A Beautiful Yoga Book

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Hi friends!

What yoga books are you reading lately?


Sponsored yogini Kels recently checked out Letters from the Yoga Masters, which features the collected letters of Dr. Hari Dickman to the hundreds of yogis he corresponded with—including Swami Sivananda, Ramana Maharshi, and Paramhansa Yogananda. 

Today on Alive in the Fire she shares her thoughts on the book...


This jewel of a book is a fitting tribute to a great soul, offered lovingly by his dedicated student. 

 Its a book you don't want to lose. Its passion, its love, its life and most of its words are written by some of the greatest yoga masters of the past. 

 Hari, Hari Rickman, (whom you'll later be introduced to, well, sooner than later actually) devoted his life to the study of yoga. He once said, "I'm obsessed with yoga and Ill never get enough." Even as Hari was living in a displaced persons camp during the Second World War, he was studying and practicing yoga. 

 One of my favorite scripts is on page 129 where he describes when he learned about Yoni or Shanmukhi Mudra. I really needed a good insight on concentration. The hand written letters that are exampled are engrossing and very intriguing. You have to see them for yourself! 

 How fortunate that the yogic knowledge Dr. Dickman gained from many revered teachers has been preserved so carefully and faithfully that it can enrich the lives of many spiritual seekers who otherwise would never have known of him. Right?! 

 Last snippet; page. 87 discusses Sitali and Sitkari which I think its great to learn, especially during the warm season because it quickly cools down the body. The breathe is so amazing. Literally. 

 Namaste. Kels.

Finding Time in Silence (A Book Excerpt to Get You Grounded)

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Do you spend time in silence?

 I love being in a calm, quiet environment, whether I'm practicing yoga or just relaxing. I tend to be very noise sensitive so taking time away from sounds helps me feel calm, both physically and mentally.

 Recently I read On the Verge: Wake Up, Show Up,and Shine, a great book for inspiration about how to settle the mind, shift out of 'overthinking' mode, and live purposefully. Here's a lovely little excerpt from author Cara Bradley on how to make use of time in silence.
Finding Time in Silence

I’ve grown to appreciate that silence truly is golden. It settles and steadies me in a matter of minutes. I didn’t always feel this way. I used to surround myself with noise. I’d fall asleep with the television blaring, have music playing in my car and home, and talk, talk, talk until my throat was sore. Now I seek silence every day.

There are two types of noise and two types of silence — outer and inner. It’s important to understand the difference.
Outer Noise
Outer noise is the stuff you hear in your environment: talking, music, machines humming. Are you aware that there’s noise almost everywhere you go these days? Music plays in stores, restaurants, and hotel lobbies. Beeps, gongs, and whistles sound all around us. News is broadcast 24/7. Our species is overstimulated with outer noise. We are conditioned to require constant music and entertainment. It’s become the norm.
Inner Noise
Inner noise is the phenomenon of being in a quiet room yet feeling as though a whole crowd of people are talking to you all at once. It’s the voices in your head continually reminding you to do this or to figure out that. Inner noise is your busy mind in action, continuously bouncing around from one thought to the next and filling your mind with constant chatter.
Outer Silence
You can stop the incessant outer noise by finding pockets of outer silence. Turn off the noisemakers such as your laptop or television. Your mind and nervous system will naturally settle down. Your car is a great place to find outer silence — this means turning off the news, music, and your phone. Drive in silence, and you turn your car into a four-wheeled Zen center. Take a few minutes of peace and quiet. Take control of outer-noise pollution in your car, office, and home, and you’ll notice a shift in your energy right away.

Inner Silence

Inner silence cannot be found by shutting down your computer or by being alone in your bedroom. Inner silence emerges from the space beyond your busy mind. You can’t force it to emerge or make it stay. Inner silence arises from your natural state — when your mind is calm. It’s a sense of being quiet from the inside out, when your mind is steady and your body is relaxed. You can learn to access inner silence through practice.

Inner silence leaves an indelible mark. It feels like coming home. It feels so good to be steady and stable. It feels so good to be energized and in harmony. It feels like home to be in sync. Once you get to know inner silence, you’ll want nothing else but to live in that space all the time. 

Cara Bradley is the author of On the Verge.  She has taught yoga, meditation, and fitness internationally for more than thirty years and is the founder of Verge Yoga.   Visit her online at www.carabradley.net.  Excerpted from the book On the Verge: Wake Up, Show Up, and Shine. Copyright © 2016 by Cara Bradley. Printed with permission from New World Library. 


If you're looking for ways to make positive change in your life, I'd highly recommend checking out On the Verge! The book is approachable, encouraging and filled with lots of creative ways to get out of your own head and start living your life in a way that is fulfilling and engaged.

Photos of me in this post by Jobi Otso. 

A Book for Finding Peace and Letting Go of Disappointment

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Do you find it challenging to manage your expectations? How do you react when things don't turn out the way you hoped they would?

 In her book Expectation Hangover, author and life coach Christine Hassler explores these questions and other ideas related to accepting disappointment, going through life transitions, and finding emotional healing. The book is filled with useful exercises, guided meditations and personal stories.

 Today on the blog sponsored yogi Yani shares her review of the book :) Enjoy!


A Review of Expectation Hangover by Yani

 I'm a person that fills her time with the many things she obsesses about and is passionate about. I'm also a person that is really bad at slowing down to read, drink warm lemon water, and kind of just slowing the fuck down (though sometimes I do love to relax, be a homebody, and kick it). Another note about me, I have a hard time finishing an entire book through- unless I have absolutely nothing to do, and can get lost in a new world. I read it part by part, slowly. I tend to read when it's calling me; I don't like to force a good read. 

Expectation Hangover: Free Yourself from Your Past, Change your Present & Get What You Really Want had been sitting on my glass table, along with a few other books, waiting to find their way in my to mind. I picked it up one day and carried it around with me so that when the moment called, I would be ready. I drove up to the DMV, without an appointment, grabbed the book in my AmeriCorps bag, and got lost in a new world while I waited in line and sat awaiting my number. 

As always, I read what was destined to find its way in to my mind. I felt moments of epiphanies; I felt my worlds coming full circle. One of the greatest lessons I took away from my short escape was: holding onto expectations is setting the heart and mind up for failure. Goals and ambitions are in place to guide you, but to expect is to put all your eggs in one basket. Create, have faith, and see what finds its way to you as a reality in your world. We have full control of ourselves, but limited control of life.  

In my reading I found a humbling mindset, a mindful way of being. It allowed me to make peace, let go, and ground myself. 


I love that this is an interactive reading, encouraging you to journal and reflect. I look forward to moving onward with this journey, and what this book shall reveal to me. 

One of my favorite quotes from the book:

"We all love control because the unknown is downright scary. In fact, I think control has become the master addiction. But the truth is we really don't have complete control over our lives, and nothing illuminates that truth more brightly than an Expectation Hangover."


Thanks, Yani, for your awesome review and a big thanks to the team at New World Library for offering the opportunity to check out this book. Namaste.

PS Learn more about the author Christine Hassler and check out her interview with Huffington Post about how to overcome falling short of your expectations. Or take her quiz to find out if you have an expectation hangover.

Yoga Books for Your Asana Practice

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Photo by

@the_lost_portraits

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Calling all yoga junkies! :)

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 Complete Guide to Yoga Inversions

by

Jennifer DeCurtins

, R.Y.T.

I've been reading these books lately for new ideas about how to sequence my yoga classes leading up to a peak pose. They are filled with so much great information!

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

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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

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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

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