Two More Summer Reads

Two Yoga Philosophy Books

Two Different Approaches

Book two of my summer yoga book lists was The Inner Traditions of Yoga by Micheal Stone.

Book three of the summer was One Simple Thing by Eddie Stern.

Things they both covered:

8 Limbs of Yoga

Klesas

Samskaras

Prana

A general approach to practicing yoga off the mat

Although both of these books had the same topics covered in each one they also had areas that the other didn’t cover. To me one was a more “down to earth” read while the other felt like I was walking through mud just to get through it.

My favorite chapter in The Inner Traditions of Yoga was chapter 20; Yoga, Death and Dying. The reminder that we enter life with an inhale and leave life with and exhale was very profound for me. All the breath practice we do in yoga and all that connection to beginning and endings really sat with me. This chapter helped me see savasana (corps pose) at another level as it explained the body’s connection to the 5 elements as we think about death and not fearing it.

Earth: bone - hard parts of the body

Wind: air leaving the body

Water: fluid leaving the body

Fire: cooling of the body

In The Inner Traditions of Yoga, Stone explains the klesas in chapter 8 with a whole breakdown and then in the next chapter eloquently writes how find freedom through them. The basic list of the 5 klesas : avidya (not seeing things as they are; raga (attachment); dvesa (aversion); asmita (the story of “I”, me & mine); abhinivesa (the thirst for further existence). In chapter 8 each of these are explained in such a way for anyone to identify examples in their own lives. I really liked the simple graphs used to show how it is possible to flow from one to another. It wasn’t dumbed down but thoughtfully explained and really resonated with me.

But what really made my heart feel light was the chapter after as Stone explained that there is a way to freedom even through these klesas. I mean if you look at the list above they all seem kinda “bad” things. Coming from a Christian faith myself I understand needing to be “free from sin” and on the surface the klesas can look like a list of “sins”. To me, they are a list of truths. It’s what we do when we see these truths about ourselves that determines our freedom.

In One Simple Thing, Stern covers the klesas as well but in a way that went over my head and left me wondering what he was trying to say. And this was after I read the other book first and felt I had a small grasp on this topic.

This is basically how each of these books compare to one another on each topic they both cover. Inner Traditions gives an explanation in one whole chapter and then how that might be applied in real life in the next chapter. It is done in a way that isn’t lofty but also not dumbed down. One Simple Thing is not.. simple. I think the author was trying to add too much science part (to be fair the entire title does say “science of yoga” in it) and can tend to leave readers feeling in over their heads.

Yoga philosophy shouldn’t feel unapproachable and too lofty for those who are just trying to learn a little more and go deeper.

Michael Stone is no longer with us but he still has a lot of books and even a website where the topics he spoke on can be found. I feel I connect more to the way he writes.

Eddie Stern teaches in New York and is still giving classes and workshops. I know he is a wealth of yoga knowledge but for me it is too lofty. Also, this book has a forward by Deepak Chopra and he is referenced a few times. This doesn’t sit right with me due to his Epstein connection. I did try to see if Stern had any social media posts commenting on this since he did a ton of work with Chopra. As of this time I can’t find anything. This didn’t sit right with me, either.

I recommend The Inner Traditions of Yoga.