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Can you recommend a good yoga book? Yes. A few, wholeheartedly. But be advised: (1) My training and my experience incline me towards Iyengar Yoga, the type of yoga I teach. (2) Although there is a lot of fluff out there, there are also lots of good books I can't recommend simply because I am not yet familiar enough with them. |
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The bible of Iyengar Yoga, and what is generally considered the most influential modern hatha yoga book in the world, is, naturally, BKS Iyengar's 1966 "Light on Yoga." It is not, however, the most helpful book for beginners. It is a compact 544 pages, and many of the poses that fill it are ones that none of us will ever come anywhere close to achieving. It is a comprehensive handbook, a superb reference tool, but, that said, you can start better.
A Good Starter
One good starter is "Yoga the Iyengar Way" by Silva and Shyam Mehta, 1990. Lots of very clear pictures and absolutely clear basic instructions on how to do 85 asanas. A beginning student or advanced beginner could do very well using this as a guide for a matter of years. I am less enthusiastic about "How to Use Yoga" by Mira Mehta, 1998. Same big-page, colored picture with accompanying text format; but the pictures are not as clarifying nor the text as deep.
A Good Starter, Part Deux
Don't be put off by the title. "The Runner's Yoga Book" by Palo Alto's own Jean Couch, 1990, was originally "The Runner's World Yoga Book." (RW being a sport magazine; a sponsor). This is a superb reference book about yoga, not about running, and it is very good indeed at explaining the "why's" of a great number of poses. Unlike the Mehta book, (which categorizes the poses by standing, sitting, etc), it is nicely organized into chapters according to the muscles or parts of the body affected by the poses.
Would I choose this over "Yoga the Iyengar Way?" Yes and no. The Mehta book would perhaps be the textbook for your freshman course, Yoga 101. Couch's book would, I think, be for your junior, when you'd definitely decided on your major.
A New Classic
BKS Iyengar has taken a lesson from the Mehta's and gone coffee-table format with a less exhaustive set of asanas. In his brand-new "Yoga the Path to Holistic Heath," twenty-four basic poses are treated with enough depth for a beginner or advanced beginner. Then a section helpfully shows how to do a larger number of poses using yoga props (as we often do in class here at Ladera Oaks). There is also a very good reference section detailing specific yoga classes for a huge number of health conditions. For asthma, for example, Iyengar sets out a 24-pose class; for indigestion, 36 poses; PMS 26. Again, invaluable, but not the best to start with.
And Now A Word From My Sponsor
Finally, there is "Life is a Stretch" by Elise Browning Miller, 1998. This is a clear, user-friendly book focussing on back-care asanas. EBM addressed her own scoliosis successfully through yoga and is now recognized as a national expert on yoga for back-care. (Note: EBM is my yoga mentor, and I also assist her at her studio. I have, however, no financial interest in sales of her book, nor any of the recommended books). I would mention this book even if there were no connection, because of its readability and its clear, precise step by step instructions (do this, then this, then this).
Do it Yourself. Not!
A final caution. Working by yourself with a good yoga
book can aid your yoga practice immensely. But note the operative word:
"aid". You cannot "see" yourself in the poses, even
looking in the mirror. And you may not be getting the right "feel":
the internal actions within the pose. A good teacher, who can point you
in the right direction, has been considered, with reason, for thousands
of years, a necessity.
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