Here are 100 books that Yoga Body fans have personally recommended if you like
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I’ve lived with anxiety for most of my life. Whether it’s been with emetophobia (a phobia of vomit) or an intense bout of panic attacks, I know the story well. Now, as a psychologist, I’ve seen up close what works and what doesn’t. I love helping my clients and the audiences that I work with learn how to accept their anxiety, rather than try to make it go away. This is often counterintuitive at first but we can still live an empowered life, even with the anxiety present. When we do this, we’ve unlocked a whole new level of liberation where we can show up fully, worries and all.
This book is a staple in the field of psychology and mental health and for very good reason.
So many of us struggle with being kind to our mind and we worry that we’ll truly fall apart if we are compassionate to ourselves. Dr. Neff brings the evidence-backed research to prove that self-compassion is the antidote to anxiety and it has incredibly restorative potential to help us not only get back to baseline, but truly feel better.
THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION WITH A NEW FOREWORD FROM KRISTIN NEFF
'Kristin Neff offers practical, wise guidance on the path of emotional healing and deep inner transformation.' Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance
Kristin Neff PhD, is a professor in educational psychology, and the world's expert on self-compassion. A pioneer who established self-compassion as a field of study, Kristin offers a powerful solution for combating negativity and insecurity - the symptoms of living in a high-pressure world.
Through tried and tested exercises and audio downloads, readers learn the 3 core components that will help to heal destructive emotional patterns…
My passion for teaching yoga stems from over a decade as a yoga teacher. I’ve taught a variety of populations including college athletes, aging practitioners, and prenatal and postpartum moms and people. I’ve written two books on yoga; one is about how we can use yoga as we age healthily and the other is a helpful guide for yoga teachers who would like to incorporate philosophical theming in their classes. I know what it means to feel stuck in a rut as a yoga teacher, and I have so often counted on these well-loved books to help me find my way out of that rut and into inspired teaching.
Desikachar’s clear wisdom inThe Heart of Yoga can’t be understated. Returning to this book reminds me of why I love yoga, why I teach yoga, and why I do yoga. Much of the value of this book is in Desikachar’s simple prose and exposition regarding yoga philosophy. He ends many chapters with a Q & A section, answering questions he anticipates readers will have. And while there are translations in abundance of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Desikachar’s translations have real-world applicability. His approach to yoga helps us understand why the practice has endured for so many years—and it reminds yoga teachers that bringing yoga to our students is an undertaking of immense importance.
Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who lived to be over 100 years old, was one of the greatest yogis of the modern era. Elements of Krishnamacharya's teaching have become well known around the world through the work of B. K. S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and Indra Devi, who all studied with Krishnamacharya. Krishnamacharya's son T. K. V. Desikachar lived and studied with his father all his life and now teaches the full spectrum of Krishnamacharya's yoga. Desikachar has based his method on Krishnamacharya's fundamental concept of viniyoga, which maintains that practices must be continually adapted to the individual's changing needs to achieve…
My passion for teaching yoga stems from over a decade as a yoga teacher. I’ve taught a variety of populations including college athletes, aging practitioners, and prenatal and postpartum moms and people. I’ve written two books on yoga; one is about how we can use yoga as we age healthily and the other is a helpful guide for yoga teachers who would like to incorporate philosophical theming in their classes. I know what it means to feel stuck in a rut as a yoga teacher, and I have so often counted on these well-loved books to help me find my way out of that rut and into inspired teaching.
If you haven’t read The Professional Yoga Teacher’s Handbook, you need to. This book covers so many aspects of teaching that otherwise get overlooked in yoga teaching texts. Of course, I’m deeply biased, as Sage is my mentor and co-writer! But I promise my bias doesn’t undermine the value of this book. Sage’s observations are honest and clear. She reminds readers that being a yoga teacher is about so much more than just knowing how to teach asana. It’s about having a clear intention, thinking financially (something yoga teachers don’t always do!), and doing the work to discover the yoga teacher you truly want to be.
There's so much more to teaching yoga than doing yoga - from building a relationship with a studio (or opening your own) to navigating client relationships, publicising classes, and avoiding burnout. Sage Rountree has been training yoga teachers for over a decade, and she's heard the same concerns over and over: How can I help my students best? How can I keep my teaching fresh? How can I make smart choices around my schedule, my money, and the next steps in my career?
The Professional Yoga Teacher's Handbook speaks directly to these concerns in a warm, friendly voice - boosting…
My passion for teaching yoga stems from over a decade as a yoga teacher. I’ve taught a variety of populations including college athletes, aging practitioners, and prenatal and postpartum moms and people. I’ve written two books on yoga; one is about how we can use yoga as we age healthily and the other is a helpful guide for yoga teachers who would like to incorporate philosophical theming in their classes. I know what it means to feel stuck in a rut as a yoga teacher, and I have so often counted on these well-loved books to help me find my way out of that rut and into inspired teaching.
