Ruth's Reading ListOur Leafie Ruth asked me for some yoga book recommendations. She suggested I put a copy of my reply up on our site. So here you go! I hope you find the list helpful. Frances :-) x
Hi Ruth, I have got a bit carried away responding to your interest in getting a good yoga book! I wasn’t sure where to begin so I’ve just listed a few yoga books that I’ve enjoyed. If you want to browse these titles on Amazon and pick out one, I’d be more than happy to re-read it alongside you and share thoughts on it with you. If all this seems a bit complicated... what I love about our practice at Lotus Leaf is that so much learning is distilled into something very simple - a small bunch of people who get together each week to enjoy moving mindfully within a gentle culture. The reason being: ‘Cos we like it. Books, books, books! There are so many good yoga books out there. Yoga was always a broad school within diverging classical traditions. Add to that the natural branches that grew out of its transition from East to West and you have a proliferation of interests, styles and approaches. Endless advice. Often contradicting! So my tip for exploring yoga reading is just delight in dipping in. Don’t take any of it as gospel, and enjoy piecing together what resonates with you - what feels authentic and works on a practical level for you. First of all, I’m thinking of resources for you that would support our own slow and mindful practice style at Lotus Leaf.
And just take it for there. It’s important for me to add - I’ve enjoyed these resources and learned ideas that have helped me… ideas that I return to again and again. But I’ve never had a sense of achieving a ‘higher level’ of understanding - just enough to keep my own nostrils above water level and and appreciate the astonishing gift of a funny, imperfect life. Every one has their own route to that. We all hoe our own row. And the best place to learn from is simply one another. “We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Through the unknown, remembered gate When the last of earth left to discover Is that which was the beginning; At the source of the longest river The voice of the hidden waterfall And the children in the apple-tree Not known, because not looked for But heard, half-heard, in the stillness Between two waves of the sea. —T.S. Eliot Here's the broader list... Popular contemporary Western teachers: Judith Hanson Lasater 30 Essential Yoga Poses: For Beginning Students and Their Teachers. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thirty-Essential-Yoga-Poses-Beginning/dp/1930485042 Judith Hanson Lasater Yogabody: Anatomy, Kinesiology, and Asana https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yogabody-Kinesiology-Judith-Hanson-Lasater/dp/1930485212 Judith Hanson Lasater Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life https://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Your-Yoga-Spiritual-Everyday-ebook/dp/B01K3CXMV8 Erich Schiffmann Yoga The Spirit And Practice Of Moving Into Stillness https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yoga-Spirit-Practice-Moving-Stillness/dp/0671534807 Donna Farhi Yoga Mind, Body and Spirit: A Return to Wholeness https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yoga-Mind-Body-Spirit-Wholeness/dp/0717131556 Yoga Philosophy - Classical Indian Teachings On Yoga Philosophy… BKS Iyengar is a good interpreter! BKS Iyengar was one of the key traditional Indian gurus involved in popularising classical yoga practice in the west. He died in 2014 - so fairly recently! He trained in India in the classical tradition from the time he was a boy. He did a lot of work to help present classical practice for a Western audience. BKS Iyengar Light on Life https://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Life-Journey-Wholeness-Ultimate/dp/1529319773 BKS Iyengar Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali https://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Yoga-Sutras-Patanjali-Iyengar/dp/0007145160 The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are one of the classic texts of yoga - a series of 196 short aphorisms written in Sanskrit. These would be memorised and passed down orally then ‘unpacked’. Interestingly, only one of them refers to posture practice! You can hear them chanted on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/svastha/yogasutras-chapter-i The sutras describe ‘Eight Limbs of Yoga Practice’ Yama - a series of social values / Niyama - a series of personal values / Asana - our physical practice / Pranayama - yogic breathing practices / Pratyahara - withdrawal of the senses / Dharana - concentration / Dhyana - meditation / Samadhi - a feeling of joy and peace. BKS Iyengar Core of the Yoga Sutras: The Definitive Guide to the Philosophy of Yoga https://www.amazon.co.uk/Core-Yoga-Sutras-Definitive-Philosophy/dp/0007921268 Another classic yoga text dating back to the 15th Century is: Swami Muktibodhananda Hatha Yoga Pradipika https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hatha-Yoga-Pradipika-Swami-Muktibodhananda/dp/8185787387 On the story of how yoga travelled from East to West: This is a really interesting (studious) read on how yoga practice travelled from East to West: Mark Singleton Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yoga-Body-Origins-Posture-Practice/dp/0195395344 On a Humanist approach to Yoga Peter Blackaby is a really lovely teacher, based in Brighton. He teaches yoga from a Humanist perspective - he’s a kind of heart warming atheist! I had a long correspondence with him - he’s very approachable. As an agnostic myself, his science-based approach to yoga helped me at a time when I felt rather alienated from the general yoga community - though forever fond of it. This is is beautiful book: Peter Blackaby Intelligent Yoga: Listening to the Body's Innate Wisdom https://www.amazon.co.uk/Intelligent-Yoga-Listening-Innate-Wisdom/dp/1527221156 On Mindfulness Mindfulness is at the heart of our practice at Lotus Leaf. Jon Kabbat Zinn is a lovely Californina teacher who led the way in introducing mindfulness to Westerners, without directly referring to its source within Buddhism. He garnered a lot of credibility by conducting scientific research into the effects of mindfulness meditation on people with diagnoses of medical conditions where doctors could do nothing more. There was a measurable improvement in stress levels and the strength of the immune system. Brain activity was shown to shift from regions in the brain associated with anxiety to regions associated with positive emotions. (I think I’m remembering this right!) Jon Kabat-Zinn Full Catastrophe Living, How to cope with stress, pain and illness using mindfulness meditation https://www.amazon.co.uk/Full-Catastrophe-Living-Revised-mindfulness/dp/0749958413 On recovery from trauma Bessel van der Kolk The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma https://www.amazon.co.uk/Body-Keeps-Score-Transformation-Trauma/dp/0141978619 Light and pleasant... Yoga For Life - How to stay strong, flexible and balanced over 40 - Josephine Fairley https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yoga-Life-Josephine-Fairley/dp/0857830430 Positive Psychology https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/positive-psychology Action for Happiness https://actionforhappiness.org/ Vanessa-King Ten Keys to Happier Living https://www.amazon.co.uk/Keys-Happier-Living-Vanessa-King/dp/1472233425 You might pick up on these influences in your practice at Lotus Leaf. I see the 'Ten Keys' as contemporary cousins of the classical Yama and Niyama of ancient yoga philosophy. The classical tenets are beautiful and poetic, still it’s worth bearing in mind that they were practiced by a small group of male aesthetics living in India a very long time ago! The intention of positive psychology is the same - to live well in harmony with yourself, with others and with your environment. Online resources are endless... Lots free on Youtube. Yogabody and Yogaeasy also have good subscription services. These services are great for supporting a home practice. https://www.youtube.com/c/YOGABODY_Official https://www.youtube.com/@yogeasy_com https://www.youtube.com/@FiveParksYoga It’s interesting that our ‘bricks and mortar’ practice survives this online competition, which is a relatively recent phenomenon. For us it seems there’s just no replacing the atmospheric quality of a live, local shared practice where we meet regularly and are present. in the real world. with other likeminded people. |
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