Winter is a perfect time to curl up with a pile of great yoga books for a cozy evening. The unifying theme of this season’s best yoga books is whole-body healing and yoga therapeutics. We are excited to uncover such a diverse and wonderful collection of titles for you to consider adding to your reading list.
The Yoga-CBT Workbook for Anxiety by Julie Greiner-Ferris and Manjit Kaur Khalsa
This potent workbook uses a combination of yoga, meditation, and cognitive behavioral therapy to manage the physical and psychological symptoms of chronic anxiety. Based on a six-week group treatment program, this book provides daily exercises and weekly chapters. Each practice has four elements: a guiding principle, a yoga and meditation practice, a daily living practice, and a practice log. Clear and accessible step-by-step instructions are given for all of the practices in this thoughtful and well-designed workbook.
Wanderlust Find Your True Fork by Jeff Krasno
This handsome book’s intention is to help you find your food dharma and to make informed, responsible, and ethical decisions about food. The book provides different approaches to diets and food choices from the perspective of ten different prominent chefs. Beautifully photographed, there are recipes for vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores, as well as additions on Ayurvedic foods, fermented foods, and raw foods. The book also gives some tips on how to start an urban garden, provides composting techniques, and explains the basics of biodynamic agriculture.
Yoga for Healthy Aging by Baxter Bell and Nina Zolotow
This well-organized book’s goal is to slow down the aging process and improve the quality of one’s current life through yoga, pranayama, and meditation. Bell and Zolotow’s writing is detailed yet easy to read and offers a unique blend of sage wisdom, clear instruction, and digestible medical information. The chapters focus on the primary concerns of aging: strength, flexibility, balance, agility, cardiovascular health, and brain health. Each chapter has an overview of the physiological body system, principles of yoga therapy, a specific asana sequence, and a set of yogic exercises.
Yoga Therapy by Mark Stephens
This thick and heavy yoga textbook-style volume will undoubtedly delight yoga therapists and yoga teachers interested in the healing aspects of yoga. The first half of the book covers the origins and sources of yoga therapy, Western anatomy, physiology and pathology of the major systems of the body, and the modern practice and principles of yoga therapy. The second half of the book is primarily practical information and asana prescriptions on over 50 musculoskeletal, reproductive, mental, and common emotional conditions.
Stephens suggests several asanas for each condition. There are black and white photos of the asanas with basic instructions on how to safely perform the pose. These often include specific modifications and the use of yoga props. Scholars will appreciate Stephens’ thorough bibliographic research references listed at the back of the book.
The Yogi Assignment by Kino MacGregor
This book provides an accessible way to incorporate yoga philosophy into your asana practice as well as the inspiration and encouragement to commit to a daily practice. Each of the 30 daily assignments begins with an honest and practical discussion on a philosophical concept, and then follows with three homework assignments, and 3-4 yoga poses. The overall intention of the book is to encourage contemplation and reflection through a balance of inner and outer work both on and off the yoga mat. The book features beautiful, playful, vibrant, and inspiring color photographs of MacGregor throughout.
Restore and Rebalance by Judith Hanson Lasater
This new book on restorative yoga displays how to use an assortment of props to completely support the body while in a yoga pose. Lasater, one of the five founders of Yoga Journal, popularized this therapeutic approach in 1995 with her publication of Relax and Renew. This new book takes a different approach by having a more thorough focus on the restorative poses and moving the prescriptive sequences to the back of the book. Several beautiful black and white photos clearly illustrate each restorative pose. After writing about the pose’s benefits, offering practice tips, and providing clear instructions, the author includes these sections: being there, coming back, and for teachers. The sections provide additional information on how to go deeper into the pose, how to come out of the pose, and how to teach the pose.
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