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Books & Resource Lists – Teaching Methodology & The Art of Teaching

Recommended Book

Teaching Yoga Adjusting Asana by Melanie Cooper  link

Why We Recommend This Book

This is an impressive addition to modern yoga literature. Most books about yoga continue to be written for students, thereby offering only a small part of the story that helps teachers hone their craft. Specific support for teaching is lacking in most sources, but Melanie Cooper addresses this need head-on and she does it very well. In fact, her book is twice as good as most because she provides not only great support on many aspects of teaching, she also features wonderful asana adjustment teaching. That’s a lot packed into an organized, accessible teaching manual. Highly recommended! – Shelly

Book Quote

This book is for teachers of all kinds of yoga. It is a source of sadness to me that some yoga teachers look more for the divisions between types of yoga rather than what we have in common. I feel we are all doing essentially the same thing but with different emphases to cater to all the different personalities and body types doing asana.

Books

While we have highlighted a few outstanding books, there are many wonderful books and we encourage you to peruse the entire list. Any one of these may be just what you need!

  1. Arguetty, Danny — Nourishing the Teacher: Inquiries, Contemplations and Insights on the Path of Yoga  link
  2. Cooper, Melanie — Teaching Yoga Adjusting Asana link
  3. Cormier, Noelle — What Makes Your Heart Sing? A Guide to Creating Themes for Yoga Classes  link
  4. Farhi, Donna — Teaching Yoga: Exploring the Teacher-Student Relationship  link
  5. Fields, Jay — Teaching People Not Poses: 12 Principles for Teaching Yoga with Integrity  link
  6. Gerstein, Nancy — Guiding Yoga’s Light: Lessons for Yoga Teachers  link
  7. Heyman, Jivana — Accessible Yoga: Poses and Practices for Every Body  link
  8. LePage, Joseph & Lilian — Yoga Teachers’ Toolbox  link
  9. Lo, Karen — Blessed to Serve  link
  10. Main, Darren — The Yogi Entrepreneur: A Guide to Earning a Mindful Living Through Yoga  link
  11. Marchildon, Michelle Berman — Theme Weaver: Connect the Power of Inspiration to Teaching Yoga  link
  12. Stephens, Mark — Teaching Yoga: Essential Foundations and Techniques  link

Teaching Tools

Sequencing Recommended Book

The Yoga Technique Guide by Bruce Bowditch  link

Why We Recommend This Book

This spiral bound reference book offers a lot of value. Developing skills and confidence in alignment and sequencing are often the biggest challenges in the first few years of teaching. While some trainers and workshops provide excellent teaching support on these vital topics, becoming an expert in these areas requires ongoing commitment to practice and study. After the training workshop is over, you need a guide or reference to refer back to, but compared to other teaching topics, practical written support on these topics is slim. So this guide really stands out as a quality support piece for teachers. It covers the fundamentals of alignment and explains the relationship between physical alignment and energy flow. And it includes sequencing guidance plus sample sequences for each type (hip stretching, grounding, calming, invigorating, etc.) – Shelly

Book Quote

The cycles of nature and the seasons are a perfect metaphor for sequence building. We start quiet and still in a seated posture at the beginning of our practice, just as Winter is poised for Spring. The gradual warm awakening of Spring transitions into the bight, full exuberance of Summer. The power of Summer peaks, then moves toward the descending energy of Autumn. Autumn folds inward, finally releasing back to Winter and its silence. When designing your own sequencing, keep the rhythm of the seasons in mind.

Books

While we have highlighted a few outstanding books, there are many wonderful books and we encourage you to peruse the entire list. Any one of these may be just what you need!

  1. Bowditch, Bruce — The Yoga Practice Guide, Dynamic Sequencing for Home Practice and Teachers  link
  2. Bowditch, Bruce — The Yoga Practice Guide, Volume Two, Sequencing and Pranayama for Energy Balancing  link
  3. Bowditch, Bruce — The Yoga Technique Guide  link
  4. Meza, Melina — Art of Sequencing – Volume One  link
  5. Meza, Melina — Art of Sequencing – Volume Two Seasonal Vinyasa  link
  6. Rufty, Jodie & Liz Parks — The Art of Yoga Sequencing: A Hip Opening Practice  link
  7. Stephens, Mark — Yoga Sequencing: Designing Transformative Yoga Classes  link

Teaching Tools

Adjusting & Assisting

Books

  1. Abelson, Jill — Extra Love: The Art of Hands-on Assists Vol One  link
  2. Abelson, Jill — Extra Love: The Art of Hands-on Assists Vol Two  link
  3. Cooper, Brian PhD. — Yoga: The Art of Adjusting  link
  4. Cooper, Melanie — Teaching Yoga Adjusting Asana  link
  5. Gannon, Sharon & David Life — Yoga Assists  link
  6. Kaivalya, Alanna — The Art of Adjustments: The Yoga Teacher’s Guide to Safe Hands-On Assists  link
  7. Keil, David — Hands-on Adjustments: Techniques for Adjusting Yoga Postures  link
  8. Pappas, Stephanie — Yoga Posture Adjustments and Assisting: An Insightful Guide for Yoga Teachers and Students link
  9. Rachman, Martia Bennett — Yoga’s Touch: Hands On Adjustments, Alignment and Verbal Cues  link
  10. Remski, Matthew — What Are We Actually Doing in Asana? Injury, Touch Abuse, and Trauma in Modern Yoga  link
  11. Stephens, Mark — Yoga Adjustments: Philosophy, Principles, and Techniques  link

Teaching Tools

Adaptation & Customization

Please see Books & Resources – Adaptation & Customization.

No Compensation for Recommendations

Our goal in providing book lists with quick links is to make it easy for you to get a sense for the variety of possible resources and to access them easily.

We receive no compensation of any sort for any recommendations or mentions. We are simply offering information as we feel called to do so.

Most of our book links use Amazon Associates, which pays a tiny commission on purchases made through those links (80 cents on a $20 book, for example). On average, we receive less than $15 per month from Amazon.

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