A reading & resources list for understanding and working with the nervous system
Our nervous system shapes how we experience and move through the world. It determines how we think, feel, rest and respond. It’s also central to almost everything I teach. Whether you’ve joined one of my classes, workshops or retreats, you’ll know that I talk a lot about balance and resilience: the ability to shift between effort and ease, activation and rest, doing and being.
This reading list is a collection of the books and resources that I come back to time and again - a kind of extended toolkit. In this list, you’ll find books that explore how we can understand and support the nervous system, move between its different states with more awareness, and find steadier ground in ourselves.
Understanding the brains and nervous system
Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind Over Body – Jo Marchant
A science journalist’s look at placebo, expectation and belief. Fascinating evidence for how mindset and meaning directly influence physiology.
Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve – Stanley Rosenberg
A practical introduction to Polyvagal Theory and simple self-regulation techniques. Rosenberg’s exercises help restore balance to the nervous system and re-establish a sense of safety in the body.
The Brain: The Story of You – David Eagleman
A fascinating look inside the human brain - how it shapes who we are, how we make decisions, and how experience continually rewires us. Eagleman writes with the curiosity of a scientist and the clarity of a storyteller, making complex ideas easy to grasp. It’s a great read if you’re interested in how perception, memory and emotion all tie back to the nervous system’s incredible adaptability.
Gut – Giulia Enders
An engaging, often funny guide to the digestive system and its conversation with the brain. Perfect for understanding the gut–nervous system connection.
Siddhartha’s Brain – James Kingsland
Before reading this, I already had a felt sense of how powerful meditation was, and that it was changing the way my brain worked. Then I read this and learnt how meditation reshapes the brain, through a mix of of Buddhist insight and modern neuroscience. Mind blown!
Being Mortal – Atul Gawande
A moving reflection on mortality, care and what matters most - a reminder that rest and presence are central to living well.
Why We Sleep – Matthew Walker, PhD
A captivating look at sleep science and why rest is a biological necessity for emotional stability, learning and longevity.
Understanding and managing pain
Explain Pain – David Butler & G. Lorimer Moseley
The modern classic on pain education - how the brain interprets threat, and how understanding pain helps to change it.
Explain Pain Supercharged – Moseley & Butler
A clinician’s deep dive into neuro-immune processes (how the brain and the immune system talk to each other) and strategies for helping others change their pain experience.
The Sensitive Nervous System – David Butler
A mix of modern neuroscience, clinical experience and practical therapy to explain how pain works in the body and mind. Butler encourages a “big-picture” approach combining movement, education and compassion to help people recover from both short-term and long-term pain.
Understanding our emotions and emotional regulation
How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain – Lisa Feldman Barrett
Before I became a yoga teacher, I often felt like my emotions were in charge of me. It was a wild ride at times! Over time, through practice and self-awareness, I’ve learned that emotions can be part of me without taking the lead. This book helped me understand why that shift is possible. Barrett challenges the old idea that emotions are automatic reactions; instead, she shows that they’re constructed by the brain, moment by moment, based on our past experiences and our body’s internal signals. It’s a fascinating reminder that with awareness and practice, we can influence how we feel and respond - not by suppressing emotion, but by understanding how it’s made.
Molecules of Emotion – Candace Pert
This book opened up a whole new way of understanding the mind–body connection. Candace Pert, a neuroscientist who discovered the opiate receptor, explains how our thoughts and emotions are linked to tiny chemical messengers that move throughout the body. Dispelling the common preconception that emotions are just “in our heads”, Pert explains how emotions have a physical presence that influences both health and healing. It’s an inspiring reminder that what we feel really does matter on every level.
Understanding trauma and healing
The Body Keeps the Score – Bessel van der Kolk
One of my OG treasured reads that’s profoundly influenced what I do and how I teach. It’s a tough but essential read on trauma, embodiment and the pathways to healing. It explains why body-based practices like yoga, breath and touch are vital for regulation.
Stillness Is the Key – Ryan Holiday
An exploration of how slowing down and finding moments of stillness can lead to clearer thinking, better decisions, and a calmer life. Drawing on philosophy, history and modern psychology, Holiday shows that rest and reflection aren’t luxuries. Rather, they’re essential practices for balance in a noisy, fast-paced world.
Big picture insight and evolutionary context
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind – Yuval Noah Harari
This might seem a little off-topic for a reading list about the nervous system, but Sapiens was a powerful read for me because it offered the big picture of how we evolved as humans. Harari traces our story from early hunter-gatherers to the modern age, showing how our biology, brains and behaviour were shaped by survival - and how our current way of living often clashes with what our bodies and minds were originally designed for. It gave me a deeper understanding of why we respond to stress, connection and rest the way we do, and why finding balance now matters more than ever.
Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman
Another of my most powerful/influential reads! Not directly about yoga or the nervous system, but deeply relevant to understanding how we think, decide and behave. Kahneman, who was a Nobel Prize–winning psychologist, explained that we have two systems of thought: one fast, intuitive and emotional; the other slow, deliberate and logical. Through countless fascinating examples, he shows how these systems shape our choices and how easily our minds can be swayed by bias and habit.
For me, this book offered valuable insight into why we are the way we are - from an evolutionary perspective - and it’s changed the way I see both myself and others. From a yoga perspective, it’s a reminder that we don’t always make choices based on what’s best for our health or wellbeing; we’re often driven by old patterns, stories, or the quick-thinking part of the mind that wants comfort or certainty. Developing self-awareness helps us pause between impulse and action, so we can make choices that truly serve us rather than simply repeat familiar, unconscious patterns.
The Heart of Yoga – T.K.V. Desikachar
This was essential reading on my first yoga therapy qualification and marked a real milestone in my understanding of yoga. It was the first time I began to see how yoga could be truly therapeutic - adaptable, personal, and deeply connected to healing. In this book, Desikachar distils his father Krishnamacharya’s teachings into a practical guide that integrates philosophy, movement, breath and meditation. In my opinion, the most powerful part is that it brings everything back to the individual and encourages meeting yourself exactly where you are, and letting your practice evolve with you.
If you’re more into listening/doing than reading…
The Breathing App
A simple way to practise coherent breathing (around 5–6 breaths per minute) and nudge the nervous system toward balance.
Insight Timer
A free (they’ll push you to pay, but there is a free version) meditation and wellbeing app with thousands of guided practices, talks, and music tracks from teachers around the world. It’s an easy way to explore meditation, breathwork, or relaxation with plenty of bite-sized options for busy days. My personal favourite is Ally Boothroyd’s Yoga Nidra - my go-to on days that leave me feeling a bit frazzled.
NPR Invisibilia: “The 5th Vital Sign”
An eye-opening podcast episode on pain perception, meaning, and how culture shapes our experience of the body.
And finally…
Please don’t treat this as a to-do list! Aside from when I’m studying and I have been asked to get through an essential reading list, I tend to dip in and out of books depending on what feels relevant at the time. I’ll often skim the index, read a chapter that catches my attention, and jot down a few reflections afterwards.
Many of these authors offer both scientific insight and personal interpretation, so take what resonates and leave what doesn’t.
As you can tell, I’m pretty passionate about this stuff! I’m also keen to hear your suggestions for other material that’s worth knowing about. If you have a suggestion, please get in touch!