Harvey chooses from a variety of faith traditions (including Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Ancient Greek thought) to share mystical and spiritual passages from sacred texts. His approach is not to explain the meaning as he sees it, but to offer the selections for readers to immerse themselves in the beautiful, historical writings without too much direction. This book is a source of renewal for me. My copy is dog-eared and highlighted. There is writing in the margins and post-its on the pages. I find the words of the mystics, including Rumi, Buddha, and saints like Francis of Assisi as a balm to my weary soul. More than once, sections of this book have been read aloud in my yoga classes.
From the celebrated scholar and lecturer Andrew Harvey, a fascinating and inspiring introduction to the essential texts and themes of the great mystics.
Not merely a feast of the greatest and wisest mystical revelations, 'The Essential Mystics' i
I personally have struggled with weight, blood sugar, and blood pressure challenges while I was in my teens and twenties. It was through functional medicine and many of the strategies I share in my book that I was able to create a positive shift in my own health and support the health of my clients. In my education and subsequent research, the Vagus nerve always stuck out to me as a unique and underrepresented component of the health journey. My curiosity regarding human anatomy and physiology led me to this important and missing answer: enabling our bodies to enter a healing state and initiate the recovery of our health.
A major part of upgrading your health involves upgrading your thinking, and that is what I learned from this book. My eyes were opened to common thought patterns that were holding me back and provided significant boosts to my mindset and ability to remain objective in the face of stress and emotion.
The practice of what is commonly known as hatha yoga is but one of eight branches of the body of knowledge that is yoga. Yoga is a sophisticated system of self-empowerment that is capable of harnessing and activating inner energies in such a way that your body and mind function at their optimal capacity. It is a means to create inner situations exactly the way you want them, turning you into the architect of your own joy. A yogi lives life in this expansive state, and in this transformative book Sadhguru tells the story of his own awakening from a…
I am a biologist, a writer, and a teacher. I like knowing how the human body works but what I really like is knowing why it works the way it does. Those explanations lie deep in our past and I use my broad biological background to dig up the answers in scientific journals. Then I take those articles and figure out how to describe them to people who last took a biology class in 10th grade. I start with those drab scientific threads and knit them into big, bold scientific sweaters that anyone can curl up in and feel warm and comfortable.
Let’s be honest. Books about science usually fall into one of two categories. Many of them are dry and boring, with way too much detail, losing the reader in the scientific weeds. Other times they are too fluffy, with the author trying so hard to be witty and cool that the science takes a back seat.
It is rare to find an author and a book that can bring modern, complex science to the table in a package that is witty, readable, and engaging. Jeremy DeSilva pulls this off in First Steps. DeSilva, one of the world’s preeminent paleoanthropologists, uses his vast experience in the field to explain both how and why humans started walking upright.
Winner of the W.W. Howells Book Prize from the American Anthropological Association and named one of the best science books of 2021 by Science News
“DeSilva takes us on a brilliant, fun, and scientifically deep stroll through history, anatomy, and evolution, in order to illustrate the powerful story of how a particular mode of movement helped make us one of the most wonderful, dangerous and fascinating species on Earth.”—Agustín Fuentes, Professor of Anthropology, Princeton University and author of Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being
“Breezy popular science at its best. . . . Makes a compelling…
I’ve been a columnist in a national magazine, book reviewer on a daily newspaper, journalist on a small rural paper, commercial blogger for hire, copy-editor, and critiquer, usually alongside more conventional roles in the not entirely thrilling world of corporate finance. In my fifties, I took a belated gap year courtesy of a good redundancy package and started writing full-time under a couple of different names, mainly EJ Lamprey but here as Clarissa. The gap year never really ended . . . At the heart of all my books is the exuberant celebration of finding in autumn the best season of our lives.
I actually believe the Alexander technique should be taught in schools from the start, to become a lifelong habit to improve lifelong health, but it’s never too late to start. While there’s no denying it is best taught hands-on, there aren’t enough teachers out there. There are many books but this one has a lovely holistic approach. Even better, if you’re lucky enough to have a practitioner within reach, the book adds to your understanding and to the benefit of your sessions. Win, win.
