Yoga Books for Your Asana Practice
/
Photo by @the_lost_portraits.
Do you ever read about anatomy and the function of yoga poses to help deepen your practice?
Sometimes reading about the postures can help you understand them in a completely new way. Here are two books I'd recommend.
The Student's Manual of Yoga Anatomy by Sally Parkes
I'd recommend both of these books to any yogi, especially if you:
- teach yoga
- want to practice advanced poses safely
- are completing a yoga teacher training and studying anatomy
I love that The Complete Guide to Yoga Inversions offers foundational pose alignment (ie downdog, side plank, and forward fold) before getting into the details of more challenging poses. I also love that each pose has a few tips and tricks that help make the posture more accessible-- shifting the gaze or moving the weight in the hands or feet, or an idea for what to do if you get stuck. Truly an amazing book!
The Student's Manual of Yoga Anatomy --this book would be a great starting place for someone in their first teacher training, or if you're a yogi who practices mostly at home and you can't usually get to a studio. I love that the beginning of the book includes information on spinal movement and types of muscle activity. Then the book details each pose with information on how to get into the pose safely, how to modify and use props, and what to be careful of. This is a very thorough, easy-to-digest manual for many poses, and a book I'd highly recommend to practitioners of all levels.
Photo by @the_lost_portraits.
What yoga books are you reading lately?
A big thanks to the team at The Quarto Publishing Group for offering me the opportunity to check out these books. I'll definitely be recommending them to students and teachers, and using the knowledge from each book to inform my own practice! Namaste.
PS Four of my other favorite yoga books and a book featuring yoga and poetry.
