These are the books that the Foundation course students shared as their Inspirational Read and the Go To book for their yoga.
HM Inspirational book: Mindfulness: A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world by Mark Williams and Danny Penman. This seemed to be the answer I was looking for to de stress my life but that also Yoga and meditation walked hand in hand with much of its philosophy and together have helped me cope better with life and enjoy and appreciate it too.
Go to book: DK 101 Essential yoga tips its pocket size so can easily come anywhere with me. Very straight forward & easy to use pictures & instructions.
F inspirational book: Full Catastrophe Living: How to cope with stress, pain and illness using mindful meditation. By Jon Kabat-Zinn.
HJ Inspirational: Complete Stretching by Maxine Tobias. Clearly photographed poses, and props to modify. Good series of routines for different levels, along with ‘winding down’ or ‘get up and go’ etc.
Go to book: Baron Baptiste’s My Daddy is Pretzel which is simple and colourful and weaves yoga poses into simple stories for children. Set of cards give more poses along with group work & simple meditations.
C Inspirational book: Yoga, James Hewitt Teach Yourself Books. First published in 1960, Hewitt brought yoga to the masses. Simple & clear take on traditional yoga and how to incorporate in our own lives.
Go to book: Yoga Patricia A. Ralston, Collins Gem
Great pocket sized reference book detailing the main asana groups and some basic breathing techniques, with benefits and cautions for each.
T Inspirational book The Tao of Pooh & The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff
J Inspirational book: The Web that has no Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine by Ted J Kaptchuk but that was more a book that made me keen to study Yoga in more depth.
A book that I’ve got a lot out of recently is The Wisdom of the Enneagram – the complete guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the nine personality types by Don Richard Ruso and Russ Hudson.
A Inspirational book: The Kitchen Table Wisdom by Dr Naomi Remen This book, this woman, this medical doctor inspired me because through her stories she goes back to our common sense, to how to reconnect with our humanity as a person and as a professional. Allowing to be humane, true and led in our life by values.
Go to book: The Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminoff. Helps me to connect with the muscles, tendons, parts of my body I am engaging with, when I practice yoga.
C Inspirational book: Mindfulness, Finding Peace in a Frantic World Mark Williams and Danny Penman
I have Mark Williams meditations on my phone. He is a very pleasant but unassuming sounding chap. His guided meditations have been extremely helpful!
Go to book: Hatha Yoga Pradipika Yoga mind and Body by the Sivananda Centre
S Inspirational book: Caroline Myss medical intuitive, Anatomy of the spirit, a great inspiration to me over the years. I actually have her DVD.
Go to: The way of qigong Kenneth Cohen. which really is a parallel to yoga, I take inspiration from The Chart of Luminosity – in particular the reference to the need for regular practise which in itself requires perseverance and stamina to plant the seed of long life and wisdom. Not easy!
F Inspirational book: Full Catastrophe Living: How to cope with stress, pain and illness using mindful meditation. By Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Article in BWY South Magazine as the group completed the course in Autumn 2017.
Find out more about the next Yoga BWY Foundation Course 1 which begins New Year 2020.