Book excerpt: The ever-increasing popularity of Yoga and related practices makes a desktop reference like this indispensible. With over twenty-five hundred entries and extensive illustrations, it combines comprehensiveness with accessibility. The book is arranged and written in a manner that will inform rather than overwhelm the lay reader, while at the same time offering valuable references for the professional researcher and the historian of religion. This new edition includes information about contemporary Yoga teachers. It also provides fuller descriptions and illustrations of Yoga poses, and features additional cross references.