgan did more than any other to influence and enable western women to embrace an exercise regime that was both Indian and male at the time and re-packaged it as one for women's health. The health benefits we bequeath to the practice today stem from her passionate belief and role in re-shaping the approach from the heartland of its.

Seller Inventory # 3505

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Ten-Point Way to Health: Surya Namaskars. Edited with an Introduction by Louise Morgan. (THE FIRST INTROUCTION OF THE SUN SALUTATION TO BRITAIN AND THE WEST IN BOOK FORM. AND THE FIRST INTRODUCTION OF THE YOGA MAT.)
• Publisher: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London
• Publication Date: 1938
• Binding: original paper covered Boards
• Edition: First UK Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: no dust-jacket as Published