October Reading List 2021
The yoga edition – five books to deepen your understanding:
1/ Ann Swanson – Science of Yoga
If you want to understand more about what yoga is doing for you then this is a great book. Really lovely illustrations, not too difficult to read or understand, and it covers posture and breath.
2/ Swami Satyananda Saraswati – Asana, Pranayama, Mudra & Bandha
I’m a big fan of these publications from the Bihar School. They are well written and full of wisdom about authentic yoga practices. This is a great place to start if you’re a beginner and want to get an overall view of yogic techniques.
3/ Osho – Yoga: The Science of the Soul
No list could be complete without Osho, love him or hate him, he has influenced my approach greatly. This is an amalgamations of talks Osho gave about yoga. It focuses on Patanjalis Yoga Sutras and on the deeper aspect of the practice, the exploration of consciousness.
4/ James Mallinson & Mark Singleton – The Roots of Yoga
If the history of yoga interests you then this is a great place to start. It’s not the easier book to read but it’s based in fact, looks at the discipline as a whole and is not biased towards any particular style of yoga. Mark Singleton’s previous book, Yoga Body, is also a great read on the subject.
5/ Michael Booth – Eat Pray Eat
This is sort of an accidental yoga book, hugely enjoyable. It covers the author’s ill-fated attempts to write a book in India about Indian food with his family. Along the way he ends up in a hard-core yoga boot camp with a guru…..