Recommended Reading
from Katie Rose
Here are a selection of our favourite books to get you inspired on your ayurveda and yoga wellness journey. The books are chosen by Katie Rose and the reviews are personally written by her. We hope you enjoy the recommendations!
The World of Your Business Playbook
by Hiro Boga
This book is so good that after I bought it I immediately purchased a second copy to use next year! It’s a ‘workbook’ style book which gets you deep into the essence and intentions behind your offerings if you are self-employed. Hiro Boga is an exquisite writer - a poet really - and her words support me to know that the work that I do in the world (my business) is a deeply creative act. If you are self-employed in any capacity and you’re not sure where to go with your business or your inspiration is a bit flat I can’t recommend this book enough, it was a total game-changer for me. If you’re looking for more business inspiration I’ve got a whole bunch of resources for here as well.
The Path of Practice: A Woman's Book of Ayurvedic Healing
by Maya Tiwari
I am blessed to have had Mother Maya as one of my teachers. This book was her first bestseller and it's still one of the best books available to start your journey with Ayurveda. Packed with anecdotes and stories Maya brings these ancient traditions to life for modern women. She also shares her own personal story which is both fascinating and heart-warming. The book is broken down into three sections - Food, Breath, and Sound (mantra). Each section provides useful teaching tools in 'bite size' chunks which you can apply to your own life and teaching. You can see how well-loved this book has been in my life from the photo!
Mystical Motherhood
by Chelsea Wiley
I loved this book during my pregnancies and it is a recommended reading on my 'Yoga of Birth' training. Chelsea Wiley has a medical background and is also a Kundalini Yoga practitioner and teacher so she really bridges both the worlds of science and ancient wisdom. Although she is a dedicated yogini she is also a realist and gives lots of different ways for women to access the practice that is manageable and take into account that many women don't feel great during pregnancy. There is also a long and excellent section on creating a cosy home for yourself and your baby after birthing and post-natal recovery. There are tons of books available about pre-natal yoga and honestly many of them aren't that great. This one is a gem.
Wild Mercy
by Mirabai Starr
This is one of the best books I have read in years. I feel like buying 20 copies and gifting one to each of my girlfriends. Highlighter to hand I savoured every page and soaked up quote after enlightening quote like a dry sponge in a rainstorm. I know this book will stay in my mind and heart for many years and become a teaching resource I will turn to again and again. I bought it spontaneously after listening to the author Mirabai Starr on a podcast and I highly recommend you do the same! The author brings each of her heroines to life with such compassion, power, and relatability I felt instantly empowered and uplifted by every paragraph. I’m adding this book to the requisite reading list for every training I run from now on!
What to Eat for How You Feel (The New Ayurvedic Kitchen)
by Divya Alter
This book brings together several of my passions, ayurveda, food and bhakti (the author is a Bhakti Yogi). The recipes are simple and easy to make, using (mostly) ingredients you’ll find in your pantry already. Divya Alter gives practical advice which is easy to implement into your daily life and she offers recipes from different cultures not just Indian food, although I love Indian food and there are a fair amount of traditional offerings here too. I learnt a few things I didn’t know from this book, particularly the information about the Indian Moringa plant on page 66 … talk about a ’super food’! I also really enjoyed listening to the author Divya Alter interviewed on a few podcasts and I recommend you find her and have a listen too, she’s a wonderful woman with a lot of wisdom to share. She lived through religious persecution in Eastern Block Europe during the Cold War years and her story is amazing. I’m a fan!
The Art of Attention
by Elena Brower and Erica Jago
If you’ve been following me for any time at all you’ll know I adore Elena Brower. This is not her most recent book but it is a wonderous beauty of a book and I’ve been meaning to feature it here for a while. Part journal, part coffee-table book and part guide to deepening your practice the place I have found this book the most useful is in planning yoga classes. If you’re feeling a bit flat about your own practice or your teaching I recommend spending ten minutes with this book and watching as your enthusiasm rekindles! I can’t mention Elena Brower without also sending you in the direction of her incredible podcast Practice You. Her recent interview with Biet Simpkin was one of the best things I’ve listened to all year.
How to Break Up with your Phone
by Catherine Price
If corona virus lockdown has taught me one thing it is this … I am addicted to my mobile phone. I use every excuse under the sun to reach for it, work being the main one but at the end of the day I would free up hours of my life if I shut that thing down more often. This book is GOLD. It will change your life and make you a better friend, parent and lover. It will give you back your sleep and your sanity. Read it and implement the action plans. I started with deleting IG and FB from my phone and putting it out of my bedroom at night and the results have been phone-ominal. He heee.
