8 Books That Changed My Path
I’ve been observing eagle babies with my spouse on YouTube this spring and I have found myself feeling all of the emotions. From love and wonder to stress and anxiety. There is no doubt in my mind that the babies themselves experience this in their own way. Day in and day out, they watch their elders come and go from the nest, showing them what they will one day be a part of. Each eagle baby fledged in their own way and in their own time. What remains consistent are their teacher’s imprints.
The books that I’ve listed below is the guidance I have received and continue to receive wisdom from in fledging and flight. Without further ado, I am excited to share with you the 8 books that changed my path.
Embrace Yoga’s Roots by Susanna Barkataki
Back when I made YouTube content, I posted a video that detailed my journey of choosing to become a yoga teacher. To keep a long story short, I had thought about it for years until I found the right fit. It was when I was at a dramatic turning point in my life that my teacher’s book crossed my path from a beloved client of mine at the time.
There are many reasons why this book changed my path, but the primary one was the powerful lesson that comes directly from Susanna, “Yoga is not something you do, it is something you are.” That line continues to shape how I live and teach. If you’re looking for a book that will begin giving you the tools that you need to build the foundation of practicing yoga in this way, you have found t.
Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler
I first began my spiritual journey when I was very young through the context of different religious practices that I witnessed around me. Having not been enforced to practice religion or spirituality in any specific way, I have always been an observer. More specifically, I would dabble here and there in spiritual practices that others invited me to participate in when appropriate and if I consented.
When I began establishing what my personal belief system would be structured around in my late twenties, I knew that it would not be in the context of the colonial religions that had been normalized around me growing up. Margot’s Drawing Down the Moon was the can of worms that I was looking for. It’s nuanced and rooted in observation, amplified by the inspiring fieldwork Adler undertook on her own path of discovery as an anthropological journalist. For anyone that is curious about what else is out there in America besides Sunday mass, start here.
Emergent Strategy, Loving Corrections, and Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown
adrienne maree brown’s work is the practical balm that I need for the ache I feel in my chest when collective grief is overwhelming, which in 2025, is constant. I was first introduced to amb when I picked up Afterglow: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors. It was the title and cover art that hooked me. Little did I know that their work would fall into my lap only a couple of years later.
I have yet to read these books from cover to cover, rather, I find myself reading these books in an oracle-like fashion, with every page I land on being exactly what I need in that moment. I also have these books on audio and hearing amb’s voice read her own writing is transcendental. If you want to embrace what is possible for our collective future, pick up any of these books and get started.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
This one really goes hand and hand with adrienne maree brown. Stepping into the landscapes of this book can be daunting, however, if you find yourself as the voice of reason in any of your communities, this brilliant work of science fiction is your medicine.
What would you do in a world where others are turning away from the need to cultivate a new kind of belonging? What if everyone you knew had either already given up or wanted to hold onto the belief that turning back time was possible? How would you show up? And when you’re ready to take it there, how do you show up?
The Bhagavad Gita and The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
I was first introduced to these ancient texts during my yoga teacher training program. Their pages contain profound wisdom that inevitably stirs the shadows within when confronted with new ways of thinking, approaching life, and defining purpose.
With numerous translations, versions, and copies of these ancient texts spanning centuries, I’ve found that the only way to extract meaning from what the seers of ancient India have shared is by learning to see in the dark (I read this as an analogy for The Bhagavad Gita in the introduction of one of the copies I own. When I locate it, I will reference it back here). For even with external guidance, true discernment, in my experience, comes from within.