Your essential yoga books list - to inspire you and your practice

This list is particularly for those who are interested in developing a solid yoga practice, and an understanding of yogic philosophy. 

These are some of my absolute fav must have books that I keep returning to, to indulge in their teaching and wisdom across all aspects of yoga.

Classic yoga movement books 

The Yoga ‘Bible’

Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha 

by Swami Satyananda Saraswati

The most popular foundational book on physical yoga practice. It has detailed descriptions of poses including preparatory exercises and contraindications, Pranayama (breathing techniques), cleansing practices, Mudras, Bandhas and yogic anatomy (Nadis, Chakras).

Hatha Yoga Pradipika

by Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Hatha Yoga Pradipika is divided into different portions, each of which explain a certain part of Yoga. Hatha Yoga involves the yoga of the body, and yet this book does not restrict itself solely to the physical aspects of yoga, but delves deeper in to how yoga can awaken the chakras and the kundalini energy.

The whole collection of Bihar School of Yoga Books

The Bihar School of Yoga was founded in 1964 by Swami Satyananda Saraswati and they have been publishing books and articles on all aspects of yoga for over 40 years through their publishing house, Yoga Publications Trust. All of the books in the series act as wonderfully detailed guides to specific aspects of yoga. 

Bringing Yoga to Life

Yoga as a lifestyle 

by Donna Farhi

This book is Laced with real life examples and personal vignettes. It is a wonderful guide to applying what happens on your mat to the rest of your life. Inspiring, heartwarming and evocative, Donna's style is both down to earth and refreshingly honest. She encourages the reader to take a long, hard look at their lives, their minds and their practice. 

The Heart  of Yoga

Developing a Personal Practice 

by T.K.V Desikachar

Another fantastic, all-round yoga book which can be returned to again and again. The theoretical sections offer a fantastic grounding in the concept of yoga and the history of the practice. This book appears on many yoga teacher training reading lists.

What Happens In The Body When We Practice

Yoga Anatomy 

by Leslie Kaminoff

This book dives deeper into the anatomy . It contains anatomical illustrations of the main poses that highlight the muscles in action. It provides a deeper understanding of our physical constitution and the structures and principles underlying each movement.  It’s a great in-depth educational book for teachers and those who want to practice postures at home in a safe and efficient way.

Books on Yoga Philosophy

Yoga Sutras 

by Patanjali

This book comprises 196 sutras which constitute the theoretical grounding of yoga as we know it today. There is much debate over who Patanjali was, or whether his name was a pseudonym for a group of people. It is quite widely acknowledged that Patanjali did not 'invent' yoga, yet his role in the distillation of yogic teachings into this great work does render him a vital and influential figure in the yoga world. There are many translations of the sutras and several great commentaries are available on the work. 

Yoga As A Way Of Life

Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 

by BKS Iyengar

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is one of the most significant ancient texts on yoga. Most yoga schools see it as their foundation. It describes in detail 196 extremely concise sutras, philosophy and deeper concepts of yoga. This is so much more than what we practice on our mat today! It is a whole way of life including moral guidelines and different practices that ultimately aim for the mastery of the mind and with it a gradual approach to the ultimate truth. It describes the path that leads to salvation and freedom, to true peace and thus to true happiness.

A Modern & Scientific Approach To Ancient Practices

A New Look at the Science of Yoga and How It Can Transform Your Life

by Eddie Stern

This book published (2019) is dedicated to questions on why yoga is so good for us and why it seems to not only improve our physical and mental wellbeing but influences all areas of our life.

Showing how a dedicated practice can increase our productivity at work, enhance our relationships, our social behavior, regulate our emotions and evolve spiritual experience. It looks at ancient practices from a contemporary perspective using the author's experience and the results of different neuroscientific studies.

Highly recommend to anyone interested in the purposes and benefits of yoga.

The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy & Practice 

by Georg Feurstein

This mammoth 720-page book contains a wealth of information on all aspects of yoga. Covering the links between yoga,  major religions, yogic cults, literature, philosophy and practice, this truly is a comprehensive guide. The book also contains full and part translations of key yogic texts, including the Sutras and parts of the Bhagavad Gita. In all honesty a book  I have never finshed.

Why invest in a yoga retreat

WHY INVEST IN A PERSONAL YOGA RETREAT 

1.Create Time

Time is always in short supply. Yoga retreats are often described as holding space but they can also hold time. Time to think, to move, to play, or to just exist. Time to be outside of the daily grind long enough to see the bigger picture. Obviously a yoga retreat is an opportunity to immerse in yoga practice and go deeper. BUT there are many many more reasons we choose to retreat, here are some of the less obvious and usually the biggest motivation 

2.Pressing Pause On Your Responsibilities

Whether you’re a parent, business owner, or employee, we all have multiple responsibilities and commitments. Sometimes, this can all get a bit much and make us feel like there is always someone wanting or needing something from us.Unfortunately, our everyday home life doesn’t make it easy for us to switch off from these responsibilities. This constant need to be “on” can make us want to run away and never return. One of the biggest benefits of yoga retreat is the chance to take a much-needed break from our demanding work schedules, responsibilities as parents, partners, and friends, and other commitments a time to focus solely on ourselves and no one else, giving us the rare opportunity to put ourselves first.In addition, yoga retreats allow (and encourage) us to slow down. This is different from normal vacations and weekend city breaks which can be just as fast-paced and hectic as everyday life and not really a break at all.

