Recommended Reading
Purchasing from some links below may result in a very tiny commission for Gentle Yogis, however, we heartily encourage you to consider obtaining books through your local brick and mortar bookstores to help maintain such important small businesses or borrow through your local library.
Community Time study of this book begins May 31. Join us anytime with or without the book; we read aloud.
Yoga & Ayurveda: Self-Healing and Self-Realization by David Frawley
Yoga and Ayurveda together form a complete approach for optimal health, vitality and higher awareness. Yoga & Ayurveda reveals to us the secret powers of the body, breath, senses, mind and chakras. More importantly, it unfolds transformational methods to work on them through diet, herbs asana, pranayama and meditation. This is the first book published in the West on these two extraordinary subjects and their interface. It has the power to change the lives of those who read and apply it.
Devotions: the Selected Poems of Mary Oliver
Throughout her celebrated career, Mary Oliver touched countless readers with her brilliantly crafted verse, expounding on her love for the physical world and the powerful bonds between all living things. Arranged by Oliver herself shortly before her death in 2019, Devotions features Oliver’s work from her very first book of poetry, No Voyage and Other Poems, published in 1963 at the age of twenty-eight, through her last, Felicity, published in 2015.
Rudy read many excerpts from this book in the December 27, 2025, Gentle Yoga Immersion: Journey to Your Center.
Swami Kripalu’s Yoga of Success and Self-Realization by Richard Faulds
Presents Swami Kripalu’s teachings in a guide that is easy to absorb while still doing justice to the immense breadth and depth of yoga.
Dharma then Moksha: the Untold Story of Swami Kripalu by Richard Faulds
Learn about the remarkable life of “one of the most accomplished yogis of the 20th century” for whom the largest yoga retreat center in the United States is named for. Note: in the 80s and 90s, Rudy and Joyce were part of the community at the Kripalu Center which played a key role in supporting the work of bringing yoga into the mainstream as well as maintaining it’s sacred roots.
Kripalu Yoga: a Guide to Practice On and Off the Mat by Richard Faulds
A guidebook to the physical practice of Kripalu yoga as well as the spiritual aspects that make this a unique meditation-in-motion experience and catalyst for healing and awakening on all levels.
The Dharma in Difficult Times by Stephen Cope
Stephen Cope’s new book reveals how life’s toughest challenges—guided by the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita and stories of great leaders—can lead us to purpose and meaning.
All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (25th anniversary edition) by Robert Fulghum
Essays on life that will resonate deeply as readers discover how universal insights can be found in ordinary events.
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Author), John Burgoyne (Illustrator)
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.
More Beautiful than Before: How Suffering Transforms Us
by Steve Leder
In this elegantly concise, beautifully written, and deeply inspiring book, Rabbi Leder guides us through pain’s stages of surviving, healing, and growing to help us all find meaning in our suffering. Drawing on his experience as a spiritual leader, the wisdom of ancient traditions, modern science, and stories from his own life and others’, he shows us that when we must endure, we can, and that there is a path for each of us that leads from pain to wisdom. “Pain cracks us open,” he writes. “It breaks us. But in the breaking, there is a new kind of wholeness.”
From the Vedas to Vinyasa
by Amy Vaughn
For community study following the Breath Practice beginning late November. Join us anytime.
Go In and In: Poems from the Heart of Yoga
by Danna Faulds
I was unable to find an option to purchase this book from independent booksellers online. Perhaps your local bookstore can order it for you if you are not a fan of Amazon.
Radical Acceptance: Awakening the Love that Heals Fear and Shame
by Tara Brach
There are used/like new or good condition copies for sale on Amazon. You may be also be able to find this book used or like new on eBay or other sites. We encourage you to purchase from your local bookseller if you have a favorite bookshop.
The Tao of Pooh: The Principles of Taoism Demonstrated by Winnie-the-Pooh
by Benjamin Hoff
The Kleshas: Exploring the Elusiveness of Happiness
by Deborah Adele
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
by Charlie Mackesy
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
by Charlie Mackesy
Just Breathe: Mastering Breathwork
by Dan Brule'
A complete Chakra Chart with all the chakra names, locations, colors, sounds, yoga postures, breathing techniques, psychological & energetic influences and more. There’s handy tips for using the chart on the reverse side. It’s 8 1/2 by 14″ and laminated.
Wheels of Life: The Classic Guide to the Chakra System
by Anodea Judith, PhD
The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice
by Deborah Adele
Soul Friends: The Transforming Power of Deep Human Connection
by Stephen Cope
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life
by Marshall B. Rosenberg, PhD
The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali: A New Translation with Commentary
by Chip Hartranft
The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling
by Stephen Cope
The Wisdom of Yoga: A Seeker's Guide to Extraordinary Living
by Stephen Cope
When you purchase from the links above, Gentle Yogis might receive a tiny commission. Thank you.