Coming on June 21st
International Yoga Day!
Practice Beyond the Posture
Meeting Yourself Through
The Mental Dialogue of the Original Hot Yoga
This is
Your Story
Welcome to The Practice Beyond the Posture. This book is a product of my humble invitation behind all my service and action; a book that invites you to the deeper parts of your self. Rooted in the structure of original hot yoga 26 and 2, this work reveals the mental dialogue that rises in each posture; not just as a challenge, but as an opportunity. It’s more than a book about yoga; it’s a mirror for your thoughts, your habits, your willpower.
This is not just a book to read; it’s one to feel through. You might begin to notice, as the book says, “that the whole class is a breathing exercise,” and realize how often you’ve been breathing without truly noticing. You may find yourself pausing mid-pose; or mid-life; to ask, “Who is here to practice?” By the end, you’ll have interrupted autopilot. You’ll understand what it means to “lock the knee” not just in the posture, but in your own presence of mind. Walk away more in charge of how you meet your experience, one breath at a time. By the end, you won’t just have practiced yoga—you’ll have practiced being fully, authentically you.
Student Reviews
"Every once in a while, a book doesn’t just describe the path but it walks it with you. This one breathes between the postures and watches you watch yourself. Vahid speaks from the furnace of the hot room, but also from something older, something closer to the silence behind all teachings. These pages are meditations disguised as paragraphs, and each chapter is a doorway back to your own awareness.
If you’ve ever felt the class breaking you down and building you back up, you’ll recognize yourself in these pages. As someone who has taught, owned, practiced, and bled for this yoga, I can say this: we’ve needed a book like this for a long time. Not to explain the postures; but to explain what happens to the mind inside them.
We say the mind is the real posture and this book stretches it. In the fire, in the fatigue, in the stillness, we find echoes of Rumi and Bikram, of discipline and disappearance. Read it slow. Or read it in one breath."
- Insel Metin, Hot Yoga Tysons Studio Owner
”Insightful and a great perspective on a well loved practice. Vahid gives a great viewpoint on the postures to improve your understanding of the practice.”
- Ky Ha, 2007 International Yoga Champion
"Beyond being an outstanding manual for hot yoga postures, this book delves deep into the inner mind of yoga, offering profound insights and holistic understanding. With its wisdom and guidance, it promises to transform your practice and perspective. Lock your knees, and remember to breathe."
- Dr. Albert Hunt
"As a yogi, clinical psychologist, and fellow traveler on the path of self-inquiry, I found this manuscript to be a soulful, wise, and deeply human exploration of the internal world we navigate on the mat. It weaves together the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of Original Hot Yoga in a way that feels both personal and universally relatable, like sharing reflections with a thoughtful friend after class.
Rather than telling you how practice should look, it invites you to listen inward, question old patterns, and meet yourself with breath as your anchor. Insightful, warm, and often humorous, this book serves as both a mirror and a companion for anyone exploring the connection between movement, mind, and growth."
- Laura Russell, PsyD, Yogi Student, Psychologist, Friend.
"Using the familiar arch of the 26 and 2 series, Practice Beyond the Posture gifts the yogi of all skill levels a playful roadmap for the lifelong pursuit of paying better attention. Through harnessing attention, Coskun encourages the reader to explore their own mind and its mental focus on the present moment, as well as their body and its signals.
Questions posed throughout the book ask readers to self-reflect, and offer even to the seasoned yogi many unavoidable checkpoints. By the time readers have reached the final breathing exercise everyone will have seriously taken stock of what assumptions - about both their identity and their body’s limits - have hindered them from deepening their practice.
- Michelle May-Curry, Ph.D