The Alexander Technique (AT) is a remarkably simple but powerful method for learning to skillfully control how your brain and body interact, allowing you to better coordinate your movements while increasing the accuracy of your mind's thoughts and perceptions. Now, in How You Stand, How You Move, How You Live , leading Alexander Technique master teacher Missy Vineyard sheds a completely fresh light on this revolutionary method and, in the process, offers path-breaking insight into the mind-body connection. Vineyard thoroughly explains and teaches the central skills of the AT through simple self-experiments, and she offers engaging stories of students in…
I'm an author, movement coach, and yoga teacher. I've been practicing yoga on and off for about 48 years. I was introduced to yoga by my mom through a really old book called Be Young with Yoga at 3 years old. Yoga has been a part of my entire existence in one way or another. I have had the honour and privilege to study with yoga teachers and educators for the past 30+ years and it has been life-changing. I have been a yoga teacher and movement coach for 30+ years, I have watched yoga make sad people feel better, injured people get strong, and shy people become leaders in their communities around equity and diversity.
In my humble opinion one of the best and only books that address yoga, diet culture, pose adaptation, yoga history, body image, and progressive accessibility. Helping readers and practitioners to find their level of practice exactly where they are. You can start as a true beginner and progress to challenging arm balances and poses with this book.
Find freedom in your yoga practice with this empowering guide from beloved yoga teacher and social justice activist Dianne Bondy and Yoga International editor-in-chief Kat Heagberg.
Yoga Where You Are welcomes readers of all backgrounds, body sizes, and abilities into the practice of yoga. Dianne Bondy and Kat Heagberg offer everything you need to know to build a custom yoga practice that supports you exactly where you are--now and at every stage of your life's journey.
Yoga Where You Are discusses how yoga intersects with body image, introduces essential information on elements like breathwork and meditation, and celebrates yoga's diverse…
I was introduced to meditation through a hatha yoga course I took as a college student. That’s when I first became enthralled with eastern philosophy. I studied and later taught these subjects becoming a College Professor in them. I’m also a musician and massage therapist. I consider music, meditation, yoga, massage to be beautiful healing modalities with endless transformative possibilities. My various books have been translated into French, Polish, Romanian, Spanish, Turkish, Russian, Bulgarian, and more. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Meditation (co-written with Eve Adamson) has recently become available as an audiobook on Audible.com. This book has turned thousands of people onto the meditative path and I hope it will you too.
This book introduced me to a steady practice of yoga postures. I read it daily and with practice I was eventually able to even do the headstand! The pictures in it are beautifully done and inspiring. This book encouraged me to travel to many Sivananda Yoga Ashrams, where I studied for weeks at a time submerging myself into the yoga lifestyle. I learned a great deal about living in yoga thru this book.
The essential companion for beginning and experienced yogis alike! Now with fresh, colorful pages throughout, The Sivananda Companion to Yoga remains the classic guide to yoga. Featuring easy-to-follow instructions, inspirational teaching, and detailed illustrations, this authoritative guide covers every aspect of the yoga lifestyle—including relaxation, exercise, dietary guidelines, breathing, and meditation.
A highly regarded organization for yoga studies and practices, the Sivananda Yoga Center created the first edition of The Sivananda Companion to Yoga in 1983. Since its publication, it has sold more than 700,000 copies worldwide and has become a standard text for both yoga students and teachers.
I’m a yoga therapist, health journalist, mother, and grandmother with a passion for helping people harness the powerful medicine of movement. Physical activity is essential to good health, and yoga can be particularly effective because it’s a holistic discipline that enhances all aspects of wellbeing—physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual. I started taking a weekly yoga class in my early 20s to stretch tight muscles and relieve stress from my busy job as a Washington Post reporter. Nearly 50 years later, yoga is central to my life, with practices that have helped me through several major health challenges, and kept me balanced, fit, and centered in our unpredictable world.
In recent years, there’s been a growing appreciation that yoga is not just for slim, bendy, twentysomethings, but can offer profound physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual benefits to people of all ages, sizes, and health conditions. Much of this increased awareness is due to the work of Jivana Heyman, director of the non-profit Accessible Yoga Association, whose mission statement proclaims that “all people—regardless of ability or background—deserve equal access to yoga.” Heyman has spent more than 20 years teaching yoga to people with disabilities, with an emphasis on community building and social engagement. In this book, he offers inspiring and practical guidance on how to break down complex yoga practices in ways that make them accessible, enjoyable, and healing for anyone—regardless of limitations or challenges.
“A treasure trove . . . what Yoga, capital Y, is all about.” —Donna Farhi “Nothing less than a gem.” —Judith Lasater “A vital tool.” —Book Riot
This daring, visionary book revolutionizes yoga practice, making it truly accessible to everyone—in every body, at any age, and in any state of health
Yoga practice has so much to offer us physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. But many of us feel discouraged to practice because we see young, slim, flexible, well, and able-bodied people dominating yoga spaces. Yet, yoga is truly a practice for all—conferring enormous benefits to our overall well-being as…
