Our Reading List

Book #1: How Yoga Works

Meetings: Sunday, October 2; Sunday, November 6; and Sunday, December 4

5:30-7:30pm at Leap Yoga, Folsom, CA

This beautiful novel threads together the wisdom of the yoga sutras; the power of asana, pranayama, and meditation; and the reality of what it means to practice intentionally both on and off the mat. The lives of teachers and students, guards and prisoners, friends and enemies fuse together, testing the bonds of ego and control while opening the doors of understanding and compassion. 

We encourage you to bring a pen(cil), notebook, and your copy of How Yoga Works to every meeting. If you are a Post-it note lover, you might find it useful to mark pages you'd like to come back to during our discussions when we meet. Because we will layer in some physical aspects of the yoga practice, we also encourage a yoga mat, comfortable clothing that you can easily move in, and a meditation pillow if you have one. 

Sunday, October 2; 5:30-7:30pm @ Leap Yoga, Folsom, CA: 

• Meeting and finding community with each other 

• Meditation and asana practice

• What is Svādhyāya?

• Reading guide for chapters 1-24 (for next month's meeting) & reading notes / food-for-thought

• Review of Patanjali's sutras (as they appear in chapters 1-16)

• As we prepare to read: What does it mean to be a teacher? A student? To what degree are we both? 

Sunday, November 6; 5:30-7:30pm @ Leap Yoga, Folsom, CA: 

• Grouding practice; meditation; pranayama exploration 

• Whole group discussion -- from the list & the lightbulbs of personal awareness 

• Essential Questions: How does yoga work? How do we know when it is working? 

• The wisdom of the sutras -- how do they reflect your experience of yoga? 

• Reading guide for chapters 26-48 (for next month's meeting) & reading notes / food-for-thought

• Short restorative practice & guided nidra 

Sunday, December 4; 5:30-7:30pm @ Leap Yoga, Folsom, CA: 

• Embodying breath and movement -- a slow flow & breathing experience 

• Discussion: Honoring the teacher within, finding devotion, and witnessing relationship

• Small group reflection: How has this book enhanced or impacted your perception, understanding, and/or experience of yoga? 

• Essential Questions: What comes next and how do we find power, grace, and ease in the journey? 

Any person who hopes to gain the real results of yoga must commit themselves to serious and constant study of how it works...it means establishing a true connection to the Masters of the past, by meeting them directly in their own great books; spending time to think out their ideas, and how they apply to our own lives; and gaining from a living teacher the insights upon these ideas passed down as the experience of real people, from generation to generation." (365)