Who Doesn’t Love a Good Yoga Book? ~ Fanning the Obsession in 2010

Just a few yoga books from 2010. Find more yoga inspiration on Daily Cup of Yoga Market

As I’ve mentioned before, I have a serious weakness for yoga books.  I mean, who doesn’t?  Anyhow, in a moment of complete disclosure, here’s what I’ve added to my collection so far this year (in no particular order):

  1. Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings by A.G. Mohan
    Learn more about A.G. Mohan at his website:  Svastha Yoga and Ayurveda.
  2. Teaching Yoga: Essential Foundations And Techniques by Mark Stephens
    Read the author’s bio.
    Uncover a ton of teaching and practice pointers on Vinyasa Flow Yoga with Mark Stephens.
  3. The Yoga-Sutra Of Patanjali: A New Translation With Commentary (Shambhala Classics) by Chip Hartranft
    Read Hartranft’s translation for free  right here via the author’s On-line Companion.  Excellent resource!
  4. The Inner Tradition Of Yoga: A Guide To Yoga Philosophy For The Contemporary Practitionerby Michael Stone
    To learn more about the author, Michael Stone, visit his website:  Centre of Gravity.
  5. Myths of The Asanas: The Ancient Origins of Yoga by Alanna Kaivalya, Arjuna van der Kooij
    Visit the author’s website at JivaDiva.com.
  6. Yoga Beneath The Surface: An American Student And His Indian Teacher Discuss Yoga Philosophy And Practice by Srivatsa Ramaswami, David Hurwitz
    Learn more about Ramaswami at his website: Vinyasa Krama.
    Read Ramaswami’s article,  My Studies with Shri T. Krishnamacharya, published inNamarupa Magazine.
  7. Yoga Body:  The Origins of Modern Posture Practice by Mark Singleton
    Book review and some good comments on mayaland.
  8. The Subtle Body: The Story Of Yoga In America by Stefanie Syman
    Book site: http://thesubtlebody.net/
    Read an interview with author Stefanie Syman at YogaCityNYC.
    Listen to author interview on On Point Radio.
  9. The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice by Deborah Adele
    Book site:  http://www.theyamasandniyamas.com/.
    Author’s blog.
  10. Living Your Yoga:  Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life by Judith Hanson Lasater
    Author’s website.
  11. Ashtanga Yoga: The Definitive Step-By-Step Guide To Dynamic Yoga by John C. Scott
    Check out a short, but inspiring, clip of the author demonstrating and explaining Ashtanga yoga.
  12. Ashtanga Yoga: Practice And Philosophy by Gregor Maehle
    Author’s website, 8limbs.com.
  13. Yoga And The Path Of The Urban Mystic by Darren Main
    Visit Darren Main’s companion website to the book.
  14. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga: A Practical Guide to Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit by Deepak Chopra
    You gotta love Tara Stiles and Deepak Chopra’s “Authentic Yoga” iPhone/iPad app (I have both).
  15. The Athlete’s Pocket Guide to Yoga:  50 Routines for Flexibility, Balance, and Focus by Sage Rountree
    Take a look at Sage’s ‘Hip Flexor and Hamstring Stretch Yoga Routine’ on Runner’s World.
    Sage also has a great website and blog.
  16. The Subtle Body:  An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy by Cyndi Dale
    I have yet to spend much time in this book since I’m not getting it until Christmas, but it has great reviews on Amazon.
    Visit the author’s website for additional exploration.
  17. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali:  Commentary on the Raja Yoga Sutras by Sri Swami Satchidananda
    Visit Sri Swami Satchidananda’s website.
  18. The Living Gita:  The Complete Bhagavad Gita – A Commentary for Modern Readersby Sri Swami Satchidananda
  19. Bhagavad Gita:  A New Translation by Stephen Mitchell
  20. 27 Things to Know About Yoga by Victoria Klein
    Check out Daily Cup of Yoga’s Review of 27 Things. This is really a great little yoga book!
    You will also enjoy reading Victoria Klein’s great yoga blog.
  21. The Mirror of Yoga:  Awakening the Intelligence of Body and Mind by Richard Freeman
    Author’s website:  Yoga Workshop.
    I’m also a HUGE fan of Richard Freeman’s course on yoga philosophy, “The Yoga Matrix,” which is a smoking hot deal on Amazon.com if you download the MP3 version of the course.

I’m sure I left a few books out and there will probably be a few more before the end of the year.  Discriminating reader that I am, I pretty much love them all!  Not all of these books came out in 2010, but this was definitely a standout year for yoga publishing.  Hopefully next year will continue the trend.

Feel free to leave a comment about your favorite yoga book from 2010 (or whenever).

Medium Horizontal #2

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For the love of lululemon…

…in case you were wondering what to do with all your lululemon bags…

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30 Dr. Seuss Quotes for Yogis to Live By

Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so…get on your way!

