Book: The Bhagavad Gita (translation Eknath Easwaran)
Three of the things – many things – I love about Yoga is the rich heritage behind it; that you can dip into this as much or as little as is appropriate for you; that Yoga meets you where you are. For some Yoga is a physical practice of fitness or...Book: Into the Magic Shop – James Doty
The intriguing subtitle of this book is “A Neurosurgeons True Story of the Life Changing Magic of Compassion and Mindfulness”, based on the authors own experiences. We meet the author as a child, perusing an interest in magic, and picking up the...Book: Muscles and Meridians – The Manipulation of Shape – Phillip Beach
So this wasn’t quite the book I was expecting it to be. Perhaps in hindsight it never could be as the idea of aligning muscles – gross anatomy – and meridians – energetic anatomy would be forced. Although, of course, there has been some...Book: The New Science of Breath – Stephen Elliott
The subtitle to this short book gives a good idea as to its content, “Coherent Breathing for Autonomic Nervous System Balance, Health and Well-being”. Stephen Elliott researched and brought together the idea of Coherent Breathing, and this 2005...Book: Core of the Yoga Sutras – BKS Iyengar
As one of the foundation texts for yoga, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are something most of us come across, either as structured study or by osmosis during class when themes come up. The sutras themselves are quite terse, so need interpretation – remember...Book: Gender Medicine – Marek Glezerman
The subtitle to this book is “The Groundbreaking New Science of Gender and Sex Related Diagnosis and Treatment”, and the author purports to look at sex and gender related differences and how these impact health and medical treatment. This isn’t...Book: The Mind Gut Connection – Emeran Mayer
This book is subtitled “How the hidden conversation within our bodies impacts our mood, our choices and our overall health”, and it’s a 2016 book making it relatively up to date. So, at some stage we’ve all experienced “gut...Book: The Ecology of the Soul – Aidan Walker
The subtitle to this book is “A Manual for Peace, Power and Personal Growth for Real People in the Real World”. Based around the authors analysis of seven powers – Nature, Creativity, Endurance, Love, Communication, Focus and Connection, he takes us...Book: Acu Yoga – Michael Reed Gach
The first thing to say is that this isn’t a new book – 1981 – although its the first time I’ve read it. Some things don’t change though, including Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Its in TCM that this book is based, more...Book: And Breath – Rebecca Dennis
Come back to the breath…. how many times have you heard that in a yoga class? The breath is so vitally important in our health and wellbeing that I make no apology for another book in the topic. This is a refreshingly simple and straight forward read with an...Book: The Healing Power of the Breath – Brown & Gerbarg
Breath. Where do I start. We do it all the time, mostly in the background, but it’s unique in being an automatic body function that we can exercise an element of control over. It’s a key thread running through a yoga class. Breath supports yogas energy...Book: Cure: A Journey Into the Science of Mind over Body – Jo Marchant
The author is a science journalist, and coming from a scientific background presents a scepticism about non conventional approaches to healing and wellbeing – there’s almost a paradox in the books title, can there be “Science” in mind/body...Don’t Get Stressed About It! Stress And How Yoga Can Help
This is an article I wrote for Island Magazines, but it bears distributing wider as Stress and the Nervous System seems to come up a lot in class and, let’s face it, which of us haven’t been stressed at some time? Don’t Get Stressed About It! How often do...Book: Big Fit Girl – Louise Green
So, anyone who has practised with me will know I’m not blessed with a stereotypical yoga teachers body. Basically, although I’m not happy about it, I’m at the top end of overweight and one protein shake away from obese, despite being a regular...Book: A Day in the Life of the Brain: The Neuroscience of Consciousness – Susan Greenfield
I know – another book on neuroscience and the brain. Anyone would think I was obsessed! I do read other things as well, but its the highlights that make it here. Anything by by Baroness Greenfield is likely to be a highlight, as she is arguably one...Book: Molecules of Emotion – Candace Pert
“Why do we feel the way we feel?” is the question posed on the back cover. Candace Pert was one of the first scientists to properly explore some of these questions – literally as the title suggests what are the molecules that cause emotion? ...Book: The Plastic Mind – Sharon Begley
Over the past couple of decades there has been a remarkable change in our understanding of the human brain. In 1913 Nobel prize winner Santiago Ramón y Cajal wrote “In the adult centres the nerve paths are something fixed, ended and immutable”...Book: Sleep Better – The Science and The Myths – Graham Law and Shane Pascoe
Sleep is increasingly recognised as the third pillar of good health, alongside exercise/movement and diet/nutrition. But, lets be honest, for most of us, we probably think very little about sleep and sleep hygiene unless it comes to the fore through insomnia,...Book: When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi (Dcd)
Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, towards the end of writing this book. He was a neurosurgeon, a father, a son, a husband. He was in his late 30s. The book is his account of a terminal lung cancer, and facing up to it. Its a reflection on his life,...Socials and Feeds
