10 Books to better your yoga practise
Whether you’re a beginner looking to move your body, someone who wants to understand the deeper meaning of yoga, or you consider yourself a fully-fledged Yogi, there is always more to learn. With so many resources available, it can be hard to find the information you need. Here are 10 books to help you better your yoga practice, from yoga for beginners to the power of breath.
1. Mudras For Modern Life - Swami Saradananda
Now we’re all stuck at home, we are spending more time on our computers, this isn’t just affecting our mental health this is affecting our hands. Mudras are great for stretching and exercising the hands as well as allowing the energy to flow more freely around our bodies.
2. Everyday Kundalini - Kathryn McCusker
Demystifying the notion of Kundalini, making it accessible to absolutely anyone and enabling us to cope with the sense of overwhelm that busy modern life. Stage by stage, this fully illustrated book shows how to make Kundalini practice a part of even the busiest day, no matter how much or little yoga or meditation you've done in the past.
3. Total Yoga For You - Tara Fraser
The perfect book for any beginner yogi. This is a complete, practical guide to yoga for home practice. Total Yoga For You includes clear, step-by-step photography to take you through the asanas (postures) and sequences.
4. The Power of Breath - Swami Saradananda
Knowing how to breathe correctly has the ability to completely change your life. To soothe anxiety, to help you to sleep, to aid meditation. This book is a clear, accessible guide to how to revolutionise your life through conscious, healthy breathing, written by a highly experienced yoga and meditation teacher.
5. Cleansing Power of Yoga - Swami Saradananda
"Cleansing" is often used in relation to diet or skincare, but this book introduces a new kind of cleanse. Cleansing through yoga, with varying practices and poses, helps to clear all the senses and alleviate any stuck energy from the body. The end result? Readers will end up with all the holistic detox tools they need to feel overall lighter, happier and healthier in their own skin.
6. Everyday Yoga Meditations - Stephen Sturgess
Drawing mainly on the tradition of Kriya Yoga, Sturgess gives clear comprehensive explanations of our internal energy system including Kundalini, Chakras, Nadis, the three bodies and the five sheaths, then presenting a wide range of yoga practices. This book encourages readers to develop their own personal practice and gives advice on how daily meditation can become a part of everyday life.
7. Instant Yoga - Tara Fraser
This is a little book of specially selected step-by-step postures and movements, to encompass the many benefits that yoga can bring – from increased flexibility to stress relief, enhancing mood to clearing the mind.
8. Pregnancy Health Yoga - Tara Lee
This step by step guide comes with a DVD and covers everything from preventing pregnancy discomforts, such as back pain, water-retention and nausea, and promotes bonding with your baby; helping you cope with labour, using body positioning and breathing and relaxation techniques; and helping in your recovery after the birth.
9. Yoga for You and Your Child - Mark Singleton
Mark adapts more than 40 yoga positions to make them safe, effective and fun for children. With the emphasis on safety and enjoyment, it shows how to make yoga sessions exciting, interactive and child-friendly by playing yoga games, going on 'yoga adventures' and imitating animal shapes, walks and noises.
10. Danielle Collins’ Face Yoga - Danielle Collins
OK, so this isn’t strictly yoga, but taking a little extra time for you and your skin is so beneficial for your wellbeing and soul. Practised by the likes of Meghan Markle, Jennifer Aniston and Beyonce, facial yoga is a non-invasive anti-ageing technique.
Danielle Collins is a world-renowned face yoga expert and her system gives you all the tools you need to get that firmer, healthier and glowing skin without having to introduce lengthy expensive beauty regimes.
If reading is your thing, visit Watkins Publishing for all things mind, body, spirit and personal development. To learn more about personal development, the benefits of coaching and to find a coach, visit our sister site, Life Coach Directory.
For one-to-one guidance on your yoga practice, contact one of our yoga therapists.
And, if you're practising yoga at home, Youtube has an abundance of videos, free to watch at whatever time suits. Here are some of our favourite accounts to follow.