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2011 iPod Touch vs. 2001 iPod…Evolution on Display

It’s a beautiful thing…

anusara-yoga

Daily Yoga Practice — Sometimes Less Is More…

With life constantly on the move and not enough hours in the day, it can be tough to fit in an hour or more of yoga on a consistent basis. Unfortunately, a lot of us talk ourselves out of unrolling the mat if we don’t think we have time for a “long” yoga session. Twenty minutes just doesn’t seem like enough time to make much difference, does it?

lululemon_bag

For the love of lululemon…

…in case you were wondering what to do with all your lululemon bags…

7097791083_b1ac2b3691_b

To Take the Posture is the Purpose of the Practice

“These forms are not a means of obtaining the right state of mind. To take this posture itself is the purpose of our practice. When you have this posture, you have the right state of mind, so there is no need to try to attain some special state. When you try to attain something, your mind starts to wander about somewhere else. When you do not try to attain anything, you have your own body and mind right here.” ~Shunry Suzuki in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

pete-mcbride-young-woman-practicing-yoga-by-an-airplane

Airplane Yoga for Holiday Travelers

Traveling during the upcoming holidays has its plusses and minuses. You know it will be great to see family and friends, but the enhanced airport security measures stress you out. Then there’s sitting in a safety-oriented airplane seat that was not built for comfort. With a few planning tips and yoga poses to do at the boarding gate and on the plane you can arrive feeling rejuvenated and refreshed.

Comments

  1. Thank you so much for mentioning my book – there it is, at the top of the pile! :)

    After all your great recommendations, I certainly have some new tomes to add to my to-read this.

    • Sue says:

      Thank you for the great information!

      Yoga books are great to solve the hunger to dig deeper into the magical world of yoga.

      Have a nice weekend, among your books.

  2. callah says:

    my fave read was mindfulness yoga by frank jude boccio! also enjoying michael stone’s newest, Freeing the Body, Freeing the Mind.

    • Viv says:

      That’s a great book,I took a course with him out in California and he’s very good very sincere-combo of Buddhist practice and yoga blended together in a meaningful fashion.

  3. Jean says:

    The book highlight of the year for me was “Yoga: Your Home Practice Companion” by the Sivananda Yoga Centre, Dorling Kindersley. Great book!

  4. Kirsten says:

    I like “Yoga Beyond Belief” by Ganga White.

  5. Viv says:

    Kirsten, Yoga Beyond Belief is very good at poking holes in some of our rigid ideas, very refreshing. I’m a yoga teacher myself as well as an artist/intuitive and I put together an quick article called “7 Top Yoga, Buddhist Inspired Holiday Gifts” at http://bit.ly/iato4l, with links to stuff a yogi/ni or meditator might want for Christmas or Hanukkah. One item I really love that I tried is the spike or nail mat, it seems weird but it’s really relaxing-you lay on it for relaxation, insomnia back pain. It honestly felt like I was in a deep shavasana after like 3 min on it. And it wasn’t painful (for me at least!)
    Namaste
    Kala

    • Brian says:

      Viv, I think I saw an advertisement for the nail mat somewhere, maybe Yoga Journal, maybe Yoga Magazine. I bet that does feel interesting to lay on. Thanks for the comments.

  6. Flo says:

    You listed several books I love! I am also really enjoying Freeing the Body, Freeing the Mind- Writings on the connections between Yoga & Buddhism. :)

  7. Tonya says:

    Have you reviewed these books individually on this blog (I’m new to your blog, I could search through it but thought I’d ask first)? I’d be interested in finding out more about a few of them. More than just the Amazon blurb, I mean. I’d like to know what someone who has a weakness for these books says about them individually.

    • Brian says:

      Tonya, I’m really happy you found Daily Cup of Yoga. Also curious how you came across the blog. I just like to know these sorts of things. Anyhow, I’m passionate about yoga, definitely love to read about the ancient practice, and I certainly wish I had time to review each and every one of these books, but that little thing called a day-job (I’m a lawyer) only leaves so many discretionary hours in the day. I’ve reviewed a few of the books, and unless someone asks about a specific book, I don’t usually read the book with the end goal of a book review in mind. Do you have any particular books that you’d be curious to know more about?

      Namaste!
      Brian

      • Tonya says:

        Hi Brian, I came across your blog through the Google Blog Search, I typed in Yoga Philosophy and yours was one of the top. I’d be interested to know what you thought specifically of #4, 6, and 10.

  8. Brian says:

    Looks like I’ll be adding a few more books to my 2010 yoga book collection before it’s all said and done… Thanks ALL for the great book recommendations!

  9. tabatharose says:

    This is great inspiration! Some of these will defintiely be going on the Christmas list!
    I’ve just started a year long quest to practice yoga everyday (and write about the experience) so these are great books to give me some much needed inspiration and reference material!
    Cheers

    http://www.dailyyogajourney.wordpress.com

    • Brian says:

      That sounds like a worthwhile quest Tabatharose! I added a link to the blogroll so we can follow your 365 day yoga journey. Best of luck!! Namaste, Brian

  10. tabatharose says:

    Thanks Brian! Thats what I love about yoga – such a great supportive community!

  11. I’ve been thinking about enrolling to a yoga class recently and you really helped me a lot with this list of books.I’ve already noted some that I plan to start reading soon and hopefully my working out to inner peace will come true. You’ve got a really good collection. Since when did you start buying them?

  12. Jane Allen says:

    Have you read ‘Carried by a Promise’ by Swami Radhananda (Timeless Books 2011)? It is a recent account of a western women learning from her Guru. Good read.

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