At first I thought I was writing here what yoga is to me. But now I want to say to all of you who have never done yoga, but are interested in it and have therefore landed here with me on the page: Don’t do anything!
Everyone who starts yoga asked themselves in the first yoga class at Warrior II: How should I stand for so much more than three seconds? What am I doing here? And at the latest after the third sun salute in the lopsided plain, I wished that I just wouldn’t be here. Maybe at home on the sofa – but not here!
Hermann Hesse says: “… And every beginning has a magic that protects us and helps us to live…” Not only did I survive my first yoga class, but I was happy and amazed at what I was already “able to” do. This resulted in a passion and finally the training as a yoga teacher followed.
In addition to practicing, practicing, practicing – yoga also includes reading and thinking about yoga, about the scriptures and about you and your expectations. For reading I have compiled a small list here, because there is very, very much great literature on the subject of yoga – and you just can’t read everything. In the course of my training I have read a lot of it and many things have impressed me. In some books I look in from time to time again. Some books are just ‘just’beautiful. But which books are important for every yogi?
This list will never be complete and will therefore be constantly expanded and renewed.
The philosophical classics
- The Yogasutra: From Knowledge to Liberation
- Bhagavad Gita: The Song of God. A contemporary version for Western readers
Classical textbooks
- Light on Yoga: The Basic Textbook of Hatha Yoga – B.K.S. Iyengar
- Light on Pranayama: The Basic Textbook of Yoga’s Respiratory School – B.K.S. Iyengar
- Yoga: The Road to Health and Harmony – B.K.S. Iyengar
Anatomy Books
- Yoga Anatomy: Your companion through the asanas, movements and breathing techniques
– Lesley Kaminoff
- Yoga Anatomy 3D: Volume 1: Key Muscles
– Ray Long
- Yoga Anatomy 3D: Volume 2: The Postures – Ray Long
All read themselves!
Newer books about yoga
currently in progress