Great New Books To Improve The Mind and Body

I’m always on the look out for new books to read, whether photography related or otherwise. They provide inspiration, fresh perspectives, and can spark so many new ideas for work or personal life. I do have a “book” habit, but luckily there are only good side effects (if you discount my diminishing bank account!)

Here are a few of my favorites from the past few months:

Yoga as Medicine: The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing – A real eye opener to the profound health benefits of a daily yoga practice, written by Timothy McCall, MD. While I have known about the physical and mental benefits of yoga since I started my practice, this book really explores the medical side, listing over 20 common ailments and how yoga cane help improve, and sometimes cure these issues. Everything from IBS to cancer and arthritis is covered, and I was really amazed at the depth of the research and information this book has to offer. Want a powerful quote?

“I am a physician, a board-certified specialist in internal medicine, who came to yoga in middle age and found it-and continues to find it-incredibly challenging. But in this challenge, I have seen steady growth in what I can do and how good I feel. My bodu has changed in ways I wouldn’t have believed possible, as has my mental state.”

I hope that caught your attention, especially because this is a doctor from the west. If you have ever thought about trying yoga, and especially if you have any health or medical issues, I can’t  recommend this book enough. The accompanying website lists even more medical conditions that yoga can help improve.

Mac at Work – If you use a Mac for your business or work related activities, this book is a must read. I’ve been using Macs for over 20 years, and while I thought the material would be old news to me, there were many valuable things I learned. Covering everything from useful applications, to backup strategies and hardware choices, this is a great resource for all Mac users if you really want to get the most out of your system.

The Art of Photography: An Approach to Personal Expression – while I have read many, many how-to photography books, there is always something to be learned from a different approach of perspective, and this book really provides both in abundance. This is a revised edition of the book that was originally released in 1994, and the photographs that accompany the text are beautiful and inspiring. I re-read the chapter on composition alone several times just to digest the ideas and concepts presented, and many of them will find their way into my workshops and hopefully my own work as well.

“A musical note is meaningless unless combined with others. Rhythms, harmonies, timbres, and other aspects of musical composition must be added before a musical work appears. The same is true of photography. A line, by itself, is not a photograph, nor is a texture. Balance or imbalance implies a relationship between at least two elements. Photography flowers when a relationship exist, when they are made evident either subtly or boldly.” -Bruce Barnbaum

Great stuff for sure, and rang so true for me as a musician and photographer. This is perhaps what I like most about the book- it combines both the technical aspects of the photography with the philosophical and the creative. I’ll keep this book close by for a long while!

As a side note, while I purchased the first two book for the Kindle (and iPad) the Art of Photography is one of those books which needs to be experienced in a physical book form. The size and photos need the printed page, and this is a good example of where a “book” will never become obsolete, IMHO.

Read any good books lately and care to recommend? Please let me know, I’m always looking!