Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi by Brian Leaf

Each chapter rounds up the research-based evidence and then presents a sequence of poses one can use for each particular ailment. Timothy McCall’s Yoga as Medicine: the Yogic Prescription for Health and Healinghas chapters on the ways in which yoga can help with arthritis, asthma, back pain, and much, much more. Judith Lasater’s Relax and Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful Timescontains restorative sequences that help heal the effects of chronic stress. If you’re looking for more info on what yoga can (and can’t) do, there are a ton of resources: There are also poses and breathing exercises and meditations I can do when: my sinuses are stuffy I’m experiencing menstrual cramps I have lower back pain I need a boost of energy etc. It’s made me grateful for the many things my body is capable of… things I wasn’t aware of before. But yoga has had other physical benefits as well. Now I wear my yoga leggings straight to the local bar without an ounce of shame. When I first started yoga, I basically just wanted to look good in skinny jeans. So I’ll just share with you the one I read when I was starting out: Richard Faulds’s Kripalu Yoga: A Guide to Practice On and Off the Mat.Īt a time when I could barely touch my toes but was just starting to fathom that there was more to this yoga thing than getting a cute butt, this book imparted the history of the Kripalu style of yoga, the lowdown on the asana and prana fundamentals, and a solid intro to the practice’s more spiritual underpinnings.Ĭonsidering how much each style of yoga overlaps (and when it comes down to it, yoga is yoga), I’d say this book is a good primer no matter what type you practice. Without further ado, here are a slew of books to read if you want to go beyond classics like the Bhagavad Gita, Light on Yoga, or the Yoga Sutras.įor Those Who Want To Learn the Basics of Yoga, in a Way That’s Accessible:įor as many styles of yoga as there are out there, there are about a kajillion times as many books that exist to teach you the basics. So I’ve amassed quite the recommended reading list for those looking to incorporate yoga into their day-to-day lives. As I’m sure I’ve said before, I contain multitudes. Yes, I realize my last book roundup was about horror and despair and terror and creeping unease, but I’m also a vinyasa yoga instructor and meditate twice a day and wake up to the sound of Tibetan singing bowls (thanks to an iPhone app) every morning. A few weeks ago, when I learned that Brian Leaf had just come out with a new book, I literally squee’d. I’d loved his previous book, Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi, and this new one- Misadventures of a Parenting Yogi-aimed to hit two of my sweet spots: my yoga addiction and my impending motherhood.

Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi by Brian Leaf