When studying for yoga teacher training, you will be given a few key texts to read. While the kind of yoga you are learning to teach will influence your choice of yoga teacher training material, many books are applicable. Most are now available in printed or digital formats that may be read on any device.
This list of 15 yoga teacher training books includes a solid representation of all types of YTTC. These yoga books Australia cover a wide range of topics that, when combined, provide an excellent introduction to the numerous tools of yoga.
These best yoga books should keep you going for years.
1. Light on Yoga – BKS Iyengar
Light On Yoga is a classic treatise on Yoga theory and practice. It is aimed towards both beginners and advanced Yoga practitioners. These yoga books Australia begin with an introduction by Yehudi Menhuin, a famous musician and author friend. It's broken into three sections. The first section provides an introduction to Yoga, tracing its historical roots back to ancient India.
The second section focuses on yoga asanas, bandhas, and kriyas. It goes over many asanas or positions in great depth. A photograph is used to depict each asana. Step-by-step directions for perfecting the asana follow this. Each pose's benefits, problems it cures, and precautions it necessitates are all included. The third part of the book is entitled to the practice of Pranayama.
2. The Yoga Tradition – Georg Feuerstein
It's a bit of a heavier read! The most complete and dependable explanation of the subject available today comes from the world's foremost living authority on Yoga. This is a work of exceptional scholarship by someone who has dedicated his life to the study and practice of yoga.
These best yoga books provide a comprehensive survey of every Yogic tradition, from the well-known to the lesser-known. They also cover the history, philosophy, literature, psychology, and practice of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jaina Yoga. Translations of twenty Yoga treatises are also included, as is the first translation of the Goraksha Paddhati.
3. Hatha Yoga Pradipika – Swami Muktibodhananda
Hatha Yoga Pradipika (Light on Hatha Yoga) contains the original Sanskrit book prepared by Maharshi Swatmarama and an English translation and extensive commentary by Swami Satyananda and Swami Muktibodhananda.
This book explains the complete science of hatha yoga (asana, pranayama, shatkarma, mudra, and bandha). It was created and practiced for health and fitness and awaken the vital energies: pranas, chakras, and kundalini shakti.
It emphasizes that hatha yoga is a process of cellular transmutation from gross to subtle to divine, not only a physical practice. As a result, hatha yoga was regarded as the foundation of all higher yogas. The text is illustrated with diagrams and drawings.
4. The Key Muscles of Yoga – Ray Long
You will find amazing illustrations in these yoga books Australia. This book takes a scientific approach to understanding hatha yoga practice. Ray Long describes the method and benefits of hatha yoga using four-color, three-dimensional images of main muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
Specific anatomical and physiological descriptions highlight the synergist muscles, agonist, and antagonist and are involved in each pose. Volume I of the series discusses the critical hatha yoga muscles and how they are used. This book will be a continuous companion for everyone, from beginners to specialists.
5. Anatomy of Hatha Yoga – H. David Coulter
Anatomy of Hatha Yoga–revised and updated with full-color pictures and photos–is the most thorough and authoritative work available on hatha yoga anatomy and physiology. It is a must-have for anyone serious about learning or teaching yoga, as well as an excellent source for anyone interested in the field of physical conditioning.
For almost thirty years, the author was a sought-after professor, teacher, and yoga practitioner with a Ph.D. in Anatomy. He lived and lectured at the Himalayan Institute for Yoga Science and Philosophy and the medical schools of the University of Minnesota and Columbia University.
6. Teaching Yoga – Mark Stephens
Teaching Yoga is a must-have resource for both new and seasoned teachers and a resource for all yoga students looking to improve their skills and knowledge. Teaching Yoga meets all of the teacher training curriculum guidelines established by Yoga Alliance, the world's premier registry and accrediting source for yoga instructors and schools. It is also excellent for use as a core textbook in yoga teacher training programs.
These best yoga books cover fundamental topics of yoga philosophy and history, drawing on a wide range of perspectives and featuring more than 150 photographs and illustrations, including a historical presentation of classical yoga literature: the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, and the primary historical sources on tantra and early hatha yoga.
Each of the eleven primary forms of current yoga is discussed, along with a brief history of its development and unique features of its teachings. The book provides significant support and methods for teaching 108 yoga positions (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), and meditation by exploring traditional and modern aspects of anatomy and physiology.
7. Yoga – Erich Schiffmann
Erich Schiffmann, a world-renowned yoga master, now presents an easy-to-follow, fascinating new technique – the first to merge hatha yoga and meditation – to everyone who wants wholesome beauty and inner serenity.
Yoga shows more than one hundred poses and yoga routines for all levels of ability that will slow or even reverse aging, boost stamina and strength, and trim and tone the body; a thorough meditation program to achieve self-realization, reduce stress, and stimulate creativity and love; yoga's stillness and movement secrets that will allow you to radiate energy and feel an inner glow throughout your body; Exercises that will ignite delight in you, allowing you to feel good about yourself and experience happiness; and strategies for attentive breathing and conscious bodily immobility that will magically shift your view of yourself.
Through the spirit and practice of Yoga, learn how to feel balanced, centered, and coordinated, develop flexibility, remove pain, and become free of life's toxicity.
8. The Heart of Yoga: TKV Desikachar
Based on Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya's teachings and published by his son T. K. V. Desikachar, who founded the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandrim (KYM) Chennai, India. This was our Viniyoga yoga teacher training textbook. It teaches asana and all of the fundamentals of yoga and incorporates the first two chapters of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.
Desikachar explains yoga poses and counterposes, conscious breathing, meditation, philosophy, and how a yoga student can construct a personalized practice to their current health, age, employment, and lifestyle.
9. Light on the Yoga: Sutras of Patanjali – BKS Iyengar
The translation and interpretation of these ancient yoga sutras by BKS Iyengar has been referred to be the "bible" of yoga. The classic text has been updated with a new introduction by BKS Iyengar and a preface by Godfrey Devereux, author of Dynamic Yoga. This compilation of yogic wisdom was written approximately 2,000 years ago by Patanjali.
They are the earliest, most holy yoga references and are among the world's most renowned and ancient teachings. The Sutras are brief and to the point, simply a line or two long. BKS Iyengar has translated each one and included insightful commentary and explanations for current audiences.
The Sutras teach the reader how to transform themselves via yoga practice, gradually improving the mind, body, and emotions to become spiritually developed. The Sutras are also an excellent introduction to the spiritual philosophy that underpins yoga practice.
These best yoga books are thoroughly cross-referenced and indexed, resulting in a volume that is both accessible and useful for students of Indian philosophy and yoga practitioners.
10. Yoga Sequencing – Mark Stephens
The fundamental principles and strategies for arranging and sequencing yoga lessons are presented in these yoga books Australia.
This book addresses one of the most popular topics in the yoga profession by providing sixty-seven model sequences of yoga poses (asanas) that cover the entire range of yoga student experience, including multiple sequences for beginning, intermediate, and advanced students; yoga for kids, teens, women throughout their lives, and seniors; and classes to relieve depression and anxiety.
Each sequence includes instructions for teaching the various breathing (pranayama) and meditation practices that give yoga its transformational effect.
