Teaching Yoga by Donna Farhi

This book begins with a very intellectual bent talking about pedagogy and doing some deep dives into philosophy. Later chapters do get a little easier to read but I felt like I was wading through some deep information to get there. 

There are ruminations on the ethics of teaching asana without philosophy as well as the etics that surround teaching yoga. The phrase that resonated most with me was "We should teach what we know, and teach what we practice." In other words, we should be trying to teach poses that we ourselves have not explored thoroughly. 

Not my favorite book on teaching yoga but I can see why it was included in the shelf recommended by my trainer.

Three stars

This book came out September 25, 2006

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

Yoga Inversions by Kat Heagberg Rebar

I really liked this book. The illustrations are really helpful. The writing gives a great idea of not only how to get into the poses but also how to cue them. I could have used just a few more prep poses or ideas of how long to use them to build up to the full inversion but, honestly, you probably need to be able to listen to your own body. 

Four and a half stars

This book comes out August 22, 2023

ARC kindly provided by Shambhala Publications, Inc. and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Your Body, Your Yoga: Learn Alignment Cues That Are Skillful, Safe, and Best Suited To You by Bernie Clark

The hook for me in this book was that the authors promised new ways of cueing in yoga. We did not get much of that. Instead, this book is more of an anatomy book with a lot of information about how things pivot, flex, and extend in our body. A lot of repetition in that every body is not the same so traditional poses will not always work or even be beneficial; there are many reasons for "What stops me?". 

Three stars

This book came out April 12, 2016

Ebook borrowed from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Scientific Keys: The Key Muscles of Hatha Yoga Scientific Keys: The Key Muscles of Hatha Yoga by Ray Long

This is definitely a book to have as a hard copy. There is a LOT of great information about muscles, their placement in the body, antagonists and agonists, etc. It is a little overwhelming, and thus me saying that it would be good to have on hand to re-read often. For yoga teachers, this book is incredibly handy. 

I loved the introduction and opening chapters. They set the book up well. The illustrations are also a major plus. But again, so much to learn.

Four stars

This book came out November 1, 2009

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Healthy Happy Sexy by Katie Silcox

If you want to read a white woman writing about an ancient practice from another culture, this will be the book for you. This book has some obvious and glaring errors ("eskimos" do not have over a hundred words for snow; women do not sync cycles) and definitely wouldn't be an effective tool for anyone who has even a basic knowledge of Ayurveda already. It does serve as a very surface-level exploration of what the Western world thinks Ayurveda means but doesn't provide anything new to the subject.

Three stars

This book came out January 13, 2015

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

Restorative Yoga by Caren Baginski

I have taken a couple of restorative yoga classes and done one teacher training but figured you can never have too much information about ways to relax and restore my energy. In those classes, I had not always enjoyed holding poses for long periods but figured it was probably something that I needed as someone whose mind races pretty much nonstop. I requested this book at the beginning of the year little realizing how much new ways to relax would be needed.
This book has amazing pictures. It is just beautiful to look at which doesn't always happen with yoga books. The explanations of the poses are good. I'm not sure whether a novice would be able to interpret them but I could. I liked that there were warnings about which poses might provide difficulties for some learners.

Four stars
This book comes out tomorrow
ARC kindly provided by DK and Netgalley
Opinions are my own

Yoga Myths by Judith Lassater

If you've been in yoga for any length of time, you've heard of Judith Hanson Lasater. In a recent podcast I listened to, she mentioned that she will have been teaching for 50 years next year. So she should know what she's talking about. And this book is a definite exploration into what has changed in yoga and our understanding of the human body.  Of course, the biggest one is "tuck the tailbone." When I started practicing in 1999, I very much remember my teacher demonstrating how/why tucking the tailbone would serve you in your poses as well as in the rest of your life. But that has slowly evolved as have other ways we do poses. Well, depending on the type of yoga you practice. The book has lots of great pictures with variations for each pose and long descriptions of why each might serve better than a "traditional" pose.

