Yoga 365: Daily Wisdom for Life, On and Off the Mat

By Susanna Harwood Rubin

Bring your practice everywhere you go with this collection of daily readings on balance, resilience, and more.

Yoga 365 presents a year’s worth of daily readings that invite yoga lovers of every skill level to bring the inspiration they experience on their mats into their everyday lives. Each entry explores a mind-body theme such as balance, strength, and resilience in a short, illuminating paragraph that can be enjoyed in the morning or at bedtime, incorporated into a yoga session, or read on the go.

Yogis will find Yoga 365 to be a motivating tool for personal growth that continues long after the mat is rolled up.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Oct 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781452150956

Book preview

JAN 2

YOGA WISDOM

MAKE A RESOLUTION TODAY AND AFFIRM IT AGAIN AND AGAIN

Today, resolve to make a change: let go of an old habit that is no longer serving you, or embrace a new habit that will benefit you. Choose a habit that is substantial but small so it is attainable. Practice this resolution daily this week, checking in with yourself at the beginning of each day to focus your intent and at the end of each day to see how you did. Ask yourself: How did I do today? What was hard? What was easy? Could I support myself better in any way to help me stick with my resolution? And if you have lapsed, renew your resolution and begin again.

JAN 3

YOGA POSE

BE POISED FOR CHANGE

GATE POSE

PARIGHASANA (pa-ree-GAH-sah-nah)

Imagine that in every instant throughout your day, you are at a doorway leading from one moment of your life into the next. With each thought, action, and decision, you step from one moment into another. Parighasana, the Sanskrit word for Gate Pose, inspires us to stay steady, grounded, and open as we move through our daily life. Parigha is the Sanskrit word for the bar or beam that secures a gate. To form Parighasana, kneel on one leg, extend your other leg to the side, reach sideways over the extended leg, and rest your bottom hand on your leg. In doing so, your body takes a shape resembling an open gate. Apply the qualities of Gate Pose to your daily life by being aware of where you are and being open to change.

JAN 4

YOGA WISDOM

WE ARE ELEMENTS OF NATURE

Just like the weather, the seasons, the earth, and its creatures, we are elements of nature. As humans, we often see ourselves as being dominant over nature, using it for its resources in order to better our lives. The misconception that nature is there to serve us is at the root of environmental problems such as pollution and climate change. The reality is that we are simply elements in a completely interdependent natural world. What we do to nature, we do to ourselves. Today, keep this in mind as you interact with the many elements of nature around you, and notice how your concept of yourself in relation to nature shifts and expands.

JAN 5

YOGA WISDOM

TELLING YOUR STORY

Imagine you are reading a book in which the actions, habits, and words of the main character are being described by the narrator. Based on what you read, you develop a sense of who that person is and what that person’s values are. Similarly, the actions you take and the words you speak tell the people around you the story of you. How you behave and conduct yourself in the world is what people know of you. With this in mind, how do you want to interact with the world? Throughout your day today, notice what your actions and words convey about who you are. How are you telling your story?

JAN 6

MANTRA

THE DIVINE IN ME BOWS TO THE DIVINE IN YOU

Namaste (nah-mah-stay)

What is it that makes you want to bow down in awe, gratitude, or reverence? Is it beauty? Kindness? Generosity? When we draw our palms together in prayer and say Namaste at the end of a yoga session, we are saying, The divine in me bows to the divine in you. We say Namaste in reverence for what we have just done. We bow to the peace and ease yoga has offered us. We bow to the divine light within us that connects to the greater divine light of yoga.

JAN 7

YOGA WISDOM

SPEND TIME WITH OTHERS TO EXPAND YOUR WORLD

People who are different from you can often make good company. Time spent with others can expand your frame of reference so you grow as a person. You become wiser for having entertained ideas that are different from yours, and more tolerant for having been exposed to unfamiliar ways of thinking and being in the world. You have the opportunity to bounce your thinking off of other people and to receive feedback that you wouldn’t receive if you only kept your own company. It is through the invigorating friction of difference that we grow as human beings.

