Widely respected yoga teacher and author Richard Rosen draws on ancient yoga encyclopedias to explain how yoga was practiced before it became popular in the West. He compares the three main existing sources known to yoga scholars to describe how complex and rich the practice of yoga once was. It included systematic teachings on personal hygiene, good health, and good relationships, and other practices of yoga that went far beyond just the physical postures.

Each section of the book offers a guided practice session of ancient poses and breathing techniques to enable readers to connect to the roots of their yoga and to offer a framework from which to understand the sequences they use in their regular sessions.