Learn as you listen with these incredible audio guidebooks
If you’re looking for the perfect list of yoga titles, you’ve come to the right place. Before we get into the yoga listens that will change the way you look and feel, let’s take a quick look at the practice itself.
Broadly speaking, yoga encompasses a range of tools to help centre your mind, soul and body, expand your consciousness and find meaning and purpose in life. A tall order indeed, and one that won’t be easily fulfilled simply by doing a few downward dogs—although your spine and hamstrings will thank you!
Yoga has a long history in its homeland of India. The Yoga Sutras, an ancient text by Patanjali that forms the basis of much of our understanding of modern yoga, stipulates that there are actually eight “limbs” of yoga, which include physical exercise and yogic poses, meditation and observing ethical rules of nonviolence.
While Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras date back at least 1,600 years, scholars say they were synthesized from existing, older traditions. Yoga was invented far before emergency sirens, mobile phones and other stressors began to pervade our modern lives—but the practice is still hugely relevant. It helps us weed out the background noises in our increasingly chaotic society and improve our mental health and overall wellness.
Thankfully, you don’t need a functional comprehension of Sanskrit to learn from the wisdom of the sages. There are plenty of tools out there to help you build your own practice and understanding of yoga traditions, and on this blog we’re often sharing ways to inspire wellness through listening. With the yoga and exercise audiobooks on this list, you’ll find blueprints for overall wellness, but they also have the potential for truly transcendental spiritual awakening. Are you ready to rock your body and your consciousness? Check out these four audiobooks and set off on your yoga journey.
The Secret of the Yoga Sutra
If you’re looking to gain a deeper understanding of the practice of yoga as it was intended by its originators, there’s no better place than looking at the original ancient texts. The Secret of the Yoga Sutra serves as an in-depth overview of Patanjali’s original philosophies, as interpreted by world-renowned yoga master Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD. The book draws on Tigunait’s personal experience as an expert of the Himalayan yoga tradition. His keen scholarly analyses on Patanjali’s time-honoured teachings help to answer the deep questions that plague us all, including: Who am I? What is the source of happiness? How can I live with purpose and without fear?
Each bite-sized chapter in this audiobook covers a different sutra, touching on topics like consciousness, memory and mental discipline. Tigunait explains these concepts for the modern practitioner, with instructive approaches to removing mental negativity and doubt to achieve mastery over one’s spirit and consciousness, while weaving in occasional contemporary examples. This title serves not only as a scholarly interpretation of Patanjali’s sutras, as told by a master practitioner, but also as a guide to return to again and again to uncover and rediscover the deep truths of our minds.
61 Points of Light: A Yoga Nidra Meditation for Reducing Anxiety and Increasing Concentration
Whether you need a quick break from sitting at your laptop all day — or a way to wind down after putting the kids down for the night — we recommend this 25-minute voyage through the 61 points of light meditation, narrated with hypnotic serenity by Loretta Siani. Equally beneficial for listeners who are just beginning their journey of meditation and for long-time practitioners, this guided meditation can help you focus your mind in the morning for the day ahead, find calmness in the afternoon or close out the evening as you prepare for sleep.
The 61 points meditation is an age-old mental exercise of turning your attention inwards and focusing on very specific points of your body to systematically relax each muscle group. This engaging audiobook serves as your guide. You’ll draw your mind to the tip of each toe, to the spot between and just above the eyebrows, and to 50 other highly specific and targeted body places. More challenging than it sounds, the exercise can calm the nerves and engage the senses. With practice, this meditation will help sharpen your concentration, strengthen your mind-body connection and increase your physical self-awareness.
Dream Yoga: The Tibetan Path of Awakening Through Lucid Dreaming
“What does it mean to be awake? What does it mean to be asleep?” asks writer and lucid dreaming expert Andrew Holecek. He explores these questions and others throughout this audiobook, presenting a radical opportunity to explore the recesses of our conscious and subconscious mind and emerge with a more complete understanding of ourselves. Dream Yoga takes listeners on a trip around the nocturnal mind, or what he calls “an adventure in consciousness.”
Holocek, who writes and narrates the book, explains the basic science and stages of sleep and explores what it means to lucid dream, which is the practice of controlling or “awakening” in dreams. He also offers techniques on how to incorporate lucid dreaming into your life. The benefits of lucid dreaming and dream yoga are myriad. These ancient Tibetan techniques to master your dreams can help you calm your mind, overcome nightmares and unlock your mind’s potential—all without leaving the safety and security of your warm sheets.
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga: A Practical Guide to Healing Body, Mind and Spirit
Originally published in 2004 by the leading self-help and alternative medicine guru Deepak Chopra and Ayurvedic medicine expert David Simon, this title provides practical advice for spiritual healing. This concise audiobook incorporates meditation, breathing exercises, physical poses (known as asanas) and Vedic yogic philosophies to deepen the connection between mind and body, enhance creativity and forge new connections between ourselves and the world around us.
This practical guide is suited to both newcomers to the practice and longtime yogis looking for a fresh approach. It provides a historical background on yoga traditions and draws from Chopra’s teachings from his bestselling book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, resulting in an accessible primer on yogic philosophy replete with plenty of practical exercises and a clear path to spiritual success.
An Audible membership gives you access to a huge list of personal development titles to help you stay positive and motivated. And if you liked the yoga listens we’ve laid out above, they’re just the beginning when it comes to inspiring and useful health and wellness audiobooks. Find more in our roundups of top titles for motivation and mindfulness and self-improvement.
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