A few of my favorites from my yoga bookshelf…
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1. Women Who Run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. An exploration of the many female archetypes. This is a dense read, that I am soaking up over time. Every woman should have this on her shelf.
2. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert writes about her life after a major life change.
She drops everything and takes a year to spend four months in Italy (Eat), India (Pray), and Bali (Love). Her writing brings her experiences in these three VERY different cultures alive. Her experiences at an ashram in India may be interesting to you for your yoga practice. Someday, I, too, would like to travel to India...
3. The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz. This book is relevant to everyone! I will share the first agreement with you:
“Be impeccable with your word.” Don Miguel Ruiz says that “being impeccable means without sin. A sin is anything that you do which goes against yourself. Being without sin is the opposite. Being impeccable is not going against yourself. When you are impeccable, you take responsibility for your actions, but you do not judge or blame yourself.”
4. The Sound of A Wild Snail Eating, by Elisabeth Tova Bailey. This is a short, non-fiction book about a woman who is confined to bed for an extended period of time with an illness. She discovers a snail living on her nightstand and eventually provides it with a terrarium. She studies the diurnal and nocturnal activities of this snail, and cultivates a sort of connection with it through her deep study and its slow pace of life. While not a book on mindfulness directly, this book inspires me to slow down, observe, and be with what is.
5. The Invitation, by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. A short yet profound book about the poem that the author wrote late one night after coming home from a party. She delves deeply into her invitation to live life to the fullest, and what that means within and with others. The final line of the poem is; “I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.”
6. The Miracle of Mindfulness, by Thich Nhat Hanh. This is a simply excellent book about what it means to be mindful and how to begin a practice of meditation. For example, Thich Nhat Hanh writes about daily activities in the home, such as washing dishes. This, too, is a meditation!
7. Since we cannot travel fully right now, I will add The Geography of Bliss, by Eric Weiner to this list. Eric is a correspondent for NPR, and travels around the world to try to determine why natives in some of the most contented places on earth are happy. A fascinating read.
8. clarity & connection by yung pueblo. A book with snippets of wisdom and insight on every page. Read it cover to cover or open to any page.
9. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. This book is truly for all ages. It’s on my nightstand, but sometimes I might lend it to one of my daughters to peruse and enjoy the illustrations and loving words.
If you have any books to recommend, let me know in the comments! I would love to expand my bookshelf.