The Jade Harmony is the best all-around yoga mat I can recommend. It’s got good grip, has just enough thickness to support a steady practice, and will last a couple years for the beginner who keeps it clean, washes occasionally, and respects it like their best putter or go-to game stick.

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I love this mat. Sure, it’s got zero thickness but it packs up to the size of a paperback copy of The Power Broker and you can take this portable man cave anywhere. On the road or staying at the in-laws or a hotel. Roll it out on carpet or rug, or lay it over an old studio or gym mat that you need to borrow for the extra 5/16 beneath your banged up turf knees from your hero days years ago.

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I’ll be honest: a foam yoga block is a foam yoga block is a foam yoga block. Where you buy it from or what brand doesn't really matter. Arguably, they aren't great for the environment. But they are money for your knees, hips, and butt in that there’s some cushion and relief while doing a split squat, or under your pelvis in some modified bridge pose, or just sitting zazen to help you be comfortable on the floor while working on your posture.

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A cork yoga block will hurt your ass if sitting on it too long but is a far better option if you are looking for something to handle more weight and load. While doing side angle or triangle pose a cork yoga block under your front hand/arm is like the best cross-crease assist you ever got. Find the best place to put it to support where you are in your pose and breathe easy.

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Just stating the obvious: you don't wear a yoga belt like you’re heading to your favorite BJJ class. It’s another commonly used prop in many Iyengar yoga classes. At its most basic level you can loop it around the foot of your extended leg while lying on the floor and check in on how your hamstrings are doing. From there, you can explore the various ways to move your leg more lateral or medial depending on what you feel, and what you need. Go with the longer 8-foot than the 6-foot if you are over 5’10.

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Many yoga studios have heated rooms above 90-degrees and some of the hard-core Bikram classes are performed in rooms up to a totally unnecessary 105-degrees. Most guys over the age of forty probably aren’t as bad as Norm Peterson in mid-July but sliding, sweaty feet can wreak havoc on holding a proper (and safe) standing wide-angle pose in the heat. To save you a groin pull of epic proportions I recommend this eQua towel by Manduka for your mat. It has a soft suede-like microfiber fabric, which is ultra-absorbent, exceptionally durable and incredibly quick drying for a slip-free yoga experience.

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by Blandine Calais-Germain

This book was required reading in both my 200-hour and 300-hour teacher training experiences. However, I was aware of it earlier in 2013 when recommended by a pilates instructor and professional dancer was teaching me how to engage the transverse abdominal muscle to support my lower lumbar back issues.. To unlock the power of what your body is capable of you need to start making the mental roadmap in your mind and learn to recognize and feel how to access all the muscles you never really paid attention to in your high school and college days. If you want to really learn to hit your Pro V1 further, dominate on the slopes, your Monday night paddle league, or just to understand why one shoulder hangs like a wounded wing, this book is my very first recommendation. Buy it. And start understanding the anatomy of movement.

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by Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews

This is another extremely popular anatomy book for teacher training and yogis everywhere. If you want to connect the dots between your adductors, psoas, glutes, and other assorted muscles, this book helps you consider which muscles are doing what in Warrior II, for example. Knowing your anatomy better allows you learn to access and engage specific (or groups of) muscles to expand your experience in the pose. For those just getting curious about poses, their Sanskrit and English names, and the primary muscles used, this great visual guide is a solid pick up.

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by B.K.S Iyengar

I doubt most guys will ever consider the philosophical frameworks, concepts, and teachings around yoga, but I hope they do. For many, it’s the physical aspect of the practice that brings them to the mat – back pain, weight loss, tight hips. But beneath that modest practice lies an undiscovered frontier of endless growth towards, as Iyenger puts it, ‘wholeness, inner peace, and ultimate freedom.’ This is a life-long read that you can come back to over and over as your practice and self-knowledge evolves. Break free of the banal business books and pack this gem for your morning commute or next work trip to that client meeting.

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by Eddie Stern

Eddie Stern showed up along my path during my 200-hour training with Alison West. The following year in 2019 he published this tight overview as an introduction to yoga. Eddie got into yoga in the 1980s, studying with globally renowned teacher Pattabhi Jois, and since then has established himself at the intersection of the traditional practices with the emerging research. If you seek to understand how these ancient practices map to the Western science of neuro-biology and brain structure this is a great start.

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by John E. Sarno MD

Arguably the most influential book in alleviating back pain for many guys, this book hits the spot on identifying and describing the psychological and emotional roots of the common experience with back pain. According to Dr. John Sarno, it all comes down to TMS – or Tension Myoneural Syndrome -- a term that is guaranteed to suck the life out of any interesting conversation in a social setting if your audience has never endured debilitating back pain and the existential dread that comes with it. Essentially, Sarno proposes that stress, anxiety and other psychological factors, not structural abnormalities, are the root cause of chronic pain. Or, another way to put it, you’re a meat suit full of bottled up stress and your nervous systems is off the rails. Embracing that much of common back pain is a “bug in the code” of the mind-body connection, I am convinced that the philosophy and applied technique of Hatha Yoga is the other half of the story. Sarno puts his finger on it the problem, but the solution is on the mat and in your practice.

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by Joel Kramer

First published in spring of 1980 this article details the common problems of establishing a yoga routine and offers spot-on advice on how to mindfully persevere and explore your practice. No matter if the arc of your practice is two days or two decades long, Joel Kramer’s ability to somatically and emotionally articulate the sensation, attitude, and ambitions that arise in a yoga practice is a gift. One nugget that isn't immediately obvious, intellectually-speaking, but one we all relate to is the notion of ‘playing the edge.’ How far can I go in this stretch? He writes, “The body has edges that mark its limits in stretch, strength, endurance and balance…This [stretching] edge has a feeling of intensity and it is right before pain but it is not pain itself. The edge moves from day to day from breath to breath. It does not always move forward; sometimes it retreats. Part of learning how to do yoga is learning how to surrender to this edge, so that it changes, you move with the change.”

Read it here.

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