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Reading & Writing are powerful practices and ways to train the mind.
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Writing is a practice and a powerful way to train the mind.
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Written without “yoga jargon,” Feeling Happy explores the nature of happiness as a basic human capacity—and illuminates how suffering, imbalanced emotion, and confusion can cast a veil over one’s ability to truly feel happy.
What is the fully embodied experience of happiness, and is there any way for it to last? Feeling Happy helps you explore what happiness is and offers practical steps toward cultivating happiness as a deep, embodied expression of life and connection to others. Using familiar examples from everyday life, traditional understanding of one’s search for happiness, stories, and humor, Freeman and Taylor demonstrate how to find your way back home to the essence of who you are, and the direct experience of what it feels like to be truly happy.
The book offers 24 accessible practices—meditations, simple movements, and breathing exercises—along with 22 black-and-white illustrative photos as guides along the path toward fully embodying happiness. These practices together with insight into the nature of being, will allow you to wake up and integrate the physical body, heart, and mind through the breath so that even in difficult times, compassion, equanimity, and happiness can emerge.
Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor draw from their years of experience practicing and teaching yoga, meditation and the philosophical interfacing of yoga and Buddhism to explore what happiness is and to offer practical steps toward cultivating happiness as a deep, embodied expression of life. They offer insight into the nature of happiness as a basic human capacity—and illuminate how suffering, imbalanced emotion, and confusion can cast a veil over one’s ability to truly feel happy.
Some of the practices included:
What is the fully embodied experience of happiness, and is there any way for it to last? Feeling Happy helps you explore what happiness is and offers practical steps toward cultivating happiness as a deep, embodied expression of life and connection to others. Using familiar examples from everyday life, traditional understanding of one’s search for happiness, stories, and humor, Freeman and Taylor demonstrate how to find your way back home to the essence of who you are, and the direct experience of what it feels like to be truly happy.
The book offers 24 accessible practices—meditations, simple movements, and breathing exercises—along with 22 black-and-white illustrative photos as guides along the path toward fully embodying happiness. These practices together with insight into the nature of being, will allow you to wake up and integrate the physical body, heart, and mind through the breath so that even in difficult times, compassion, equanimity, and happiness can emerge.
Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor draw from their years of experience practicing and teaching yoga, meditation and the philosophical interfacing of yoga and Buddhism to explore what happiness is and to offer practical steps toward cultivating happiness as a deep, embodied expression of life. They offer insight into the nature of happiness as a basic human capacity—and illuminate how suffering, imbalanced emotion, and confusion can cast a veil over one’s ability to truly feel happy.
Some of the practices included:
- Focusing and calming the mind
- Observing and engaging the breath as a guide
- Working with difficulty and vulnerability
- Keeping a tender and open heart
- Building authenticity and presence
- Attuning to yourself and to others
- Cultivating kindness and compassion in complex times
- And more
Feeling Happy
by Richard Freeman & Mary Taylor
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In uncertain times, the traditional Indian epic the Bhagavad Gita is uniquely suited to guide us through our fear, confusion, and paralysis and help us find the way forward on the path of compassion and love. Here, Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor, both deeply respected yogic teachers, offer a practical, immediately relevant interpretation of the Gita that emphasizes self-reflection and waking up in our modern world. Following the traditional sequence of teachings in the Gita—from its opening scene in which the protagonist, Arjuna, finds himself in the middle of a battlefield, torn by the various paths of action he might choose in the process of awakening—Freeman and Taylor interweave insight into how these classic teachings are relevant for modern readers struggling with what it means to live responsibly in challenging times.
With quotes, citations, and a full, original translation of the text, they look at how the Gita’s teachings relate to the turmoil that arises for Arjuna, and any of us in the face of crises of conscience, spirit, and form. By exploring the essential themes such as love, wisdom, and karma and offering embodiment exercises to apply the teachings, When Love Comes to Light guides us in the step-by-step process of waking up to our intelligence and toward living a balanced life.
With quotes, citations, and a full, original translation of the text, they look at how the Gita’s teachings relate to the turmoil that arises for Arjuna, and any of us in the face of crises of conscience, spirit, and form. By exploring the essential themes such as love, wisdom, and karma and offering embodiment exercises to apply the teachings, When Love Comes to Light guides us in the step-by-step process of waking up to our intelligence and toward living a balanced life.
