For the Practice Path
These are the voices, books and teachings that have shaped my practice and the way I hold space at the shala. They are offered with deep respect for yoga’s roots in India and South Asia, and the lineage we practice within. Take what calls to you, and allow it to unfurl at your own pace.
Listen
The Yogic Studies Podcast, Seth Powell
Thoughtful conversations with scholars and practitioners on the history and philosophy of yoga. A steady companion for anyone who wants to know where this practice comes from.
The Love of Yoga, Anjali Rao
Anjali brings scholarship, activism and yoga together with honesty and care. Her conversation on The Yogic Studies Podcast is a beautiful place to begin.
EarthBody with Jiling Lin
Jiling weaves the five elements, herbs and seasonal living into a gentle, poetic rhythm. A reminder that we are part of nature, and that our bodies move with the seasons.
Liberating Yoga, Harpinder Kaur Mann
Conversations on yoga as healing, resistance and connection. Her episode with Dr. Shyam Ranganathan on yoga as a decolonial practice is one I return to.
Andrea R. Jain on Cultural Appropriation and Essentializing Yoga, Embodied Philosophy
A clear, grounded look at how yoga has been packaged and sold, and what we lose along the way.
Read
Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, translation and commentary by Edwin Bryant
The heart of our philosophy. I come back to the Sutras again and again, and each time they meet me somewhere new.
The Upanishads, translated by Eknath Easwaran
Ancient teachings on the nature of the self. A gentle and accessible translation to sit with slowly.
Yoga Makaranda, T. Krishnamacharya
Written by the teacher of Pattabhi Jois, this early text describes āsana, vinyāsa and breath in a way that will feel familiar to anyone who practices Mysore style. A chance to read our lineage in the words of one of its roots.
Astanga Yoga Anusthana, R. Sharath Jois
Sharath’s guide to the Primary Series, with each āsana given its vinyāsa count, breath and dṛṣṭi. A steady reference for self-practice, rooted in the way it is taught in Mysore.
The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajñāpāramitā Heart Sutra, Thich Nhat Hanh
Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Thich Nhat Hanh opens one of the most important Buddhist sutras with clarity and tenderness, offering subtle teachings on non-duality and inter-being. A gentle companion for sitting practice.
Living Ritual, Tracee Stanley
Written for householders, people with families, work and full lives. Tracee shows how small, intentional rituals can bring the sacred into ordinary days.
The Quiet Teachers, Ally Bogard
Ally has been a teacher and mentor to me. Her words carry the wisdom of many years of teaching and listening.
Yoga as Embodied Resistance, Anjali Rao
A feminist lens on caste, gender and colonization in yoga’s history. An invitation to unlearn, and to practice with greater awareness and integrity.
Embrace Yoga’s Roots, Susanna Barkataki
A loving and courageous guide to honouring where yoga comes from. A good first step toward reclamation and decolonization in our own practice.
Braiding Sweetgrass and The Serviceberry, Robin Wall Kimmerer
Indigenous wisdom, botany and reciprocity. Living here on Sḵwx̱wú7mesh land, these books remind me to listen to the land and give back to it.
One Simple Thing, Eddie Stern
Eddie is a longtime Ashtanga teacher who studied with Pattabhi Jois. Here he looks at the science of yoga and how breath, attention and practice shape the nervous system. A clear, warm bridge between tradition and modern understanding.
Roots of Yoga, James Mallinson and Mark Singleton
Translations of the original texts on breath, posture and meditation. For those who want to read the sources themselves.
Yoga Body, Mark Singleton
How modern posture practice took shape. A meaningful read for any Ashtanga practitioner curious about the history of the sequences we practice.
Selling Yoga, Andrea R. Jain
On how yoga became a product in consumer culture, and what remains when we look beneath the surface.
Explore
Journal of Yoga Studies
Free scholarly articles on yoga’s history. I especially recommend “The Yoga of the Haṭhābhyāsapaddhati”, an 18th-century text with long āsana sequences that feels familiar to Mysore practitioners, and “Premodern Yoga Traditions and Ayurveda”.
How to Decolonize Your Yoga Practice, Susanna Barkataki
A short article that opened an important conversation in the yoga world.
The Indian Philosophy Blog
Reflections on Indian philosophy across many schools and centuries. A place to keep going deeper with the Sutras and the Upanishads.
