What's the best Yoga book you'd recommend to a beginner? \ stacker news ~BooksAndArticles

What's the best Yoga book you'd recommend to a beginner?

207 sats \ 20 comments \ @AG 14 Jul BooksAndArticles

I've been meditating for years and I think am out of sync with my body 😅 need to move more!

read about Yoga Nidra AKA Non Sleep Deep Rest by @BTCFC, Tai Chi vs Yoga by @cristaiji, Make Aerial Yoga Masculine by @SilkyNinja and Alternative to going to the gym by @anna and looking for more info and guidance!

Any valid suggestion will be highly zapped ⚡️

🧡

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36 sats \ 8 replies \ @konstantin21 15 Jul

https://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Sutras-Patanjali-Swami-Satchidananda/dp/1938477073

patanjali, baby!

for a more modern take, Light on Yoga

https://www.amazon.com/Light-Yoga-Bible-Modern/dp/0805210318/

6 sats \ 1 reply \ @fake123 15 Jul

seconded on Patanjali This is what any practitioner needs to read or you'll have no clue what yoga is even about unless you read some even more ancient vedic texts or something. But Patanjali incorporates the important stuff from all yogic traditions.

Depending on how deep you want to go, you can read several translations. Every sanskrit word of these sutras is laced with deep meaning. But it is very manageable if you start with a nice, accessible, middle-of-the-road translation. I like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Sutras-Patanjali-Weiser-Classics-dp-1578637309/dp/1578637309/ref Mukunda Stiles made a great, poetic translation, conveying the basic concepts well to the layman.

It may not be as readily accessible to the western mind as a translation like this:

But at the same time, it doesn't try to hammer square pegs into the round holes by constant allusion to christian theology, and doesn't block the flow of the sutras with the author's interpretation.

It's not a super-advanced translation where every term is expounded upon like some more academic-focused authors, turning what should be simple aphorisms turn into paragraphs of explanation. For that same reason, it doesn't get in its own way. Highly recommended.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @AG OP 15 Jul

Look's like Patanjali is a good teacher and someone to read more about. I'll definitely go to the version you suggested.

But also, @konstantin21 what do you mean by modern take? Does it contain the same concept but exposed on a much, lets' say "digestible" way?

Consider I do know nothing about the topic, where I could start learning about Patanjali approach? ... and how is Raja Yoga differentiating from other practices?

6 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bell_curve 15 Jul

note to self:

Ernst Junger, Forest Passage

Carl Schmitt, The Concept of the Political

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @AG OP 15 Jul

not sure I understand the ration to these two books ad Yoga 🤔

11 sats \ 3 replies \ @anna 15 Jul

Seconding this comment.

Light on Yoga is the bible to my asana practice. Iyengar has so many thoughtful sequences in there - I recommend following his sequences with YouTube/an in person teacher to aid you and watching your progression!

11 sats \ 2 replies \ @AG OP 15 Jul

Iyengar

I'll definitely have a look, found these videos for the first few weeks

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @anna 16 Jul

Looks great, I may have to try out those videos too. Enjoy and don’t forget to breathe! :)

33 sats \ 0 replies \ @AG OP 16 Jul

Well I hope to learn it asap, so I can give up on these videos 😅 and do it without being dependent of tech

19 sats \ 4 replies \ @cristaiji 14 Jul

It’s not strictly a yoga book but I’d recommend this to anyone getting into these arts.

https://m.stacker.news/39721

11 sats \ 3 replies \ @AG OP 15 Jul

Noted! Thank you very much... just dummy question, so how is Daoism related to yoga? Is this Yin Yoga? I'm lost already! I know there're so many variations and the term Yoga it's so generic that can't even define it. How to learn and choose between all the variants?

13 sats \ 2 replies \ @cristaiji 15 Jul

There’s lots of practices and explanations in the book that relate to Yoga . The book provides a good grounding in eastern arts and in my experience there is a lot of crossover between the different eastern traditions. It’s a practical book and not dogmatic about religion in the slightest.

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @AG OP 16 Jul

I got the book, is my next after the Light of Yoga, thank you so much

13 sats \ 0 replies \ @cristaiji 16 Jul

Ok awesome. ☺️

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @Se7enZ 15 Jul

Autobiography of a Yogi by Yogananda is a classic - preparing a template for attitude toward practice, providing inspiration for setting out on the path, and just an incredible story.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, as already mentioned. And the life story of Tibetan yogi Milarepa is an incredible read as well.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @AG OP 15 Jul

Thanks for the reminder! I've watched the Awake a documentary about his life. I'll definitely get the book

6 sats \ 3 replies \ @BTCFC 14 Jul

So I'm very much the type to try it out first and then read and educate myself second, thus I don't have any book recommendations but I would say the best way to learn is to implement one simple practice whether it be yoga nidra or tai chi or yoga or whatever and practice it regularly. I've been practicing yoga nidra every day without fail for more than 2 months now and it has been quite life changing. I would also recommend keeping track of your progress with some sort of monitoring device if you have one, but if you don't have a wearable that tracks your basic health metrics you can also just journal your experiences to keep track of your progress over time. For me, I wear a device called the Whoop and it has shown me that yoga nidra is in fact beneficial as both my total daily stress, and non activity stress has gone done significantly over these 2,3 months. Being able to visibly see your progress IMO helps with long term motivation and sustainability.

All the best!

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @AG OP 15 Jul

Wow, that's impressive, thanks for the suggestions. I'm definitely willing to practice more than reading, and I want to have some solid base to learn and not just watching some random video. I also assume that getting an instructor or joining some classes drastically helps, but living in a remote area it's definitely not that accessible or available as I'd wish.

So where and how did you start? What make you decide between yoga nidra, tai chi, or yoga? Cannot either realize the difference between these three... 😅

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @BTCFC 15 Jul

No problem!

I'm an athlete so for most of my life I've been training but it wasn't until recently that I really began diving into optimizing my recovery and rest, and that's where I came across yoga nidra as a protocol for rest. Sleep is paramount for optimal recovery but sometimes we either don't get enough sleep or need more rest in addition to our sleep, which is where I've found yoga nidra fits right in.

So in comparison to yoga and tai chi, yoga nidra emphasizes complete rest and relaxation where the other two are more activity and movement oriented.

If you feel like you need more rest or relaxation I encourage you to give it a try! Super easy, just lie down, get comfortable, and let the instructor guide you!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @AG OP 16 Jul

That's amazing, and thanks for sharing your experience and the video. I think I get relaxed enough relaxation when meditating, what I need is my body to move in a more appropriate and different ways as I feel I'm loosing elasticity... more stretching!