Title: Hatha Yoga Pradipika
Author: Swami Vishnu-Devananda
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The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is one of the earliest texts on yoga. This classic Sanskrit treatise was written by Swami Swatmarama. It offers information about many yogic practices familiar to today’s Western yoga student as well as other more obscure practices. The effects of advanced practice are described.

I like Swami Vishnu-Devananda’s translation and commentary. I find the visual layout accessible and his commentary is mostly helpful. I have read other versions of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and have found the translation is often confusing. Perhaps this is due to the difficulty in translating this very old Sanskrit text. Swami Vishnu-Devananda includes Sanskrit, English translation, commentary and descriptive photographs in this work. The overall result is a success!

Title: Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God
Author: Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwoood
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The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most important spiritual texts from India. Hindus and yogis alike are fond of this epic poem.’Bhagavad Gita’ translates to mean ‘the song of the Divine One’ and is sometimes referred to as the Gospel of Hinduism. This text is important for yoga practitioners because it describes the cosmology of yogic philosophy. Furthermore, study of the Bhagavad Gita invites the potential evolution from the Western yoga practitioner, whose understanding of yoga might be limited to its physical poses, to a practitioner with a depth of understanding that reaches beyond its physical exercises.

Like the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the Bhagavad Gita deserves to be read in its varied translations. The Sanskrit in which it was written differs greatly from English and thus gives birth to an array of passionately written English forms. After a few attempts at sinking my teeth into the Gita, Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood’s translation grabbed me. The Bhagavad Gita itself is written entirely in poetic verse, however Swami Prabhavanada and Christopher Isherwood chose to break from this format and combine prose with verse, making it a little easier to read than some other translations where the interpreter may have hung on to preserving verse at the expense of preserving meaning. This is the best translation for the reader who is just starting out with important yoga texts. Just keep in mind that as you continue to practice and study, you will find your comprehension deepens and you may find that you get more out of the texts further down the track.

Title: Yoga: The Essence of Life: Eight Yogis Share Their Journeys
Author: Alix Johnson
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I am forever grateful to have companions on the path of yoga. And, I’m very grateful to my friend, Alix Johnson, for authoring Yoga: The Essence of Life: Eight Yogis Share Their Journeys. She interviewed eight promninent Western yoga teachers and brings their stories to all of us. Those interviewed include: Donna Farhi, Eileen Hall, Glenn Ceresoli, Muktanand Meannjin, Robert E. Svoboda, Rose Baudin, Shandor Remete and Simon Borg-Olivier. The interviews are personal, remarkable and inspiring. For me, this book on yoga is essential in that it grounds yoga in the real lives of eight individuals. I love the honesty of these stories and the wisdom that shines brilliantly through each of these eight yogis.

Title: Raja Yoga
Author: Swami Vivekanada
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The best way to get to know Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is to spend time reading a few different translations with interpretation of the text. With exposure to a variety of perspectives, you will come to know the essence of their meaning over time. This is a complex and important yoga text. But never fear, there is beauty within!

Vivekananda’s Raja Yoga offers an accessible translation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. In the first half of the book, Vivekananda introduces and explores the eightfold path, paying close attention to complex concepts such as Dharana, Dyana, and Samadhi. The latter half of the text focuses on the yoga sutras. Each sutra is written in Sanskrit, translated into English, and then unpacked in commentary.

Title: Four Chapters on Freedom
Author: Swami Satyananda Saraswati
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Comparative reading is important when approaching essential yoga texts like “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.” There are many translations and interpretations of the yoga sutras available and they all vary from one another. Reading more than one interpretation will help you to appreciate the nuances of meaning that are potentially masked in translation and interpretation of this ancient sanskrit text.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s Four Chapters on Freedom is laid out really well. Each sutra is numbered, written in Sanskrit, written phonetically, translated word by word, and translated as a whole. In depth commentary follows. The book also includes a pronunciation guide.

Title: How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali
Author: Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood
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Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is an essential yoga text. Translations and interpretation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra are many. It is a good idea to have a look at several different translations as they tend to vary significantly.

Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood offer clear and simple translation with detailed commentary in How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali. The downside of this text is that it only provides the English translation, there is no Sanskrit or phonetic pronunciation available.

Title: Frederick
Author: Leo Lionni
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Frederick, by Leo Lionni is a yoga book for small people.  Frederick is a field mouse who gathers sunlight, colors, and words for the winter while his friends collect nuts and berries.  As the winter months pass by, the food stores begin to dwindle and Frederick warms the hearts of his cold and hungry friends by asking them to close their eyes and imagine the sunlight and colors and to listen to his poetry.  This is a yoga book because Frederick teaches the value of looking within ourselves to find happiness and peace.  Frederick illustrates that both work and inner work are important in life.

Title: Awakening the Spine
Author: Vanda Scaravelli
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Vanda Scaravelli’s book, Awakening the Spine is beautifully put together. I have had this book for several years and I find that it rekindles my passion for yoga each time I open it up. Vanda Scaravelli was a student of B.K.S. Iyengar and long-time yoga practitioner. For me, this book is not a place I look for technical information. It is a place where images and ideas are in harmony and a place where yoga can been seen in life. The book also includes divine photographs of Scaravelli practicing yoga asanas in old age with truly apparent grace and stability. Just beautiful!

Title: Light on Life
Author: B.K.S. Iyengar
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B.K.S Iyengar is one of the foremost yoga teachers in the world today and a prolific writer of books on yoga. His bestseller Light on Yoga is considered a yoga classic. Late in life, after many years of practice, teaching and authorship, Iyengar gives us Light on Life. Light on Life is a warm, personal and sometimes funny look at yoga, the method, the obstacles both internal and external, and at how yoga can improve our lives.

Title: Yoga Mala
Author: Sri K. Pattabhi Jois
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Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in the living master of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. With the help of his Western students his work, Yoga Mala was translated into English in 1999. This book has much to offer on the philosophy of Ashtanga Yoga and provides insights into correct intention in yoga practice. Ashtanga yoga is best learned under the guidance of an experienced and qualified teacher, so this book is best not used to learn the practice. However, practitioners of Ashtanga yoga will find useful detail on the exact method and will enjoy the historical photos across its pages.