Seriously, what can a book not do?
Every yogi will be able to tell you nonchalantly of the moment when a particular book changed his or her life for good.
Books on yoga have the innate capability to transform the yogi and his practice for good. It can be one book, or it can be any number of them. The best yoga books for beginners can encourage a paradigm shift in perspective of the yogi, which will help him appreciate that there are more ways to derive benefit from his mat.
Books on Yoga
Let’s begin with a hypothesis. If you were in a fellow yogi’s place and you were face to face with his real or virtual bookshelf, which book would have appealed to you? Would it be a yoga encyclopedia of sorts? Or would you prefer an illustrated bible for all the poses or a great picture book that propagates yoga and self-practice?
A book on yoga should be able to grab attention and retain it. A breathtaking cover with a yogi performing a simple asana, albeit fully conscious of his being, can be a great magnet.
The book should be able to teach you something about yourself more than what you already know. It must be something that you would read or be proud to gift to a like-minded friend, family, or acquaintance.
Sporting a Unique Approach
It must be a book that should help you to lose yourself. Something that once you begin reading, you realize that there are so many more perceptions of any given thing. Such a book may have the capacity to permanently alter the way you practice yoga and the way you relate to things in life generally.
The book must take one gently into the journey of becoming aware of one’s body and the ability that this awareness has to transform oneself inside out.
Pictures
An illustrated book does well but not as much as books that have real-life photographs. The book could have black and white pictures; still, they could have been aesthetically shot. Pictures of yogis deeply in meditation or agile with their poses and sequences can be a wonderful sight for the body and the mind.
Comprehensive Guide
A book that talks about everything in a concise, unambiguous way is always welcome. There are so many books like this that it is doubtful if a catalog of them can be ever made one day.
A comprehensive guide on yoga can have a lot of reactions. As soon as you are into a few pages of the book, you will realize that it is going to become an inseparable part of your yoga journey. How did somebody not tell you about it!
Theories and Principles
A good number of beginners’ books will talk about experiencing what you do on your mat in a completely different sense with certain moving principles.
For instance, the yoga that is self-practice uses moving principles such as that of breathing and yielding. In the process, radiating, aligning with the natural elements, and then finally engaging with your own experiences are also included. The book will then become an expert treatise on your intuitive movement. Breathtaking photographs that show and teach you more of what you know already but in greater detail, sometimes correcting you and sometimes improving on what you know are always welcome.
Books for Beginners without Reference Books for the Yoga Poses
A book on self-practice of yoga encapsulating yoga poses with stunning pictures would be an ideal choice. A picture book guiding you in how to initiate yourself into a particular pose and how it will finally help your conscious being should assist in the initial stages.
The book must talk about building upon the pose and then lightening it so that you can comprehensively know everything about the yoga pose that you are attempting. The book must be inspiring and relevant to everyone.
It must help you discover what it is that you lack and how to look for it on your yoga mat. The best yoga books for beginners can be short but must be sincere.