When Love Comes to Light
by Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor
Other languages: Chinese Edition, Spanish Edition
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The Art of Vinyasa: Awakening Body and Mind through the Practice of Ashtanga Yoga takes a look at yoga as a meditation in motion that produces profound inner change. Exploring Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga not as a gymnastic feat but as a meditative form, Richard and Mary reveal that doing the practice—and particularly the vinyasa, or the breath-synchronized movements—in a deep and focused way allows practitioners to experience a profound awakening of the body and mind. It also develops an adaptable, flexible practice that can last a lifetime.
The Art of Vinyasa
by Richard Freeman & Mary Taylor
Other languages: Spanish Edition, Chinese Edition
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The Mirror of Yoga: Awakening the Intelligence of Body and Mind is a welcome resource to all yoga practitioners who wish to better appreciate the profound philosophy underlying their practice. Richard’s wide-ranging discussion includes the Upanishads and Samkhya philosophies, the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, the eight limbs of Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga, and much more. He also explores the role of the guru, chanting, meditation, and the yogi imperative of offering service to others.
The Mirror of Yoga
by Richard Freeman
Other languages: Spanish Edition, Chinese Edition
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Women have many secrets. But a woman’s secret relationship with food and her body can overshadow other aspects of her life, filling her with obsession, shame, and fear. Many women waste countless years focusing on food and appearance, rather than spending energy on what holds deepest meaning for them.
What Are You Hungry For?
by Lynn Ginsburg and Mary Taylor
BOOKS WE’VE READ OVER THE YEARS AS WELL AS SOME OF OUR CURRENT FAVORITES.
Books That Inspire Us
Featured Read
Reading List
We hope you enjoy our books!
BOOKS WE’VE READ OVER THE YEARS AS WELL AS SOME OF OUR CURRENT FAVORITES.
Books That Inspire Us
Featured Read
buy now
There are hundreds of translations and commentaries on the Yoga Sūtra, and we recommend that as reference you have as many as there’s room for on your bookshelf. (And these days since at least part of your bookshelf is probably virtual, you don’t have much of an excuse to limit the number you have). Each translation has its own flavor and bias, so a broad selection allows you to compare and contrast perspectives on translation, interpretation and significance. Pandit Tigunit Rajmani, of the Himalayan Institute, is a longtime yoga practitioner and a modern-day scholar on the Yoga Sūtra. His careful and broad-minded translations come to life in his intelligent interpretation of this classic text. Rajmani released his first book on the Yoga Sūtra, detailing the first Pāda (on Samadhi) back in 2014. Since that time, he’s published equally insightful commentaries on the second and third Pādas and we’re eagerly awaiting his take on the fourth to be released sometime soon.
We highly recommend you add Rajmani’s work to both of your bookshelves so you can relax with a cup of tea as you read and slowly turn paper pages of the book, but can also easily carry his translation with you on your device when you travel. That way, no matter where you are when you’re faced with a situation that makes you wonder, “What would Patanjali do?” you’ll have an answer at your fingertips.
We highly recommend you add Rajmani’s work to both of your bookshelves so you can relax with a cup of tea as you read and slowly turn paper pages of the book, but can also easily carry his translation with you on your device when you travel. That way, no matter where you are when you’re faced with a situation that makes you wonder, “What would Patanjali do?” you’ll have an answer at your fingertips.
The Secret of the Yoga Sutra: Samādhi Pāda
by Pandit Rajmani Tigunit
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It’s ideal to go directly to the source when studying any topic. In terms
of yoga theory, philosophy, and mythology that would mean that the
best path is to read original versions of traditional texts. Original texts
often have many layers of meaning that unfold over years of practice
and a willingness to read and re-read texts under different
circumstances. However, if you don’t speak Sanskrit that can be a
problem. Some eager students decide to learn Sanskrit, but still the
reading can be slow. So, a reasonable alternative is to read a number
of different translations (and commentaries) on the same text and
compare them. That way you notice biases that may be reflected in the
different versions.
Our list includes:
Our list includes:
- Yoga Sutra
- The Bhagavad Gita
- Contemporary Books about Yoga
- Yoga Practice Books
- Anatomy Books
- Contemporary Buddhist Books