3.Disconnecting From Technology

Because we don’t have to deal with our usual responsibilities, another of the benefits of a yoga retreat is that we can switch off our phones, leave our laptops at home, and significantly reduce screen time. Disconnecting from technology is vital as the more connected we are online, the less connected we are with ourselves. As we do this, we instantly become more present, noticing and appreciating what is happening around us more. Taking a technology or social media digital detox also helps to “reboot” your brain, reducing anxious and negative thoughts and replacing them with positive energy.

4. Being Immersed In Nature

Mother earth is good for reducing stress, increasing creativity and problem-solving skills, and even fostering feelings of love, empathy, and belonging. Discover new and unspoilt destinations and cultural experiences.

4. Recovery 

Either emotional healing from a break up or  major life changes. Recovery from a physical chronic  illness or a burnout from over work and stress. The time and space to focus on yourself can be the start of a a recovery journey and a BIG healthy first step forward.

5. Time To Assess And Evaluate Your Life

A yoga retreat’s quiet, distraction-free environment allows you to reflect on your life and learn more about yourself. A yoga retreat offers the perfect opportunity to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective.By doing this, you might find that your problems are smaller than you thought. Or an idea or solution may come to you, prompting you to make a change.

6. Meeting Like-Minded People

You’ll likely find everyone on your yoga retreat is there for the same reasons as you; to learn more about yoga, take a break from life, and nourish their mind, body, and soul. Thus, you’ll instantly find you have tons in common with everyone and will quickly build friendships. 

So Are Yoga Retreats Worth It?

If you were wondering if yoga retreats are worth it, hopefully now you can see that there are multiple benefits of a yoga retreat for your mind, body, and soul. 

Long lasting effects than a conventional holiday choice: more peace and tranquility, your yoga retreat memories won’t fade as quickly as your tan does. The results are deep and long-lasting.A retreat is an opportunity to get to the source of any discomfort, and tackle it in a positive and empowering way. 

The yoga retreat setup is designed to help support and encourage you to break negative habit patterns that no longer serve you and create new healthy patterns, relationships and life goals ;)

find your way back to you and your own beautiful soul x 

What do you most love about yoga?

What do you love most about yoga?

Honestly and in a nutshell - its guides me back to me, it makes me feel radiantly alive. I love yoga for that and the little nudges of sunshine, clarity and daily doses of honest happiness.

On a deeper level, I love the fact that yoga physically and emotionally builds my strength, helping to me to support myself, my family and loved ones. It regulates my hormones and reactions and helps me to not completely lose it every month. Its teaches me daily lessons and to be sensitively aware to everything!

The whole experience of yoga allows me to tap into a deep instinctive knowledge, that I have all I need inside me, I have the power to reshape, redefine, create, heal and find peace- totally empowering.

How does the practice of yoga and meditation help you in life off the mat?

Ok for now I am going to break this down into ‘bite size’ expressions, here are a few, hope it’s useful…

When I practice an inversion for instance, I flip my perspective literally, on an emotional level this helps me to be less judgmental of people and situations and shift ridged, stagnate beliefs, becoming more open minded.

Practicing a physically uncomfortable asana, reminds me that I can soften more, find a little space to surrender. In my life that translates to me, in awkward emotions or situations, using breath and the repeated knowledge that I will travel past this moment in time and everything will be ok.

In back-bending poses, I often feel very fearful and vulnerable, this wakes up an inner drive to be braver, and to trust and believe in my-self.

Experiencing the ‘flow’ of asana and transitions, reminds me to move more purposefully in my life decisions, to keep going, stop procrastinating (a big one for me), ride the waves and live with more lightness in the heart.

In stillness, relaxation and breathing, I give myself a gift of space to release thinking, to notice and break cycles that don’t serve me any more. It’s like pressing pause on the controller and having a mental clear out. The breath work is very deep, building prana (or energy) gives me a massive dose of positive and clear thinking patterns, concentration and spiritual peace.

Meditation, often an aloof concept, needs time to develop in its own personal way. I still need to move and literally work though all my shit, to get to there. In the end ultimately it allows me to feel the ‘now’, my inner self, lifted and steadily suspended in a deep peaceful pranic force, that I have created, a little moment of magic, receptive and truly present (even for the shortest moment). Me totally ‘owning’ my magnificent, beautiful flawed, raw human experience.

