Emotional Education

I am passionate about yoga and ayurveda. I learn from these ancient sciences what I recognize as the deep truth already existed within me. I've always love to read and when motivated was an accomplished student. But nothing I learned during my school years through countless textbooks helped me navigated through my life challenges of endless emotional turmoils and physical discomfort.

Until yoga and ayurveda came to my life I was living in the haze, confused and misinformed. I was relying solely on my mental education and societal values and norms. I was pretending to be O.K. and did not know it. I was perpetually discontent and did not know why. So, I did my best to change my circumstances through the use of my intellect. Alas, the mind proved to be very limited in navigating through emotional as well as physical journey.

The first time I received an emotional education was when I bought a certain music CD from the local Indian grocery store. I was looking for something authentic to listen to and wanted a classical Indian music. I went home with a CD called the Bhagavad Gita. It came equipped with a little booklet containing the content of the words in the music and their translation. The CD and the booklet ended up being the transformational tool for me to survive an emotional hardship I was going through during that period of my life.

I later came to learn more about the Bhagavad Gita. It's an epic story filled with the vedic and yogic teachings. I learned about the true meaning of life. The words of the Bhagavad Gita lighted the fire of my deep longing for spiritual connection. I then understood that there was nothing outside of me that could improve my emotional discomfort and give me a sense of fulfillment and contentment. From then on my quest for change became internal and heart oriented. My search has led me to many more books which contain similar messages. The messages that would speak to my heart and give me emotional wisdom.

Followings are the list of books and my brief heartfelt review about them. These books are a huge part of my ongoing emotional education. They are vital tools to both my learning and teaching. They have helped strengthen me emotionally and physically. They also clear away mental blockages for real wisdom to shine through. I hope that you too will find their unveiling power helpful to your quest toward inner peace, joy and unconditional love.

The Path of Practice by Maya Tiwari:
An ayurvedic book for women but any man who are in touch with their femininity will also find it inspiring. It teaches me to understand the deeper meaning of illness and healing. In particular, the book offers an insight on cancer, the cause and the cure from Tiwari's own experience as a terminal cancer survivor. The book contains many ayurvedic practices and cooking rituals. It raises my awareness about my femininity and gave me insight about my ancestral, maternal and paternal connections.

The Woman's Power to Heal by Maya Tiwari:
Another ayurvedic book for women and especially for mothers. This book is a treasure for me. It gives several ancient female rituals and practices. I regularly practice some of the healing treatments given and find them essential to my health. If there is one book for your female health regime this one is it. Just by reading it your feminine healing power will increase exponentially.

Yoga and the Quest for the True Self by Stephen Cope:
Cope teaches that the only story that is authentic and true is your own. We can try to emulate others but we can never live their stories. Until we begin to live our authentic story we continue to suffer. He gives us his stories from the heart. I enjoyed reading this personal book from cover to cover. And along the way the pages reveal my very own story that I too can live authentically through the wisdom of yoga.

The Secret Power of Yoga by Nichala Joy Devi:
There are hundreds of books translating the Yoga Sutras written by Patanjali. This book is the only translation that speaks directly to the heart. Frankly, I find other translations mechanical and philosophical and can not bring myself to finish reading them. This book is written by a woman and imbued with heart wisdom from the beginning to the end.

Ordinary Women, Extra Ordinary Wisdom by Rita Marie Robinson:
Being awake or enlightened is something I used to think as beyond my grasp. The more I mature the more I come to know that it is not a choice. I cannot rest until I am. The stories about various women living their ordinary/extraordinary life truly affirm the notion. The wonder is that we could live in our dramas for so long -lifetimes. The stories illustrate that being awake is nothing special. It's our birthright.

The Presence Process by Micheal Brown:
This book thoroughly explains our emotional body. It is a real gem for emotional education. The simple, gentle process Brown shares is valuable to anyone ready to explore and move through emotional dis-ease accumulated during the childhood years and beyond. Through reading the book I receive the clarity about my conditioned life.

Why Walk when You can Fly by Isha:
Like the Presence Process this little book provides tools to break through our conditioning. It is heart-centered and it shows how to cultivate love-consciousness which is the ultimate unity. The method Isha shares is easy and simple for the body and the mind. The heart does not require complication but the ego does. Our drama is our complicated mental construction. Focus on the heart and let our mental sand castles get washed away by our emotional tides.

These books will make great stocking stuffers for your holiday reading and beyond. As Micheal Brown puts it -In Joy!