JAN 8

YOGA WISDOM

MAKE TODAY AN ACT OF CREATIVE SELF-EXPRESSION

Today, infuse your actions and your words with imagination and curiosity, whether you are washing dishes, walking to work, running errands, or making a phone call. Being creative requires approaching everything with a childlike sense of wonder, looking at the world with new eyes, listening with new ears, and responding through these fresh perceptions. When we move through the world in this way, everything we experience becomes richer and more interesting. Our curiosity makes our lives more satisfying because we can become engaged in new and different ways with even the most familiar things around us. Try treating everything you do today with this open attitude. How can you engage in your everyday activities as if you were doing them for the first time? How can you bring a sense of wonder to everything you do so that it becomes newly engaging? Look and act with new eyes so that everything you do today is an expression of your creative

Reviews for Yoga 365

[goth_marionette · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I have not read the entire book as I am reading a page a day I do feel that I have read enough to give a review. It is an interesting mix of poses, wisdom and meditations. It is cute and I look forward to my semi daily reading (as long as I remember to do it :) )

[drt_4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was the lucky winner of this awesome little book in a giveaway at Librarything.com this last go around. I have really been getting into and seeing the value in mindfulness so when I cracked this book open, I could not wait to see what great words were coming next. I really enjoyed this book and am thankful to Chronically Books for sending it to me. I highly recommend this book. There are many great thoughts to be gained in this book

[bookishhorseygal · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this book as part of the Early Review program at Library Thing. I have not read all of the daily devotionals as I plan to do that throughout 2017, but I did flip through the book and read quite a few of the devotionals. I was impressed with what I have read so far; each day provides insight into practicing yoga both on and off the mat; I think it will be very beneficial to any yogi trying to live mindfully. I am looking forward to starting each day of 2017 with these devotionals.

[wincrow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was excited to be picked as an advanced reader for "Yoga 365: Daily Wisdom for Life, On and Off the Mat" by Susanna Harwood Rubin. Everyday has a small bit to read just like any other daily devotional. The days that I read focused on being mindful and, occasionally, there was a yoga pose attached to the daily message. I enjoyed using this book and plan on reading through the whole thing in the upcoming new year. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a daily devotional type book that is centered around yoga. Best for a casual or beginner yoga practitioner looking to delve deeper into the mindset that goes along with the activity.

[anniehidalgo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a neat little book, but as someone who occasionally does yoga, I suppose I was hoping for something more practice focused - with a yoga exercise, meditation, or maybe a healthy yoga recipe each day. Instead, it is more focused on the spiritual aspect of yoga, with a thought for the day that helps you to incorporate yogic thinking (for lack of a better word - um, 'mindfulness', I suppose, is what I am going for here, as something like Yoga Journal would put it.) into your daily life. If you know a yoga devotee yourself, this looks like a nice Christmas gift.

[dianaleez · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As a long time Yoga practitioner I understand the value of daily (if brief) meditation. And I had hoped that 'Yoga 355' would indeed provide 'Daily Wisdom for Life, on and off the Mat.'But I'm left accepting that 'wisdom' must be a relative term. I find the daily snippets far from wise. No, I do not want to meditate on the physical effects of my anger, nor do I want to think of how my love is like the ocean. Perhaps I would have accepted these banal suggestions at seventeen, but I'd hope that even then I would have sought more substance.

[ladypembroke · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I plan to read this again every day. The lessons are powerful and thoughtful.

[phoenixcomet · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This amazingly sweet gem of a book is a delightful addition to any yoga class. Inspiring daily messages or thoughts are great for any person interested in exploring the metaphysical or exploring themselves through yoga and meditation. Definitely recommend.

[jveezer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love little books of inspiration, poetry, and knowledge. I have many of them on different religiions, world views, and paths. I put them in places where I might have a couple of minutes to kill (yes, those places) so I can possible learn and contemplate something new. Maybe somethiing that will allow me to dwell on this planet of ours with a little more stillness, ease and peace. This book fits right in because yoga, after all is about stillness, ease, and peace. As a student of yoga who has the honor of sharing my practice with others for a living, I even get to use some of these nuggets of wisdom in my classes. I highly recommend this little book to anyone interested in a yogic life and practice. And, to top it all off, this little book is much higher quality than most of the books of this type out there. A nicely tactile cover, a convenient ribbon marker to keep your place or mark that important passage, and two colors of ink on the page. Kudos to Susanna Harwood Rubin for the yogic gems and to Chronicle Books for the design of this inspirational book. Thanks also to LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program for bringing this book to my attention for review and to take its place in my reference library.