Four stars
This book came out August 25th
ARC kindly provided by Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Opinions are my own

Accessible Yoga by Jivana Heyman

This book achieves what it sets out in the title/subtitle. We have an introduction to the teacher, to the philosophy, and to the practice. I have to admit that one of the reasons that I enjoyed the book is that my idea of yoga aligns with the author - not every pose is for every body. There was so much adherence to the "proper alignment" for so long and it ignored the fact that not every body is able to move like those poses and it may, in fact, be inappropriate for some bodies. The many variations shown in the photos give many options to all levels of movement and bodies.

Four stars
This book came out November 5th
ARC kindly provided by Shambhala Publications, Inc. and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook by Bob Stahl, Elisha Goldstein, Saki Santorelli

I heard about this book in my yoga training many years ago so, when the second edition came up on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it. A very pragmatic book that lays out ways to reduce stress with even-handed well-written chapters. Each idea has exercises for the readers to follow.
This book is going to be best for someone who can follow through on keeping journals, daily entries, etc.

Three stars
This book comes out October 31st
ARC kindly provided by New Harbinger Publications, Inc. and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Anytime Yoga by Ulrika Dezé

This is a "fine" book but I did not connect with it and am not sure children would either. The monkey could be fun but isn't well utilized. Most of this book feels like an 1800s grammar book teaching the itsy-bitsy chidwen how to do their yo-ga. Less conversational than teachy.

Three stars
ARC kindly provided by Shambhala Publications, Inc.and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Sitting Still Like a Frog Activity book by Eline Snel

Get this as a physical book. I got it as an ebook ARC from NetGalley and loading the pages was So Slow. It took up to 5 minutes to load a page and it crashed by reading app several times.
Other than that, this was an okay book. The stories were fairly preachy. It reminded me more of an 1800s primer more than anything else.

Three stars
This book came out April 9
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Restore and Rebalance by Judith Hanson Lasater

A nice introduction to restorative yoga. I think it would help to have a little background in yoga, like, this wouldn't be great for uber beginners. There is a list of various restorative poses with extensive instructions on how to get set up for either yourself or what to look for if you are teaching.

Four stars
This book came out December 26
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Every Body Yoga by Jessamyn Stanley

I first "met" Jessamyn Stanley on Instagram and loved her pictures. I saw her book on NetGalley and snatched it up. I loved the book. I love the writing, I love the language and I  love the pragmatism. There is language in this book. It's not a high-falutin' philosophic exploration of yoga (though it does include some of that). Instead, this is a lovely introduction to people who might be nervous about getting onto the mat for the first time. Yogis are often introduced as skinny white ladies twisting themselves into ridiculous poses but the fact of the matter is that everybody (every body) can do yoga.
I liked the mix of poses and writing. So many yoga books do all the writing and then do all the poses and then asanas. This was a nice interspersion.
A  nice review for experienced yoga-goers and I suspect a very nice beginning for newbies.

Four and a half stars
This book comes out April 4

Yoga FAQ by Richard Rosen

I requested this book through NetGalley because it looked like a nice introductory book into yoga and, quite frankly, had a fun cover. But this is not a light book, the author dives right into the depths of yoga. And, I'm gonna be honest, this threw me off for the remainder of the reading. Especially with the subtitles, I was expecting something a little... more basic. A reference you could flip around in and look for answers to various questions.
This is a perfectly nice book about yoga. There are proposed questions and answers, sometimes with accompanying stories related to yoga or short bunny trails containing more, related information.
I'd say that this book is more geared to the advanced practitioner or slightly-past-the-beginning-teacher than newbies; especially since there are a lot of references that those just starting on their yoga path just won't get.

Three Stars
This book comes out March 7

The Art of Vinyasa by Richard Freeman; Mary Taylor

I would definitely skip over the "teaching" sections of this book and go straight to the "practice" sections. Because, whoa, I'm not sure who this book is aimed at but I definitely wouldn't steer newbies this way. Within the first 40 pages, there were what seemed like a dozen deep thoughts that were skimmed over. This is definitely for a more intermediate yoga practitioner.
I always feel bad for leaving a low rating on a book, especially when you can tell that an author has tried really hard to get everything just right.And that's the problem with what I'm calling the "teaching" sections, where Mr. Freeman is giving details on history or expounding on ideas, he is trying to get everything so perfect that you don't get a sense of his own voice. The yoga books that I resonate most deeply with are the ones where the teacher's own sense of style comes through and you can get a sense of their personality. Most of this book, especially in the beginning, were just myriad facts thrown at you in rapid succession. There is not a real sense of flow and there is a striving for perfection that makes me think of the yoga classes that make you tense up and send your thoughts into monkey-mode trying to get every molecule into perfect alignment rather than the classes that just let you relax into the moment and enjoy your practice.
And this was part of the big bummer for me because I actually really enjoyed the more practice-based sections of this book when we got to experience some of Mr. Freeman's teachings. 

