Summer Reading List
“To know that we are not our thoughts is the first step towards freedom.”
This list will include only books that I have read more than once or definitely will read again.
First on the list, because I return to it again and again, is The Wisdom of Yoga by Stephen Cope. I shared the poem below, from this book, in class a few weeks ago.
“Stand still. The trees ahead and the bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat is as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. the forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.”
For a few laughs, I recommend Yoga Bitch by Suzanne Morrison
“Here’s the thing about yoga: people are farting all the time... But the problem is - farts are funny. So I simply can’t keep it together when my placid-faced yogamates start honking at each other like Ganesha the elephant god.”
A little more on the serious side... a book about meditation, Gradual Awakening, by Stephen Levine.
“Meditation is for many a foreign concept, somehow distant and foreboding, seemingly impossible to participate in. But another word for meditation is simply awareness. Mediation is awareness.”
A book I am currently absorbed in, Spontaneous Evolution: Our Positive Future (and a way to get there from here) by Bruce Lipton and Steve Bhaerman, offers insight into biology, belief, behaviour and where to focus for evolution and growth.
“Where we once were certain that our genes marked our destiny, new-edge science now tells us Nature is smarter than that. ”
A great Kindle book, Thriving in Chaos by Sandy Dow, contains tips for calming the nervous system. The book version will be out in the fall. It's super handy for stressful moments. You can get the Kindle app for your phone so it can be with you all the time.
“Every time you delight in the chatter of birds and become one with your breath, you gift the world with your presence. ”
Last, and certainly not least, The Man Who Planted Trees: A Story of Lost Groves, the Science of Trees, and a Plan to Save the Planet, by Jim Robbins. This book, gives a great overview of what we haven't known about trees up until recently (and really should).
“But some of the beneficial effects of trees and vegetation on humans may also arise from simply being around trees, since even the experience of seeing trees through a window seems to have a positive effect on health. ”
This is a very short list compared to my library, so perhaps I will need to do a second instalment. Let me know what you think and what you're reading.
Alissa