Self-help ✦ Penny’s Take
Yoga
Mircea Eliade · 2009
82/100
👍 Worth It
Eliade's survey remains the single most comprehensive English-language account of yoga across its full historical and philosophical range, and the 2009 Princeton edition with David Gordon White's introduction is the right way to engage with it — updated framing acknowledges where later Indology has pushed back. Dense and demanding, yes, but serious practitioners and religious studies students will find it irreplaceable. Conservative Christian readers should know upfront that this is a comprehensive study of non-Christian traditions including Tantric practices.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
⚠ Parent note — our reviewers flagged: Covers Hindu, Buddhist, and Tantric traditions in depth — not suitable for children; conservative Christian readers should be aware of content scope. We still scored it 82; these are context for your family, not an automatic skip.
📚 Buy the book ↗📱 Read on Kindle ↗🎧 Listen on Audible ↗ affiliate links · support the site, never the verdict
As an Amazon Associate and Audible affiliate, Penny earns from qualifying purchases. This never affects the verdict — see our affiliate disclosure.
Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety62
substance92
craft80
originality85
accuracy82
hype78
age-fit78
human-eye84
Penny’s verdict82
Cross-pollinate