Two and a half stars
This book came out December 27

The Miracle of Meditation by Ryuho Okawa

I should have read the description a bit more and clued in that this was going to be a meditation book with a religious bent. Nothing against it, just not my meditation style. I didn't count that against the book though. To be warned though, this goes beyond a low-level religious bent and talks about guardian spirits and stray animal spirits, things that not everyone will be on board for.
It's not anything really radical in the world of meditation, just a nice book that outlines not only what meditation is but also provides some really nice examples to use while practicing. The Q&A is definitely a little more "out-there" but some readers may feel comfortable with that. Very much reminds me of the teachings of Elizabeth Clare Prophet.

Three stars
This book comes out November 1

Radical Beauty by Deepak Chopra, Kimberly Snyder

This was a really well-written book and a nice collaboration. The thoughts about setting up beauty as pillars is very reminiscent of yogic principles and made a lot of sense. I really enjoyed the in-depth discussion of GMOs and the break out sections were fairly useful. An easy read that was well-edited. I liked the mention of moving in ways that weren't forward and the inclusion of some mantras.
But. There was a lot of repetition from other books (including a lot of references to said previously written books; it was really irritating, why add ads for your other publications?), and not a ton of new information if you know anything about Ayurveda, enjoy reading about yoga and healthy living in general, or have read either of these two authors other materials. Other irritations included the sheer number of ways they told us that veggies were super important (repetition within the book!). I got it the first 56 times. Did we really need it again? And, quite frankly, it sent me running for some chocolate. There were a few points that contradicted themselves like telling us naps were bad and then recommending naps in the grass. And there were just so. many. things to follow. I just to see how the average person is supposed to do them all.

Three stars
This book comes out September 20

The Yoga Lifestyle by Doron Hanoch

This is a very earnest book. The author definitely put a lot of thought into how he would lay out his process to living a yogic life.
Is it very different from other yoga books? Not really. There is definitely that very typical "yoga tone" that comes through in the writing. And it includes most of the same poses that you'll see in other yoga books. This book is nice in that some of the modifications actually get their own pictures, though none of the standing poses do. There is the addition of the doshas which is nice, but the discussion of them is super basic. This book does also include meditation and eating techniques so it really does encompass the whole idea of a Yoga Lifestyle.
Will non-yoga-practioners benefit from this book? Maybe. But I think a basic understanding of yoga (all the branches, not just asana (movement)) will be more helpful. The pictures are as helpful as possible but nothing beats going to a live class with a good teacher (a point that Hanoch does make)
Could you get the basic gist of the book just by reading the bullet points at the end of each section? Pretty much.
Overall an okay book. It's not really geared toward a yoga neophyte but there are some helpful hints such as recipes. There are quite a few yoga techniques that are renamed as being "Doron" techniques but they're not new or specific to this author.

Meditations on Intention and Being by Rolf Gates

A really interesting read. I loved most of the meditations and even got some ideas for some new ones of my own. There are many that could be adapted for yoga classes or other group settings. I wish there had been a bit more background about meditation but maybe that is more in his first book which I haven't read. Definitely a book that could be read by beginners to expert level.
4 stars
Comes out Dec. 8, 2015

Living Mindfully: At Home, at Work, and in the World by Deborah Schoeberlein David, David Panakkal

This book starts off a little slow for those who have practiced meditation in the past or read any books about it. But for those who haven't, this might be a nice way to begin. And the middle section is a fabulous re-read, even for those who have tried these techniques before. The writing and editing make this an incredibly easy read.
I wish that the last chapter hadn't been quite so preachy, but it's overall a book worth reading.
Four and a half stars
This book goes on sale November 24, 2015