Top 5 (not so) Yoga Books

The Prophet: Kahlil Gibran

I first discovered this book when I was 15 or 16 years old. I picked it off the bookshelf in my mom's sewing room and thought, "oh this is broken down into short little chapters, I can carry it around and flip through it." I did not do that, I read it almost in one sitting and it was the only time in my life I remember feeling like my entire life afterwards would be different, and it has. The Prophet is the closet thing I have to a Bible, it rings true for me on every level and I always go back to it for advice and perspective. In fact when I turned 18 I made that emblem on the cover my very first tattoo (I have 6 as of now, if you are curious).

The Alchemist: Paulo Coelho

Ever pick up a book, read it, love it, and feel certain you are the only person in the world that knows about it, that was The Alchemist for me. I don't even remember how it came into my life I just remember thinking that everyone should read this book. I keep a copy at all times just to give to people when they are going through rough times or at a moment of profound change, I give it to them and make them promise me to pass it one when they run across someone who needs it. If you are in a slump, feeling challenged beyond your means, or at a dead end on the way to your dream READ THIS BOOK!


Johnathan Livingston Seagull

Ok first The Prophet now Johnathan Livingston Seagull! What was this chick raised by a bunch of hippies? Yes, yes I was. And thank goodness for that. Not only did I grow up listening to the best music of all times but I also grew up among the "it takes a village..." mantality which had lead directly to where I am today and my family of friends and strong sense of Community. SO, when I was 19 years old and I knew that I was going to open a business one day called Second Star Studio not a single person in my family doubted it! So if you were born into the body of a Gull but you dream of flying like a falcon OR you just want a clever metaphor about finding enlightenment that you can also read to your children then go get Johnathan Livingston Seagull. And by the way My dad also owned the movie, which I too loved.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Perhaps and author you recognize as a fiction writer? But she is so much more than that. I originally read this book because some crazy (and use that term lovingly) vegan friends of mine read it and didn't like it because she ordered turkey's online. If it bugs a vegan, I am all for it! Just kidding...sort of... ok maybe that's another blog all together. But Back to Animal Vegetable Miracle, I loved it! I finally became a vegetarian before  the term Localvore had made it off the west coast. I gave up meet not because of my emerging inner yogi, or my fascination with Buddhism, no, it was the environment. Growing with aforementioned hippies I grew up really loving the earth. Seriously I dreamed about growing up and moving out not because I wanted to leave home but because I wanted to live somewhere that I could recycle! So I gave up meat because the meat industry's impact on the environment. I was living in New York City at the time so the idea of actual farms seemed quite literally miles away. Then I read this book and it was like Barbara Kingsolver had read exactly how I felt about food and the earth and even being able to bend the rules! So if you aren't already in the Green movement or don't have your own kitchen garden yet (even for you apartment dwellers) check it out.


Alcoholics Anonymous

There's a lot to be said for the similarities between AA's 12 steps and Yoga's 8! If you are not an alcoholic then chances are you know one, either in recovery or not. The disease of alcoholism is epidemic and as a firm believer that all disease, especially mental disease should be openly discussed in order to fight the negative connotations people who suffer with these diseases go through than I think we should ALL READ THIS BOOK! And as I sit here sipping my Chardonnay... just kidding, but no I am not an alcoholic (but I do suffer from depression and am openly taking medication for it) but I've been close to many, my Grandfather, my Father, Uncles, a Partner and I didn't realize the effect that kind of disease had on those close to the alcoholic themselves. It just like the way Alzheimer effects those closest to the ill, so I'm reading the Big Blue Book now and find it an amazing complement to my yoga studies. You should too!

Reading the Gita

You think asana is hard, have you ever tried to read the Bhagavad Gita? I’ve been trying for years, and that’s not an overstatement. I bought my first copy the year I got out of yoga school that was 2007! Now, 3 years later I’m find myself trudging through it once again. This time armed with 3 different versions I ordered from the library hoping I’d find a translation that, for lack of a better term, speaks to me. The thing about reading spiritual text…well there are a few so I’ll list some of my spiritual speed bumps for your consideration.

#1 For this one I’d go so far as to say this is across the board for any religion/spiritual way of life is that the texts were written thousands of years ago in languages no one speaks anymore. They are dead languages and they are ridiculously hard to comprehend. I just know the very, and I mean VERY, basics of Sanskrit and I get boggled by how many variations there are on ways to pronounce and spell just then names of the Deities. The big ones like Siva and Ganesh! And that’s in the actual Sanskrit. Once you get and translator involved all bets are off as far as I’m concerned. Most books I’ve read, even recent books by the Dalai Lama and translated into English, come out so dry or with obvious lack of knowledge of everyday English. Or worse you get them translated in “new age!” Now I come as granola as the next pagan/massage therapist/yoga teach as the next but even I draw the line sometimes. Maybe it’s my love of post modern fiction by the likes of Tom Robbins and Jeanette Winterson that I just can’t handle poorly constructed, wispy, un-engaging sentences. So there’s that problem.

#2 It’s not all in nuggets. At the end of every yoga class I sum up the meaning of the class or offer up and inspiration in the form of a quote. I call them yoga nuggets, they are short and clear and usually elicit a smile or giggle or thoughtful sigh, they make you think, or at least I like to think they make my students think. But when you are reading text like the Bhagavad Gita, it’s not all 20 word quips. No, no, no there are pages of things to wade through; sometimes they’re pages full of so much profundity that you are mired down and your brain can’t absorb it all or it’s setting or the 3^rd time something is being expounded on. Sometimes that extra explanation of a point is needed but maybe you got it the first or second time and are now day dreaming about what you’re going have for lunch.

#3 This one may just be my own personal problem but it’s a difficult one for me. I don’t soak up knowledge from the page I need more than that. I need discussion, experiments daily interaction with the theories and teachings. But I live in a tiny town and am the only yoga teacher here, somewhere lurking out there are more teachers and even some Buddhist but I haven’t connected with them yet. Which is frustrating when you are on a spiritual path and would like, if not a teacher, then someone to walk with you for while?

So those are the challenges I am faced with when all I’m trying, in essence, to do is sit down and read a book. What’s the answer? Well the same answer as when you come up on a challenge in your asana class; practice. Practice. Dedication. Self surrender. All the same principles as with our physical expression of yoga. Even if it means I read the same 3 pages over and over again for days, we do the same asanas over and over again until we “master” them and the you know what we still do them over and over again every day. Because yoga IS the journey not the destination and the Bhagvad Gita is a very important (and challenging) step on that journey.