Photo by Brynna Bryant of Respiro Photography.

Are you looking for inspiration for your yoga practice?

Lately I keep coming back to these four books.

I highly recommend checking them out, whether you're a yoga teacher looking for creative ideas for class, or you're creating your own home practice. These books offer creative ideas, new flows, ways to make yoga accessible and relevant, and beautiful quotes to read or share during meditation.

Each of these books is extraordinary.

The Art of Attention

by Elena Brower and Erica Jago

This book is a magical exploration of yoga told through stunning images and thoughtful essays. I love the little stick figure sequencing, theme ideas, interactive journaling prompts, and thoughtful sense of awareness that comes from engaging with this book. Watch the Indiegogo video here for an inspiring look behind the scenes of what went into the project.

Yoga at Home: Inspiration for Creating Your Own Home Practice

by Linda Sparrowe

This series of heartfelt essays and photographs shows an inside look at where people practice yoga in their homes. The book features interviews with famous teachers and practitioners such as Seane Corn, Rodney Yee, David Life and Sharon Gannon, Shiva Rea, and Elena Brower as they reflect on practical tips, sequencing ideas, and inspiration found in the teachings of yoga.

What I love most about this book is that it is very down-to-earth and accessible -- you don't have to have years of experience to feel comfortable reading it and taking some of the wisdom and applying it to your own practice.

There's something very real, tangible, and lovely about this collection; reading it feels like being in someone's actual living room with your mats rolled out side by side, just chatting and breathing and trying out the poses.

Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga

by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison

This book is a go-to on days when I'm feeling stuck, uninspired, worried, or overwhelmed. Each passage offers something immediate. I love that the book moves through explorations of all eight limbs of yoga, and it offers thoughts and ideas that make the practice a human experience.

There are pages in this book that I read over and over again, because they reveal the heart of this practice. I love the way Rolf Gates says it, "The real payoff of a yoga practice, I came to see, is not a perfect handstand or a deeper forward bend—it is the newly born self that each day steps off the yoga mat and back into life."

Yoga for Real Life

by Maya Fiennes

When I first started yoga, I practiced with Maya Fiennes, watching her DVD from my living room. I was such a mess. This incredible woman inspired me to start tuning in to my inner wisdom, and to begin understanding my own strength. Years later, I discovered this book, and now love her, and her approach for yoga, even more.

This book offers insight on the different chakras, guiding you through a Kundalini asana practice focused on each energy center, as well as meditation, food, daily practices, and spiritual rituals to balance the energy. It gives a comprehensive view of how we can apply yoga to mind, body and spirit. I like to think of this book as a guide book to creating happiness and peace. Maya's voice offers that-- a sense of grounding and peace. It's a great read for any yoga practitioner, or even someone who's never tried yoga before.