Www.anniesoulflowyoga.com

Five ways hiking is good for the soul

Five Ways Hiking Is Good for THE SOUL

Hiking in nature is not only good for our bodies, it’s good for our moods, our minds, and our relationships, too

The experience of hiking is unique, research suggests, conveying benefits beyond what you receive from typical exercise. Not only does it oxygenate your heart, it helps keep your mind sharper, your body calmer, your creativity more alive, and your relationships happier. 

And, if you’re like me and happen to live in a place where nearby woods allow for hiking among trees, all the better: ‘Forest bathing’ Evidence suggests that being around trees may provide extra benefits, perhaps because of cetain orgain compounds that trees exude that boost our mood and our overall psychological well-being.

The term emerged in Japan in the 1980s as a physiological and psychological exercise called shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing” or “taking in the forest atmosphere”). The purpose was twofold: to offer an eco-antidote to tech-boom burnout and to inspire residents to reconnect with and protect the country’s forests.

The Japanese quickly embraced this form of ecotherapy. In the 1990s, researchers began studying the physiological benefits of forest bathing, providing the science to support what we innately know: time spent immersed in nature is good for us. While Japan is credited with the term shinrin-yoku, the concept at the heart of the practice is not new. Many cultures have long recognized the importance of the natural world to human health.

1. Hiking keeps your mind sharper than many other forms of exercise

Research suggests that hiking doesn’t just feel good, it might also keep my brain in top shape. All exercise is good for us, getting your heart rate up and working out your lungs keep you feeling younger and stronger. Exercise also helps your brain thanks to the extra oxygenation that comes with it. 

But hiking involves something many other forms of exercise don’t: trails. That means it requires navigating in a world that’s not totally predictable. Slippery dirt, overhanging branches and hidden obstacles, trail markers, and wild animals crossing your path all of the things you might encounter on a trail require micro- and macro-adjustments to your route, which is good for your brain.

As Daniel Levitin explains in his book, Successful Aging, hiking exercises the part of your brain designed to help you navigate through life, for example, the restrosplenial cortex and the hippocampus, which aids in memory, too which is why hiking not only helps your heart, but helps your mind stay sharp, as well.

2. Hiking helps to keep you calm and happy

Exercise in general can be a great stress-buster. But what sets hiking apart from other forms of exercise is that it’s done outdoors in a natural setting.

Research is quite clear on the benefits of being in nature while exercising. studies have found that, compared to walking in a cityscape or along a road, walking in green spaces helps us recover from “attention overload” the mental fatigue that comes from living and working in a world where computers and cell phones are a constant distraction.

Being in nature is calming, too, and studies have found that people who spend time walking in nature are less anxious and suffer less rumination (thinking about the same worries or regrets over and over again), which should help protect against depression.

While it’s not totally clear why nature provides these psychological perks, researcher Craig Anderson and others have found that being in nature encourages feelings of awe a state of wonder coupled with a sense of being small in the presence of something bigger than yourself. Awe is a powerful emotion that has many benefits, including improving your mood and making you feel more generous.

3. Hiking helps your relationships

It may be obvious that hiking is good for our physical and emotional health. But there is mounting evidence that it helps our relationships, too.

One reason is that many of us hike with other people, and exercising together can produce special feelings of closeness and a sense of safety. having a friend along can be a lovely way to connect with another person in a setting free of other distractions.

hiking alone helps me in my relationships, likely for all of the reasons above it helps me reduce my stress, refreshes my depleted attention, and produces awe. And, when I’m feeling good, those effects spill over into my interactions with others once I return from the hike.

For anyone who spends a lot of time caregiving for other people, it can be rejuvenating to let go of that responsibility for a bit and take to a trail. After all, it can’t help but refresh you when you give yourself a break, making you more emotionally available to others afterward.

4. Hiking can increase our creativity

I’m sure I’m not alone in finding that walks in nature let my mind wander freely in creative directions.

Though we often read about philosophers or artists who’ve found creative inspiration in natural spaces, science is just beginning to document the connections between being in nature and creativity.

Some scholars believe that these benefits for creativity have to do with how natural settings allow our attention to soften and our minds to wander in ways that can help us connect disparate ideas that are swirling around in our minds. Others suggest that the spaciousness and unpredictability in natural scenery somehow enhance creativity.

5. Hiking helps cement a positive relationship with the natural world

Besides being good for us, hiking may also help the world around us. After all, if we have the stamina to walk places and cover longer distances, we could use cars less and reduce our carbon footprint.

Beyond that, hiking benefits our planet indirectly, because it increases our connection to nature. Developing a positive relationship with the natural world can help us to care about its fate, making us more committed to conservation efforts.

At least one study has suggested that when we have a personal connection to nature, we are more likely to want to protect it. That means experiences in nature like hiking can be mutually beneficial, helping people and the earth.

This all goes to show that hiking may be one of the best ways to move your body, improvements in my mood, creativity, and relationships, as well as a growing sense of spiritual connection to the natural world.