There are a lot of yoga books out there today. Some of fun, some are informative, others are very practical, while others are inspirational. One aspiring yogi wants to know which books can help take a practice to the next level, both on and off the mat. Excellent question!
I built an Amazon store filled with books that I highly recommend. I've read everything that I've included in the store and my bookshelves are overflowing! You can check out the store here.
In the interest of answering this excellent question, I'll include a list of my favorites. By no means is this an exhaustive list, but in my opinion, if offers up a good foundation for anyone interested in studying yoga.
I'd like to kick off the list with what I think is the most important book for the yogi -- Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. There are many translations out there. I've read a few, but I must say that taking a Yoga Sutra study course has been invaluable. A live study course delves deep into the sutras and adds a clarity that you might miss if you were reading on your own. I highly recommend investing in a course if you can.
There are many other ancient texts (filled with practical applications of yoga) of which my favorites are:
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Yoga Rahasya
If you'd like to dive a bit deeper into yoga philosophy, I recommend The Bhagavad Gita.
And now in no particular order are some other treasures that are well-worth a read to expand your yoga world:
The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice
The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga
Yoga for Wellness
Yoga for Transformation
Kripalu Yoga: A Guide to Practice On and Off the Mat
Hatha Yoga: The Hidden Language, Symbols, Secrets, and Metaphors
The Inner Life of Asanas
Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness
Light on Life
Light on Yoga
Yoga and the Quest for the True Self
The Yoga of Sound
Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life
Bringing Yoga to Life
The 8 Human Talents
Self-Awakening Yoga
Yoga as Medicine
Emotional Yoga: How the Body Can Heal the Mind
If you're up to something a bit more in-depth, I recommend A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya.
As I said before -- this list isn't exhaustive, but it's enough to get your yoga library started. Happy reading!
Namaste!
I built an Amazon store filled with books that I highly recommend. I've read everything that I've included in the store and my bookshelves are overflowing! You can check out the store here.
In the interest of answering this excellent question, I'll include a list of my favorites. By no means is this an exhaustive list, but in my opinion, if offers up a good foundation for anyone interested in studying yoga.
I'd like to kick off the list with what I think is the most important book for the yogi -- Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. There are many translations out there. I've read a few, but I must say that taking a Yoga Sutra study course has been invaluable. A live study course delves deep into the sutras and adds a clarity that you might miss if you were reading on your own. I highly recommend investing in a course if you can.
There are many other ancient texts (filled with practical applications of yoga) of which my favorites are:
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Yoga Rahasya
If you'd like to dive a bit deeper into yoga philosophy, I recommend The Bhagavad Gita.
And now in no particular order are some other treasures that are well-worth a read to expand your yoga world:
The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice
The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga
Yoga for Wellness
Yoga for Transformation
Kripalu Yoga: A Guide to Practice On and Off the Mat
Hatha Yoga: The Hidden Language, Symbols, Secrets, and Metaphors
The Inner Life of Asanas
Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness
Light on Life
Light on Yoga
Yoga and the Quest for the True Self
The Yoga of Sound
Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life
Bringing Yoga to Life
The 8 Human Talents
Self-Awakening Yoga
Yoga as Medicine
Emotional Yoga: How the Body Can Heal the Mind
If you're up to something a bit more in-depth, I recommend A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya.
As I said before -- this list isn't exhaustive, but it's enough to get your yoga library started. Happy reading!
Namaste!
,
Great post! LOOOOve the books you mentioned, especially the 8 human talents and the Kripalu book.
Posted by: Teal Marie Chimblo | October 21, 2008 at 04:31 PM
I totally agree Linda. To keep the list to a reasonable minimum, I only included one of her books. But I recommend them ALL!
Posted by: Diane Cesa | October 21, 2008 at 03:50 PM
Please let me know if you are interested at my translation of Yoga Sutras and also a commentary on Gita regarding Kriya yoga. These may be view the URL's below but I could arrange for a complimentary copy.
http://www.lulu.com/content/2112537
https://www.createspace.com/Customer/EStore.do;jsessionid=023C058B07EF7D12EE731AD01426B0A4.cspworker00?id=3348186.
Michael B.
Posted by: Michael Beloved | October 17, 2008 at 02:53 PM
I would also say anything by Donna Farhi.
Posted by: Linda | October 17, 2008 at 12:14 AM