TEACHING YOGA BOOKS
Teaching yoga, truly teaching it, takes a special amalgam of magic + respect + knowledge + depth + connectedness + sensitivity. This list of yoga books for teachers focuses more on the practical side — asana, techniques, class structure, themes, pose adjustments, and sequencing. If your soul’s intention is to serve as a yogic guide for others, you’ll most certainly want to read the brilliant picks from these book lists, as well: Advanced Yoga, Beginners’ Yoga, and Yoga Anatomy. (New books + lists are added often — subscribe to stay updated!)
Teaching Yoga: Essential Foundations and Techniques
by Mark Stephens
“Teaching yoga will change your life. It will continually bring you back to your earliest motivations to practice and add abundant clarity to the questions you first asked yourself about yoga.” Wonderfully comprehensive with writing that is both fluid and straightforward.
Guiding Yoga’s Light: Lessons for Yoga Teachers
by Martin Kirk
“Teaching yoga is a joy and a privilege. It is your path and your profession to help others find healing, space, and inner peace. Make every moment count.” Excellent introduction for beginning yoga teachers — the tone is encouraging and the content is thoughtful + organized. Sections like First Class Facts, Emotional Effects of Asana, and Frustration in the Body are standouts.
30 Essential Yoga Poses: For Beginning Students and Their Teachers
by Judith Lasater
“The best teachers are those who are the best students. And in a way, we are all teachers because we always have at least ourselves as students. I hope that this discussion about the interplay of teaching and studying yoga will enrich your understanding of learning and embolden your teaching.”
Theme Weaver: Connect the Power of Inspiration to Teaching Yoga
by Michelle Marchildon
“The best instructors are the ones who help us realize our potential as well as our poses. After all, any gym teacher can ask you to touch your toes, but yoga is about finding more on the mat. . . . I am here to serve you, to take the mystery out of great themes, to put confidence in your voice and the weight in your seat at the front of the room.” Straightforward + conversationally-written help on how to structure your classes through intention.
Extra Love: The Art of Hands-On Assists (Vol 1: Hips, Twists, + Forward Bends)
by Jill Abelson
“To assist well means, in essence, mastering the art of non-verbal communication — you are able to read the body and “respond” effectively. Over time, you will sharpen your eye and develop a sixth sense about why and how to give an amazing assist to any type of student in any pose.”
Extra Love: The Art of Hands-On Assists (Vol 2: Standing Poses, Back Bends, + Surya Namaskar)
by Jill Abelson
“The connection to the earth will be through the student’s hands, feet, seat, head — whatever is in contact with the ground. When assisting, it is good to train your eyes to look at the base first, then work your way up. . . . A student needs a solid foundation to progress and to feel connected, on many levels.”
Yoga Sequencing: Designing Transformative Yoga Classes
by Mark Stephens
Purely awesome. You name it (just about) and that sequence is in here — if it’s not, you’ll have all the inspiration + supplementary information you need to build it. A bountiful array of asana arrangement, including a “Healthy Wrist Sequence,” beginning/intermediate/advanced flows, yoga for elementary/middle/high school kids, a comprehensive special section for women (menstruation, prenatal, postnatal, menopause, bone health), yoga for seniors, AND chakra-based sequences. Brilliant.
Structural Yoga Therapy: Adapting to the Individual
by Mukunda Stiles
“Through in-depth study of the gross physical body, the subtle body can be appreciated more — as can Albert Einstein’s words, ‘God is subtle.’ To know the subtle workings of the body is to appreciate and respect the indwelling Being that remains changeless as our appearance changes from infancy to childhood to adulthood to old age.” A unique human kinetics-tinted perspective — the real gems are “The Joint-Freeing Series,” charts, and diagrams.
