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You are here: Home / Yoga Articles / Starting • The Foundations of Yoga / Reviews / The Top Ten Best Yoga Magazines In The World

The Top Ten Best Yoga Magazines In The World

March 28, 2012 by Lucinda Staniland 10 Comments

Australian Yoga Life Magazine Cover

Australian Yoga Life Magazine Cover

By Lucinda Staniland

Author’s note: This article has recently been updated from the ‘Top Six’ to the ‘Top Ten’ in recognition of new and emerging yoga magazines. (And some that I missed last time!) Enjoy.

Yoga magazines, both on and offline, are an awesome way to deepen your understanding of yoga and get exposed to a range of perspectives and viewpoints.

When I read yoga magazines I feel more connected and engaged with the incredible worldwide community of people practising and living yoga.

It gives me a chance to see beyond my own practice, to feel into the amazing local and global network I am a part of, and to learn from the stories of the people in it.

Many of these magazines are now available online but hard copy versions have their undeniable benefits too. For me, curling up with a laptop will never be as satisfying as curling up with a magazine.

However, access to online articles has the benefit of providing you with easily accessible (and often free) knowledge, resources, and inspiration.

So today I’d like to celebrate, and share with you, some of the yoga magazines that I love:

1. Yoga Journal

The well-known yoga publication everyone loves to hate, and one I’ve spent many hours browsing through in the magazine section of Wellington’s public library. While often criticized for being too commercial and chock full of advertisements it still has some great, well-balanced and meaningful articles.

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Also, their website is one of the best online places for free yoga resources, including detailed pose instructions and sequences to inspire your home practice.

2. Elephant Journal

Is it a magazine? A blog? Or something else?

It’s hard to know these days what the boundaries are. But I love Elephant Journal so I’ve included it anyway.

Their articles are crowd-sourced from a wide variety of writers, including The Yoga Lunchbox’s Kara-Leah Grant, and are fresh, vibrant, often intensely personal and sometimes controversial.

You’ll find some articles that you wholeheartedly agree with and others that push all the wrong buttons.

If anything, Elephant Journal feels more like a conversation than a magazine. It’s dropped the advertising and the fake glossiness and instead given us a glorious, riotous mix of well written and diverse articles.

3. Ascent

An independent, not-for-profit magazine that ran from 1999 -2009. Despite its demise, it lives on thanks to the power of the web. You can read excerpts of articles on their website and order backdated copies of the magazine. It’s so worth looking at those old issues.

Each issue revolves around a central theme, and I love how they tackle themes that feel relevant and modern, like gender and sexuality, sustainability, AIDs, punk music, and politics. If you are interested in how yoga contributes to social and environmental justice you will enjoy this magazine.

4. Australian Yoga Life

This magazine is not linked with any one yoga tradition but aims to give readers a meaningful experience of what yoga is by showcasing different stories from a range of Australian and New Zealand yogis (Including The Yoga Lunchbox’s Kara-Leah Grant).

I love supporting this local yoga magazine, and am consistently inspired by all the amazing yoga related activities happening right in my own backyard! There are four issues published per year. It’s not available online but is well worth subscribing to.

5.  LA Yoga

Published as a resource of the ever-expanding yoga community of Southern California LA Yoga is equally interesting to yogis from all over the globe.

It provides a fascinating insight into the sometimes bizarre and hyped up world of LA Yoga. Think endless yoga hybrids (naked yoga, CrossFit yoga, paddleboard yoga…), celebrities turned yoga teachers, and lots of tight, brightly coloured lycra.

But it also has a lot of interesting Ayurveda focused articles and helpful yoga resources.

Their website is well stocked with articles, and you can even read a digital version of the magazine, complete with advertisements (as if we needed more of those…)

6. Yoga International Magazine

This magazine is a publication of the Himalayan Institute, a non-profit international organization which promotes yoga and holistic living and implements humanitarian and sustainability initiatives.

Yoga International has been around since 1991 (formerly under the name of Yoga + Joyful Living). It focuses on how yoga contributes to conscious living and features articles on asana, meditation, health and lifestyle, compassionate activism, and more. Archives are available online. It’s similar to Yoga Journal but with a greater focus on social and environmental sustainability.

7. Clarity Magazine

Clarity magazine is part of Ananda Sangha worldwide, a movement based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi.

The magazine shows how we can spiritualize daily life, and bring yoga into everything we do. I enjoy their approach to making yoga part of all aspects of life, and it is interesting to see a magazine that is firmly based in one tradition. You can browse their extensive archives online.

8. OM Yoga & Lifestyle Magazine

Promoted as “the UK’s most talked about new yoga and lifestyle publication.” OM magazine is all about living yoga, not just doing it. An approach that we’re very much down with here at The Yoga Lunchbox.

While this kind of ‘lifestyle’ magazine often verges on the edge of being just another ‘Health and Fitness’ magazine, OM magazine seems to have a good balance of articles on all aspects of the yoga world, not just the asana.

