My First 3 Yoga Books
We know I am a Yoga lover but long before I ever went to a Yoga class I was a bookworm! In this blog I share three books on yoga and meditation that got me started.
We know I am a Yoga lover but long before I ever went to a Yoga class I was a bookworm!
I actually first encountered Yoga and Pilates through books and DVDs I hired from my local library as a 14 year old, as I had heard both these activities were helpful for horse riding and rock climbing.
I would read these books in my room and do Yoga and Pilates sequences and breath exercises on my bedroom floor. Totally unknowing that at 21 I would attend my first classes and by 22 be teaching to others!
While I can’t really recall what those early library books on Yoga I borrowed were called, I can share with you three of the first books I purchased in my return to Yoga at 21. Here they are…
The Radiance Sutras by Lorin Roche
The Radiance Sutras is a contemporary interpretation of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra. It contains an English interpretation of the 162 versus, broken into bite sized pieced, followed by 112 meditation practices from the verses.
I return to this book time and time again. Initially I worked through it slowly, just a verse or practice a day. Then I would keep it next to my bed and flick open to a page to take it in for a second time. I think I am due to return to it cover to cover now though. I’m going to pop it on the coffee table to read a verse between my morning meditation and Yoga.
If you like Yin Yoga, Meditation and poetry you will love The Radiance Sutras.
Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Wherever You Go There You Are is all about Meditation and Mindfulness in your daily life. You don’t need to be a Yoga Teacher or on retreat to Meditate daily! While in no way did he invent meditation or mindfulness, he did bring it into the mainstream through research and the development of his Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course (MBSR) at the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre in the 1970s.
I remember I was reading this book while on my Yoga teacher training in 2014 and it being really helpful to my mental state during the challenge of my teacher training and some of the transitions I was working through at the time. Later in 2017 I took the 8 week MBSR Course which helped me learn more about the practice.
If you would like an introduction to Mindfulness and Meditation, or need to bring more presence and less pain into your life, you will get a lot out of Wherever You Go There You are.
Light on Pranayama - BSK Iyengar
Light on Pranayama is a technical book on Pranayama. Pranayama is simply the ‘rhythmic control of breath’ (Iyengar 2013 p. 320), often referred to as breath-work or sometimes breath exercises in Yoga classes. Whether you realise it or not, each time you step onto your Yoga mat with me you work through a type of Pranayama.
I will admit here, this is one of the three books that I have not yet read cover to cover (though I currently am), over the years I have dipped in and out of this one to learn more about various Pranayama in conjunction with other resources.
If you would like to learn more about Pranayama and how you can incorporate into a home practice you might like to pick up a copy. of Light on Pranayama.
Click on any of the images to take you through to their Booktopia Page.
I like to support my local bookstore (including second hand) when I can but often Yoga books aren’t stocked.
Attention Bookworms!
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