Shopping List: Yoga Books We Can’t Live Without

by Nina and Baxter

For most people who practice yoga at home, yoga books are indispensable. When you have questions about poses, you can look at photographs. When you don’t know what to practice, you can find a sequence to try. When you need inspiration, you can turn to classical yoga philosophy or read advice and wisdom from any number of well-known teachers. At Nina's house, they even have two copies of the same book (which they fondly refer to as “The Red Leotard Book”), so she and her husband can be sure of having a copy with them for reference when they practice.

Yes, We Have 2 Copies of This Book

Since it’s, well, the time of year when you are probably wracking your brains trying to finish your own lists, Baxter and I thought this might be a good time for us to list our yoga favorite yoga books for your shopping pleasure. So without further ado:

Nina’s Picks

1.    Yoga the Iyengar Way, Silva, Mira, and Shyam Mehta, Alfred A. Knopf. When you have questions about the alignment for a pose and want to see a photograph of it, this is by far the best resource. Beautiful!

2.    The Woman’s Book of Yoga and Health, Linda Sparrowe with Patricia Walden, Shambhala Publications. By far, my most used yoga book. I love the sequences, and the propping Patricia recommends is some of the most helpful and useable.

3.    Yoga: Awakening the Inner Body, Donald Moyer, Rodmell Press. If you want to read alignment details about the classic yoga poses, this book does a great job of explaining them (and just happens to be by my favorite yoga teacher).

4.    Relax & Renew, Judith Lasater, Rodmell Press. The best introduction to restorative yoga, with a large number of sequences for different conditions.

5.    The Yoga of Breath, Richard Rosen, Shambhala Publications. A very good introduction to yogic breathing.

6.    The Yoga Tradition, Georg Feuerstein, Hohm Press. A scholarly, somewhat intimidating but very worthwhile history of yoga, including translations of many seminal yoga texts.

7.    Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, B.K.S. Iyengar, HarperCollins. Among the many different translations with commentaries, this is one of the most accessible.

8.    The Bhagavad Gita, translated by Juan Mascaro, Penguin Books. This translation is powerful and poetic, and the introduction is very helpful.

Baxter’s Picks

1.    Moving Toward Balance, Rodney Yee with Nina Zolotow, Rodale Books. With three versions of every pose, sequences designed for the home practitioner, and advice about home practice, this book is the one I recommend to anyone who wants to practice at home.

2.    The Heart of Yoga, T.K.V. Desikachar, Inner Traditions. A wonderful introduction to the yoga of the teacher who developed so much of what we now practice in the west.

3.    Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, Stephen Cope, Bantam. A lively, easy-to-read introduction to basic yoga philosophy.

4.    The Wisdom of Yoga: A Seeker’s Guide to Extraordinary Living, Stephen Cope, Bantam. A very accessible introduction to the philosophy of the Yoga Sutras.

5.    The Yoga Sutras: An Essential Guide to the Heart of Yoga Philosophy, Nicholai Bachman, Sounds True, Inc. A true splurge, this complete kit features seven CDs, a 200-page workbook with color illustrations, and 51 meditation cards.

6.    Chants of a Lifetime: Searching for a Heart of Gold, Krishna Das, Hay House, Inc. For those who want to learn something about bhakti yoga (the yoga of devotion), this book includes a bonus CD of chanting.