Our New Zealand based readers will probably be unlikely to subscribe to a UK based magazine, but many articles are also available on their website, making for a satisfying few hours of reading and learning.

9. Whole Living

Martha Stewart’s healthy living magazine has a strong focus on yoga and yoga-related topics.

Think mindful movement, clean eating and cooking, green living, and natural remedies and generally a big emphasis on being ‘healthy’. (Although maybe not enough conversation about what ‘healthy’ really means.)

Available in print or digitally, there’s also plenty of free resources on the website to peruse at your leisure.

It’s all a bit too glossy and perfect looking for my taste. But there’s definitely some useful and interesting resources to be found there.

10. Integral Yoga Magazine

This magazine explores the practices and philosophies of yoga from a variety of different viewpoints – you’ll find articles like Buddhism and Yoga and How Jesus Got Me into Yoga and Yoga Got Me Into Jesus, as well as tips for yoga both on and off the mat.

I really enjoy how this magazine explores the ways in which yoga can be incorporated into any faith and the diverse backgrounds of the authors that write for it. Sample articles can be viewed on the website but online content is limited.

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Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: conscious living, magazines, online, sustainable, yoga

Comments

  1. Premratna says

    March 28, 2012 at 6:04 pm

    I have many back issues of ascent magazine that I will always hang onto. Their articles were always inspiring and cover aspects of yoga often brushed over by other publications. I highly recommend checking out past articles on their website.

    Reply
  2. Michelle says

    March 29, 2012 at 10:20 pm

    Picking up an issue of Australian Yoga Journal at Sydney Airport in Nov 2010 inspired me to begin a daily practice after nearly 20 years of on/off practice. I’ve subscribed to it since June 2011 and absolutely love it – lots of inspiration and information! I’m now doing my Level 1 teacher training and picking up that mag over a year ago was definitely a key part of my yoga journey! The free cd that comes with every issue has been a bonus too :o)

    Reply
  3. Ankita says

    May 27, 2013 at 3:54 am

    I would like to suggest you add ‘Yoga and Total Health’ to the list. It is the journal of The Yoga Institute, Santacruz, Mumbai, India and has been in existence since 1933.
    As some may know, The Yoga Institute is the oldest organized institute of yoga in the world and has been propagating authentic yoga since 1918. This journal has been its voice piece, recording research, teachings of scriptures, news and experiences related with yoga. It covers medical, indological and therapeutic aspects of yoga.
    I guess it skips most people’s notice because it is very simple, brought out by a non-profit institution which does not advertise itself. I request all those who are interested in knowing about authentic yoga to give it a look.

    Reply
    • Kara-Leah Grant says

      May 28, 2013 at 3:53 pm

      Hey Ankita,

      Thanks for suggesting ‘Yoga and Total Health’. I hadn’t heard of it previously and will need to look it up online to check it out.

      Thanks,
      KL

      Reply
  4. K.S.ILAMATHI says

    October 30, 2014 at 7:53 pm

    Dear Madam/Sir
    I am a yoga instructor cum yoga journalist. i have writter many books on yoga.1) Yoga art is partner of life 2)Pranyamam 3) Meditation, 4) Yoga for Couple 5) Yoga for School Students. 6) Yoga for Teen Agers
    7) Yoga Philosophies 8) Yogalogical Questions and Answers 9) Astanga Yoga

    Also I am conducting a Yoga magazined titled PRANAYAMAM for past 3 years as a editor.

    My wife and daughter and son are also were yoga instructors.
    I want to write about spiritual yoga articles at your magazine in english version.
    Please grant me a space at your magazine.

    Reply
    • Kara-Leah Grant says

      October 30, 2014 at 8:44 pm

      If you’d like to write to us, you’ll find out editorial guidelines here:

      https://theyogalunchbox.co.nz/about-2/want-to-write-for-the-yoga-lunchbox/

      And you can pitch us an article or two.

      Reply
  5. Belinda Bruner says

    May 6, 2018 at 5:42 am

    If you revise again, I suggest you take the apostrophe out of *i *t *s in the Ascent description.

    Reply
    • Lucinda Staniland says

      May 9, 2018 at 8:56 am

      Thank you, Belinda. I found a few other grammatical errors that needed fixing too… I’m so glad to hear that people still care about grammar!

      Reply
  6. Mindfulness Core says

    February 26, 2020 at 2:40 am

    Hi, and let me tell you big Thanks! I found this really helpfull while researching and trying to find the Yoga magazine that would suit me. I am tempted to pick Yoga International magazine. I started practicing Yoga freshly about a year ago and want to expand and educate myself more on the subject since I am really passionate about mindfulness and meditation.

    Thanks again!

    Reply

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  1. Net Ingenuity – Creative Web Content | Creative Web Content says:
    March 28, 2013 at 5:44 pm

    […] Yoga Magazine was selected by Yoga Lunch Box as one of the top six Yoga magazines. I served as its copy editor and webmaster of iymagazine.org […]

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