Friends–so happy to be together today in the space of learning and discussing ethics in the Restorative and Sustainable Yoga group on Facebook. Here is a list of books I referenced during the FB Live today–they are all over timers, and by that I mean, they are ones that will be with you over the lifetime of your practice ❤ Please note this is not the comprehensive list I use when teaching ethics for yoga teacher training courses. And, it’s a nice place to start/supplement your library.

Enjoy and please let me know if you have any questions. And, I cannot wait to get my hands on Kristin & Randall Brooks’ interpretation of the yoga sutra-s

Yoga for a World Out of Balance by Michael Stone

Teachings on ethics and social action. As I mentioned in the group, I studied ethics with Michael. He is my forever teacher, wise, brilliant, analytical, creative, irreverent, social action, and ecologically focused…The teachings today were dedicated to his memory, and to holding space for the suffering of mental illness, and the physical and mental dis-ease we as a global sangha are experiencing at this time due to COVID-19.

Teaching Yoga by Donna Farhi
There used to be a CD included in the book, not sure if they still include it, it has one of the best talks about yoga I’ve ever heard called Holding a Heart in Our Hands. It was the keynote address to yoga teachers and students at Yoga Spirit 2002.

Four Chapters on Freedom by Swami Satyanda Saraswati

The Tree of Yoga by BKS Iyengar
Trees are life.

threads of yoga a remix of patañjali-s sūtras with commentary and reverie by Matthew Remski
This book is a great example of how we as practitioners can re-interpret the sutra-s in new and useful ways, relevant and real.

Letter from Birmingham Jail: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Creative tension. Love is a revolutionary practice. Aham prema (Sanskrit for I am divine love.)

“You may well ask: “Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.” I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.”
16 April 1963

Yoga Discipline of Freedom by Barbara Stoler Miller
The first “translation” of the yoga sutra I read starting back in 2004.

The Inner Tradition of Yoga by Michael Stone
Another beautiful book from Michael for the yogi whose really interested in yoga philosophy. Depth, wisdom, insight, clarity…siempre en mi corazon.