Bountiful Books

The gifts we receive through yoga and its community are endless.  And books are just one example.  These words educate us, inspire us, uplift us, and ground us.  We are blessed to share in other’s journeys through reading, we are gifted knowledge through reading and we are pulled into a conversation through reading.  The books listed on this page have helped us and others on our journey and we want to share them with you.

Teaching People Not Poses: 12 Principles for Teaching Yoga with Integrity
This wonderful book is a guide for growth for yoga instructors.  Not a muckety manifesto or windy walk through her life, this book does not ask for much of your time; but it does ask much of you.  Jay describes each of the 12 principles and then challenges you with a set of questions providing you with a guided retrospection so that you are able to implement the principles into your life and teaching.

The Complete Yoga Book:
If you are looking for lots of good and in depth information on Yoga – this book is it.  A trilogy focusing individually on breathing, asanas and meditation.  You get history, explanations and descriptions, images and more.  This is definitely a comprehensive yoga resource.  It is authored by James Hewitt.  He meshes together ancient writings, gurus’ explanations and his own expertise to give you a solid understanding of yoga.

The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga:
This book is another comprehensive yoga resource.  Written by Swami Vishnu Devananda and complete with illustrations of him in the different poses, muscle locks and dhautis.  It is very informational and is easy to read and understand.  If you are looking to increase your understanding of the basics as well as learn more about the different tenets and types of yoga this is a good book for you to read.

Cool Yoga Tricks:
This book is a great book if you are looking to increase your knowledge of modifications and assists in yoga.  If you have tight shoulders or sore wrists, even tight legs, this book is chalked full of different modifications that you can try to enhance your yoga practice.  Complete with clear and concise photos as well as descriptions this is definitely a great book to have in your yoga library.

The Language of Yoga:
If you have taken a yoga class – then you know that there is a plethora of Sanskrit terms that can be thrown around.  Sanskrit being a language that most of us in the English speaking world are not very familiar with, pronunciation can be tricky.  The Language of Yoga comes with a CD filled with the correct pronunciation of hundreds of sanskrit terms and names to go along with the book.

Journey to the Heart:
Melody Beattie has created quite a gem of a book in this one.  This is not like other reads.  In Journey to the Heart there is an inspiration reading for each day of the year.  I was first introduced to this book during my first yoga teacher training and now have continued to make this book a part of my yoga and life.  There are many great lessons that we can learn from this book.

Amazing Yoga:
Written by Karen and Sean Conley, the owners and founders of Amazing Yoga studios in Pittsburgh have written a practical guide to strength, wellness and spirit.  This is a wonderful read.  A pre-requisite for our journey to Mexico to become yoga instructors, this book has changed our lives.  It has provided insights, questions to ask ourselves, tips and explanations.  We highly suggest that you read this one.