Essential Yoga Books

These books sit on Tina's bookshelf. She recommends them for any dedicated yogi, students wanting to deepen their practice, or anyone wanting to learn more about what yoga's all about.

Jump to beginning books, intermediate books, Ashtanga books, or books on general yoga philosophy and teaching.

Beginning reading
	Light on Yoga, BKS Iyengar. Billing itself as the “Bible of Modern Yoga,” this paperback packs a wallop of info. Beginners will turn to the descriptions of asanas, or poses, illustrated with 600 photographs, to figure out what they did in class today. Intermediates will enjoy the account of the other seven limbs of yoga, including detailed pranayama techniques. As a teacher, I consult the “Effects” section under each asana, learning what specific physical and mental benefits each pose brings.
	Yoga, Mind, Body and Spirit, Donna Farhi. Farhi focuses on uncovering the individual’s spiritual essence through yoga practice. A beautifully written, lavishly illustrated account of each family of poses (standing, supine, etc.), this book includes thoughtful anatomical illustrations. I like the many “Inquiries” sprinkled throughout, inviting the student to step back from “achieving” an asana and instead, thoroughly experiencing and exploring it.
	Yoga: The Iyengar Way, Silva Mehta. My first yoga-related purchase, I turned to this large-format book during the years when I couldn’t make it to a class. Large, color photographs of each asana emphasize perfect alignment within and mastery of asanas, a focus typical of master teacher B.K.S. Iyengar, the author’s teacher for more than 30 years. Suggestions for working within a pose include props and detailed instructions for each level.
	Yoga For Dummies, Georg Feuerstein. Disclaimer: I’ve written two “for Dummies” books (about computer stuff) ... but this book is great, nonetheless. Author Georg Feuerstein has written over 30 books on yoga, including an encyclopedia, which equips him well for this extensive overview of all aspects of yoga. He goes a bit too much into detail at times, but that makes for a book that you can reach for year after year on your path to self-realization.
	The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice, T. K. V. Desikachar. A great resource for teachers as well as students, this book captures insights from the son of Sri Krishnamacharya, the father of modern yoga (and teacher of Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois and other pivotal yoga figures). The ideas for linking breath to each asana are invaluable, helping one to learn to sequence an individually tailored yoga practice.
Intermediate reading
	Moola Bandha: The Master Key, Swami Buddhananda. My chosen hatha yoga path, Ashtanga, considers engaging certain bandhas, or energetic “locks,” as one of the keys to our practice – one of the deepening aspects that keep the asanas from being just another form of exercise. Here, the author explores the root lock, or Moola (sic) bandha, from every possible aspect. Although he seems to consider it a sort of panacea for just about every physical, emotional and mental ailment, the practice of moola bandha can be powerfully transformative, and I recommend this book to all intermediate students.
	The Breathing Book: Vitality & Good Health Through Essential Breath Work, Donna Farhi. A comprehensive look at all aspects of breath for a general public. Many other books specialize in classical pranayama, or breath-control, techniques, but here Farhi ranges from anatomical aspects of breathing to overcoming bad habits (shallow breathing, for example) to therapeutic breathing for a long list of maladies. As with her previously mentioned book, Farhi includes many exercises and “Inquiries.” These will prove invaluable to anyone seeking to deepen their experience of breath.
Ashtanga yoga
	Yoga Mala, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. In 1958, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois published an account of the Ashtanga yoga system he developed. The result was Yoga Mala, an essential on any Ashtangi’s bookshelf. Besides detailed instruction on each of the asanas in the Standing Sequence, the Primary Series (minus a couple of standing poses added later), and the Finishing Sequence, Gurujii, as he is fondly called, lists their physical and mental benefits and adds special notes. He covers the other seven limbs of yoga, and speaks in detail of drishti (the gaze point) and bandhas. A photo accompanies each asana.
	Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual, David Swenson. This book features a two-page spread on the Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskara A & B) and each asana in: the Standing Sequence, the Primary Series, the Intermediate Series, and the Finishing Series. For each of these poses, Swenson decodes the Sanskrit name, gives detailed entry and exit instructions, names the drishti (gaze point), and adds thoughtful comments. I especially like the many modifications he includes, each photographed, for students who may not be up to the full pose quite yet. Spiral binding makes it even more user-friendly.
	Ashtanga Yoga As It Is, Matthew Sweeney. This hard-to-find book is the only one I know of which details the Advanced A & B Series of Ashtanga yoga, in photos if not text. Nonetheless, it’s fun to flip through if you’re curious about what lies beyond the Primary and Intermediate Series.
Yoga philosophy and teaching
	Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: With Great Respect and Love, Mukunda Stiles. Recommended by my first Ashtanga teacher, Sean O'Shea, this incredible work, written some 2,000 years ago, systematizes the core concept of yoga, in one slim volume. Actually, one short chapter -- aimed at one particularly swift student -- manages to set it out; the other three chapters riff on the same theme, each targeted to one of Pantanjali's other students. Free of footnotes and other distracting commentary, Stiles' interpretation was purposely rendered in poetic phrasing rather than prose, to be received in a more devotional attitude. Whenever I pick it up, turning to a random sutra, or verse, this volume gives me much to contemplate.
	Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda. First published in 1945, but reading as if written yesterday, Yogananda’s account of his life entertains, inspires and awes. This gentle, humble soul went on to found the Self-Realization Fellowship, a society dedicated to spreading his teachings on meditation and other tools to, well, self-realization.
	The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi: In His Own Words, Arthur Osborne. One of many books by this sage, this volume recounts the many question and answer sessions between Maharshi and various seekers of truth from all walks of life. Students interested in delving deeper into non-dualism will enjoy this or any of Maharshi’s writings.
	Essential Rumi, Jalal al-Din Rumi, Coleman Barks. Rumi’s poetry, written in 1250, the height of Europe’s ‘Dark Ages,” sounds new and fresh and pretty spicy, thanks to Coleman Barks’s amazing translation. Don’t be put off by the genre label “poetry,” but get thee to a bookstore, open this paperback and read a few verses. Rumi sees our souls as longing to merge again with beauty and wholeness – and characterizes this as the longing of the Lover for the Beloved. It’s heady stuff – a volume I recommend with all my heart.
	The Deeper Dimension of Yoga: Theory and Practice, Georg Feuerstein. This encyclopedic account helped to clear up, for me, the differences between all the “yogas” I was hearing about as a new yoga student: Tantra, Raja, Bhakti, Hatha, etc. Ways of practicing, pitfalls, and many more aspects of yoga are covered, as well. It’s dense, so don’t turn to this one late at night, but I found it comprehensive and it serves me well as a reference book.
	The Bhagavad Gita, trans. Eknath Easwaran. This translation, recommended by my teacher Tim Miller, presents the Gita, the pivotal Hindu mystical document, in its context within the historical and literary scope of the times. Many wiser than myself have commented on this revered text, but I can say it’s full of gems and makes for a great read, putting yoga into a fuller perspective.