Gifts of the Essential Oils
by Adam Barralet & Vanessa Jean Boscarello Ovens
This book is beautiful and engaging from the moment you pick it up. It’s packed with information about every essential oil under the sun (that I can think of at least!) and comes brimming with knowledge about the energetic, emotional and medicinal qualities of the oils. There are some good science-y elements in the book if that is your jam and a whole lot of woo-woo too (like mantras and chakras in relationships to the oils! So good!) for those who like the less science-y stuff (for example me). It’s a pleasure to read because it beautifully designed and produced. It would be a wonderful gift for anyone from those starting on their oils journey to seasoned aromatherapists alike. Oh and the blending suggestions are divine! Hello abundance blend, hello radiant self-love blend. So good!
Don’t Just Sit There
by Biet Simkin
I adore this book. It is one of my favourite spiritual books of all time. This is not a book about meditation techniques it is a book about your attitude towards life. Biet (who also makes beautiful music by the way - check it out on iTunes - is there no end to this woman's talent?) speaks with a voice that is clear and direct yet also soft and kind. Her insights are profound but uncomplicated. I especially loved her ideas around vertical planes (our connection to the Divine) and horizontal planes (our connection to each other). As well as her teachings on 'paying in advance' by showing up in the world even when we find things difficult. Don't Just Sit There - buy this book and read it!
The Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook
by Kate O’Donnell
I have an enormous collection of cookbooks but if I had to choose only one to keep forever this would be it. This book is practical, it lays out the foundations of Ayurvedic eating in a way that is clear and easy to understand without being too superficial (we get some proper education in these pages).
Her recipes work... they are delicious and it's not all Indian food (I love Indian food, probably more than any other cuisine, but it's also good to know how to eat ayurvedically in other cultures). Kate O'Donnell meets you where you are at, there is no judgement and her suggestions on diet are doable and feel relevant.
Make it Happen
by Jordanna Levin
I adore Jordanna Levin and am proud to call her a friend. If you don't follow her on social media you should because she is funny, deeply spiritual and offers great insight (sometimes with a dash of irreverence!) in all her work. But that is not why I'm recommending this book ... I'm recommending it because it's brilliant.
Through applying the techniques outlined in the book I bought by house, I held space for healing during a difficult time in my relationship with one of my sons and I improved my love life. I mean really, what more do I need to say? This book contains techniques that will help you fix broken things in your life.
The Homemade Vegan Pantry
by Miyoko Schinner
There are a few things I’ve searched a long time for in my life, the perfect handbag (finally found it thanks to an auspicious garage sale a couple of years ago!), the perfect cup of chai and the perfect cooking book. Of course different cooking books offer different things, and I know because I’ve bought a lot of them over the years. Like, a lot! This
is one of my all time favourites. It delivers exactly what it says in the title, simple yummy recipes for pantry staples ... the things we all use, like stock and tomato ketchup, that are vegan, healthy and delicious. The is a favourite of mine. This book will save you money and improve your health. Perfect for anyone transitioning to a more conscious way of eating.
The Fragrant Mind
by Valerie Ann Worwood
Years ago as a teenager when I first got interested in essential oils ‘The Fragrant Pharmacy’ was the only resource I could find to guide my path (this was pre-internet people!). It was and is a wonderful book which I have dog eared and annotated abundantly. This is the follow up book which teaches us more about the emotional and spiritual realm of the oils and the plants they come from. If you’re interested in shamanism, indigenous healing wisdom, flower remedies and alternatives to pharmaceutical medicines this book is for you.
Absolute Beauty
by Pratima Raichur
It’s no secret that I love pottering around with natural ingredients and making my own lotions and potions. My love for making beauty products is one reason I affiliated with DoTerra plant oils recently. This book is one of my favourites because it’s practical, original and grounded in the authors deep study and application of the subject. There are a ton of ayurveda books out there these days but this one is unique and special.
Self-Care for the Real World
by Nadia Narain & Katia Narain Phillips
Nadia Narain was one of my first yoga teachers when I was in my teens and working at Triyoga in London. Her sister ran the vegan cafe. They are both wonderful women doing genuinely good work in the world. I bought this book because I love Nadia and Katia but to be honest I wasn’t expecting to love it … the whole idea of self-care often feels a bit overdone on social media and in the yoga scene and can be a bit generalist and even used as an excuse for selfishness in my opinion. But this book isn’t about that kind of ‘have a bath and forget about the world’ so called ‘self-care’. This is a powerful personal development book which offers a radical paradigm in which to live a life of service where you don’t burn out, become resentful or go mad. I’m really interested in how to do that and Nadia and Katia gave me some great ideas.
The Forest of Enchantments
by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
I discovered this book in a bookshop in Delhi airport and then devoured it on the long flight from Delhi to Sydney. It is based on the ancient yogic scripture 'The Ramayana', one of the world's greatest epics. It is also tragic love story, a feminist text and a beautiful and powerful reinterpretation of a classic story (told from a woman's point of view). Themes of duty, betrayal, infidelity and honour prevail and there is a strong focus on women's struggle to retain autonomy in a world that privileges men. I loved every page and highlighted many beautiful quotes.
