What Yoga Book Should I Take With Me?

[Administrator]

If you were headed to a deserted island and had to take just one yoga
book with you, which one would it be.

I'm not looking for an asana based book.

Thanks.

Peace, Shanti, Shalom

Harlan

[pegasus]

I'd recommend "Living Your Yoga" by Judith Lasater. I just finished reading it and plan to go back through it slowly, chapter by chapter, journaling my thoughts and feelings this time through. It is very accessible, realistic, and gave me a lot to think about in terms of how yoga applies in my real, every day life, not just on the mat.

[DouglasRThompson]

Wow! Only one book? I just looked through my shelf of over 160 books on Yoga, yoga philosophy, Vedantaism, Buddhaism, etc. I WANT THEM ALL!

But the book I have come back to and re-read time and time again over the past 11 years is the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. I know that this is a very small part of the many thousands of years of the history of yoga, but each time I read it, I come away with something new.

There is a very technical interpretation of the sutras by Georg Feuerstein; the first translation and commentary on this work that I ever read. It took a long time for me to get through it, but it left me with a greater understanding of Eastern philosophy. I have 5 different translations of the yoga sutras in my library.

However, the most readable form of this work, and the one I would probably take, would be How to Know God, by Prabhavananda and Isherwood. I have a friend that writes her own commentary on the raw sutras themselves once each year, and then re-reads How to Know God to see how she now agrees or disagrees with the author's interpretation. In any case, that would likely be my book.

Sorry to be so long-winded, but that's how I write!

Be @ Peace,
Douglas

[micki]

This wonderful little book by David James Duncan really has nothing to do with yoga, and yet it has everything to do with yoga. This is an entertaining novel that, to me, conveys the essence of yoga itself. Throughout the book, we go on a journey of uncertainty, dissatisfaction, separation, isolation, respect for the earth and all of nature, coming together, building community, self-realization, unity, and enlightenment. All without a single pose! It may be hard to find, but it's well worth the effort! Hope you find the time to enjoy it!
Micki

[YogaPaula]

Autobiography of a Yogi by: Paramahansa Yogananda

[metta]

I'd recommend The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Recommending books reflects our level of work, interest, and personal development. What I think is the best book for me may not be the best for you, keep that in mind!
If you are going to be stuck on an island, I's recommend this: just meditate instead of reading! The best yoga book is written inside of you! Open it!
metta

[garyhalperin]

Yoga and the Quest for the True Self by Stephen Cope and/or Feel Better Now Meditation by Gary Halperin

[evelyn]

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Satchidanada OR The Wisdom of Yoga by Stepehn Cope (about the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali but less esoteric) OR Theories of the Chakras by Motoyama

[RuthB]

Meditations from the Mat-Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison

[gaileee]

Not a yoga book, but in reflection brings happiness to me, so its yoga...

"All Creatures Great and Small" by James Herriott.